Celebrating Weaving Greatness

When I was asked to chair a fund-raising raffle for this fall’s Blue Ridge Fiber Show, I was tempted to hit the floor and Army-crawl out the door. I’m glad I didn’t, because we’ve just put up an exhibit of raffle prizes at Sutherland donated by some of the top names in the fiber field, locally and nationally. These pieces are, as  you certainly would expect, beautiful.

The Blue Ridge Fiber Show is a biannual show sponsored by the Western North Carolina Fibers/Handweavers Guild. It is a very large, unjuried show, attracting entries from around and outside the United States. Cash prizes are given in several categories, which means fundraising is critical to its success. The raffle is only one of several fundraisers for the show.

Here is a picture of the raffle items on display at sutherland. It doesn’t do them justice, especially for the framed items, so please follow this link to the BRFS website for detailed descriptions and much better images.

We will be selling tickets here through June 13, (Studio Stroll weekend)  then the whole exhibit moves to Textures-For the Finely Crafted Home, in Waynesville, NC, through July 14. Textures is owned by fiber artist and raffle donor, Suzanne Gernandt, and her husband. After that it goes on the road again to Earth Guild where the BRFS committee is holding a trunk show as another fundraiser. Then it returns to sutherland until the drawing during the BRFS Opening Reception in October. The pieces and tickets also will be at every WNCFHG meeting through September.

Feel free to share the link with anyone you think might be interested in winning one of these beautiful prizes. Tommye Scanlin has posted details of the raffle and her piece in progress to her blog, and I’ve already had two emails from people around the country wanting to purchase raffle tickets through the mail. We can do that!

If you’re in the Asheville area, please stop by sutherland to see these beautiful pieces in person. Buy your tickets early and often! They’re a bargain. $1 each, 6 for $5 or 15 for $10. You can enter different drawings for each prize, and you do not have to be present at the drawing to win.

By the way, at our May Web Chats AT sutherland this Friday 10am-noon, I’ll be showing my Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving Level I samples (all 40 of them) and answering questions. That would be an excellent opportunity to buy your raffle tickets. Just email or call to let us know you’re coming.

When Weavers Move…or why they don’t

Last week I was finally able to move the rest of our New Jersey things to Asheville. That included many  weaving things I had been missing. My most familiar and tiresome lament at sutherland over the past 5 months has been, “I have that, but it’s in New Jersey,” whenever we decided we needed something for the studio.

So now it’s no longer in New Jersey. I just don’t know which box it’s in. I had my home studio looking pretty good before the movers arrived. New cabinets in place and yarn shelves at the ready. As the movers carried in boxes and asked for direction, I kept sending them upstairs to my weaving loft. Later I went up to assist in placing some bigger items and gasped. Where did I get all this stuff?

So here’s a look at what awaits me at home, which is probably why I’m lingering at Sutherland today. I know it will eventually all get put away, and I’ll undoubtedly look around and decide, “Now what I really need to get is…”

Where to Start?

There are many changes afoot at sutherland Handweaving. For one we’ve expanded, taking extra square footage on Pattiy Torno’s floor for a new dedicated weaving classroom! At right are some pictures of students working in the space. Today the classroom was buzzing all day, with Hardy and  Donna threading their twill gamps from 10:30-1:30 and Mimi making up a lesson and weaving her twill towel, number 2 in the Weaving I project towels. Emily, also making up a lesson from the Weaving I class, came in this afternoon to weave her twill towel. Monday, Caitlin was threading Towel 3 in the Weaving I class with 8/2 cotton, warp stripes and a point twill threading.

Soon our classroom will have shelves to hold all the supplies, equipment, warping boards and other weaving necessities. Once I bring in a small desk for my laptop and tea mug, maybe an apple, if I’m lucky, and a chair to watch everyone work, I’ll be very close to weaving teacher nirvana.

Upcoming classes include another installment of our weekend Just Weave: Weave a Scarf in a Day class, April 23, 24 & 25, during the CURVE studios & garden Spring 2010 Open House. May 6 we begin a five week installment of “More Twills and a Taste of Overshot,” which allows students to weave two twills and an overshot pattern as a gamp, or to select one of the patterns for a pearl cotton table runner. This is a 5-8 pm class on Thursdays.

So what’s left in our original two-room studio? We’ll post pictures and tell you more as construction gets going, but for now we’ll just say we’re sprucing up the “gallery” side of the business to improve the browsing and shopping experience for our retail customers. You’re not going to recognize the place. We plan for everything to be finished by the CURVE open house April 23. Be sure to stop by our Twilight Party from 5-8 pm that Friday to check out our new and improved space, visit the garden and enjoy some great food, drink and music.

It’s finally SPRING!   

