April Weave-In

Our April meeting was held on a Saturday instead of the first Wednesday evening of the month.  We met at Gayle's home because, while she awaits the delivery of her new loom, she has enough space to set up five Schacht floor looms, the favorite of our guild members.  The sixth loom is an eight-shaft table loom.

This is the culmination of a year-long study of profile drafts, which we evaluated by breaking into interest groups according a style of weave, e.g., summer-and-winter. We've been trying to put a face on profile drafts and now we're putting what we've learned to work.  Each loom is warped for one of the weave structures and then everyone is invited to try the looms.  Sally is trying turned taqueté and liking it very much.

This loom is warped for an eight-shaft turned twill.  The idea is that each drawdown represents a profile draft. The lovely thing of Schacht looms is the little stick in the middle that holds the directions. This is Nancy's new loom that she just got and warped up for us today.

This direct tie-up Wolf Pup is warped for huck lace, which doesn't seem to lend itself readily to profile drafts.  It took a lot of attention from four seasoned weavers to finally get the correct treadling.  But collaboration is part of the fun in weaving.

Collaboration goes for loom maintenance as well.  Two looms needed a little mid-session tweaking.  It's good for the new weavers to see this kind of problem solving - a learning experience I'm sure they hadn't anticipated today.

The eight-shaft table loom was a collaborative effort too.  We decided that it takes three people to create a smooth weaving experience:  One throwing the shuttle, one to flip the levers on the top to raise the harnesses and one to read the draft to the one working the levers.  We took turns with this and instead of being a frustration, it was quite fun.

This Wolf Pup is warped for  summer-and-winter.  Nancy got the draft figured out and then walked me through a turn on it.  Most of the looms were warped in rayon so this one warped all in wool was a fun departure and I thought the stick shuttles were interesting too.

This was a four-hour program with a break for lunch and also for a guild meeting.  The rest of the time we milled around, sampling the different warps and the treats in the kitchen.

I am confident when I say - a good time was had by all.

Our Annual Christmas Party (Blocks, Blocks, Blocks)

 The Reno Fiber Guild has an unusual holiday tradition.  Each year, instead of a gift exchange, everyone brings something for a themed basket of goodies and raffle tickets are sold for the grand prize.   There is one lucky person who will take home everything in the basket.  The next year, the winner selects the theme for the next raffle basket (which is reused) and the whole thing repeats at a festive Christmas party.

This year, our past year's winner selected "blocks" as the theme.  It was a difficult challenge - but guild members rose to the occasion with a spectacular group of gifts.

Gloria was our winner this year and pulled out a lot of "block" weave items from her basket.  Won't this look lovely in Gloria's kitchen or bath!

And .....how about a glass "block" with lights for

Christmas decoration!

                        Or ...... a quilting "block" pot holder.

Tongue in cheek - Nevada Bar handmade soap

 

And a couple of scarves - handwoven blocks on the top and a recycled sweater "felted" scarf peeking from underneath.

 

It was a fabulous party with good food and friends in abundance.  Many thanks go to Lorene who has hosted this annual party several times in the recent past. 

 

Happy Holidays from the RFG! 

The Year of the Block

It was a beautiful day in the Sierras yesterday for the outgoing and incoming guild board members.  We had lunch in Suzanne's dining room, then spent the next three hours talking about events for the upcoming year. The first and most pressing matter is to offer weaving instruction to the ladies who have recently joined our guild as a result of our outreach.

We have the two options for workshop space that the new board will check into in the next week or two.  We hope to have these ladies weaving comfortably in time for our Iridescence workshop with Bobbie Irwin in October.

We batted around ideas for programs in the upcoming year, with an eye on continuing education.  Study groups got incorporated into a program in October.  We'll watch Madelyn van der Hoogt's video on Block Weaves, focusing on three structures, Summer and Winter, Ms and Os and Twills.  Afterwards everyone will be invited to select which block weave they would like to study.  A fourth study group for the non-weavers in the guild will determine for themselves what they would like to focus on, perhaps bead weaving, shibori or felting?

Each group will have a mentor and will work independently, culminating at the April meeting when we will meet at Gayle's house with looms set up in a variety of block weaves.  Everyone will have an opportunity to weave, round-robin style, and the samples will be donated to the CNCH Sample Exchange. The study groups will also present their results at this meeting.  Even our Christmas raffle basket is themed - Blocks!  It's the year of the block.