Handwoven November - December 2017

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, put forth the theory that it takes ten thousand hours of deliberate practice to become an expert in a field. His theory has since been challenged, and he himself has clarified it to underscore that his main point was that a huge amount of practicing is necessary for natural ability to show itself. That certainly seems true when it comes to weaving. You may start with some strong abilities in fiber arts and design, but there are many hours to be spent before you will feel confident as a weaver. Weaving theory and practice seems to be an ever-fluid body of knowledge that draws from history even as changes in technology pull it forward and in different directions. We know of the weaving giants…

January/February 2018 Eco Yarns From hemp and organic cotton to locally produced wool and recycled fibers, today’s weavers have a vast array of eco?friendly materials available. We celebrate eco?friendly producers and the weavers who choose them. March/April 2018 Cultural Traditions Cloth has long been used to proclaim our family and community origins. What group do you belong to, and how does your cloth tell its story? This issue will feature projects inspired by community traditions and by our groups of choice. May/June 2018 Weaving Inspiration Where do you go for design ideas? Do you weave from nature? Are you inspired by music or art? Does color get your creative juices flowing? In this issue, designing weavers will show us their inspirations.…

NEW USE FOR DISH TOWELS Each Christmas, my cousins receive a new dish towel from my loom, but this year, my Oklahoma cousin sent a special request to please send a towel to Emma, her three-year-old granddaughter. It seems Emma sneaks Grandma’s handwoven dish towels out when visiting (they live next door). The towels are just perfect for Emma’s dolls and doll crib. So when the towel drawer is empty, my cousin must reclaim possession of her towels from Emma. Ah! Let the imagination of a three-year-old child play with all those handwoven remnants of your stash that are too precious to discard. Lu Terock, via email SOME WORDS ON ELSE REGENSTEINER I noted with interest that the November/December 2017 Handwoven will feature Else Regensteiner, among other “heroes of weaving.”…

Barberini Tapestries Head West Designed by the famous Baroque painter Giovanni Francesco Romanelli and woven in the mid-seventeenth century for Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the famed Barberini tapestries are now on display at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the University of Oregon as part of the exhibit titled The Barberini Tapestries: Woven Monuments of Baroque Rome. The exhibit will run until January 21 and features the Life of Christ series as well as rare books and other objects from the seventeenth century. From the very beginning, the tapestries were designed to be impressive works of art. Rather than sending the designs to one of the many tapestry houses of the era, Cardinal Barberini had them woven by specially selected weavers in his personal tapestry workshop. For the next two hundred years…

For seventy years, the Fort Wayne Weavers’ Guild has traveled the road of weaving and fiber arts. To commemorate this anniversary, there will be a special exhibit at the Midwest Weavers Conference and at the Fort Wayne History Center. The exhibit, 70 Years on the Road “Weave” Traveled, features handwovens organized by decade and focused on re-creating highlighted programs of the Fort Wayne Shuttlecraft Guild during its meeting history. Each era of the exhibit is analogous to having a handwoven time capsule. Works in the exhibit feature crackle, swivel, Atwater designs, Collingwood corduroy, kuvakas, lace, overshot, transparencies, kasuri, collapse, and echo and iris weaves. Three-dimensional works include bags, a friendship pillow, temari balls, and animals. In 1947, the Fort Wayne Shuttlecraft Guild, a group of about thirty people from several…

The Weavers Guild of Kalamazoo began in 1968, and today we have over one hundred members active in fiber-related activities from all over southwest Michigan. We meet monthly at the Portage Senior Center to share our common interests. We often have people come to share their knowledge and inspire us. We also have workshops to learn new techniques and small study groups that meet in members’ homes to explore techniques of interest to them. The guild has a large library and some rental equipment members can use. Once a year, we hold our annual Weavers and Fiber Artists Sale, and this year’s sale will be November 16–18 (the weekend before Thanksgiving). The annual event allows the community to see what we are doing, as we have daily weaving and spinning…