Sale of 35 year weaving collection

Doris Boyd’s Legacy: April 24 Basement/Carport Sale Features Lifetime Collection of Weaving & Spinning Equipment, Yarn & Books

When South Jersey weaving teacher Doris Boyd died last December, she left behind a loyal legion of weaving students who will never forget her enthusiastic spirit, patient guidance and the incredible volume of knowledge she shared with us. She also left a collection of weaving and spinning equipment that includes 21 floor looms, from a 22” 4-shaft Harrisville to a 46” LeClerc 4-shaft rug loom; many accessories including shuttles, lease sticks, loom benches, a warping mill, a drum carder, a spinning wheel; hundreds of cones of yarn and three bookcases full of a wide variety of craft books.

Those of us who studied with her and treasured our time with her know she would like nothing better than for her collection to make its way into the hands of weavers, new and experienced, who will continue to produce beautiful yarn and cloth and teach others to do the same.

On April 24, from 9 am-2 pm, Doris’ husband Howard will hold a sale of Doris’ weaving collection at their home, 232 Oakshade Road in Tabernacle, NJ. This will be an excellent opportunity for new and aspiring weavers to pick up a studio full of equipment for below-market prices. Everything must go, and no loom is priced higher than $300. An antique barn loom is free. All magazines are 10 for $1, practically free.

Members of the Pineland Weavers will be on hand to answer questions and help with the sale. The list of items for sale can be found at the local guild website: www.sjgsh.org Please help us spread the word about the sale.

Some rules and logistics:

• Sales will not be considered prior to April 24. (NO EARLY BIRDS!)
• Parking is at a premium. PLEASE CARPOOL!
• Looms must be carried up wide cellar steps to the outside and put in your vehicle, unless you make special arrangements for pick-up later.
• Cash only. All sales final.
• For more information about the equipment or sale, please contact: Naomi Cannon, 856-429-8604.

Patience

One thing I’ve learned about Barb during our 3 1/2 months in business at sutherland is that she is very very patient. She loves winding on 60/2 silk for a pashmina, weaving it in plain weave with 120/2 silk for weft and then hemming and beading both ends. It makes her happy.

But I came into the studio today to teach a new student, and as I was pointing out the different parts of a loom, something caught my gaze above the secretary we use as an office. The swift was stuck up there with something on it. As I looked closer, I realized even Barb’s patience has its limits. She had just started winding what we refer to as a “skanky skein” of fine yarn into a ball when I saw her on Friday. Apparently it never got better, because there are the remains in a tangled mess still on the swift perched above our desk.

I had to laugh. I know this was hand dyed (not by Barb) yarn on the expensive side and it would have been painful to cut it off and toss it. I expect Barb may take another stab at untangling it, or maybe she just needed to work up the courage to let it go.

Either way I couldn’t resist snapping these pictures and sharing them. We’ve all been there. If we didn’t need the swift, I’d tell Barb to just leave it up there.

Love ya, Barb.

Karen

They’ve Graduated!

The inaugural class of Weaving I-Three Warps, Three Towels at sutherland Handweaving has graduated, and just look at their final projects on our last day of class. We started with plain weave and a heavy weight cottolin and moved on to straight twill in the same yarn for the second towel. For the final towel in the class, I challenged them to create warp stripes with point twill threading using finer yarn, 8/2 unmercerized cotton.

Boy did they get creative with color and pattern! All three looked so distinctive, and the students’ technique and understanding of warping had charted significant improvements since the first towel. Congratulations to Donna, Martha and Hardy.

Next up for two of them is a Twill Gamp class that starts March 18 from 5-8 pm. With another Weaving I student starting this weekend, the studio looms are again all booked until the Monday Weaving I class finishes April 5. If there’s enough interest we’ll start another session of Weaving I or Twill Gamp on Mondays.

Please let us know right away if you’re interested in these or any of the remaining classes on the spring schedule. The looms don’t seem to be staying idle for long!

Alice Schlein Visits sutherland

Our floor has never looked better than when Alice Schlein spread her jacquard triptych on the floor for better viewing by the group of 15 weavers, friends and spouses who gathered at sutherland to hear about her latest book.

The studio was buzzing with decades of combined experience represented by the people who gathered there last Friday morning. We saw many other samples of Alice’s beautiful jacquard and dobby weaving and learned that this self-taught weaver decided to write her new book, The Liftplan Connection: Designing for Dobby Looms with Photoshop & Photoshop Elements, because so many dobby weavers were interested in the design techniques described in The Woven Pixel, which she co-authored with Bhakti Ziek. Several guests of this special Web Chats AT sutherland helped lighten Alice’s load, buying up copies of The Liftplan Connection, The Woven Pixel and even Alice’s very last personal copy of Network Drafting. Alice graciously autographed every one.

The event also brought together friends, former teachers and students, and even two of the newest weavers enrolled in Weaving I at sutherland. Barb and I were so thrilled with how everything worked out that we will try to plan more visits by notable weavers who live near Asheville or may be traveling through Western North Carolina. If you have a suggestion for a special Web Chats guests, just let us know!

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