Programs and Workshops for 2010 - 2011
September -- JoAnn Kelly Catsos
- Day Guild Mon (13th)
Black Ash Basketry, from Traditional to Contemporary
JoAnn will give us an introduction to black ash splint processing. The focus will be on examples of traditional baskets and techniques used in Shaker and Native American Baskets. Also included will be the contemporary work of basketmakers today.
- Evening Guild Tues (14th)
Black Ash Basketry from Tree to Basket
Discover the magic of weaving with wood. Topics will cover tree selection and harvesting, splint processing, creating wooden molds, handle and rim making, and weaving a basket. Also included will be slides of JoAnn's work.
- Workshop
- Sunday (12th)
- 9:00 -- 5:00 pm
- Shuttles Classroom
Black Ash Basketry
In this one-day workshop JoAnn will teach participants to make either of two 6" diameter Shaker cathead baskets: the Classic Cat Basket or the Shorty Cat basket. Each of these classic baskets uses basic black ash splint basketry techniques, including the cat ears base, chase weaving and lashing a hardwood rim. The Classic Cat basket also has a handle. JoAnn will supply all the materials and tools required to complete the basket, including the use of a wooden mold. Bring a lunch or plan for a short lunch break at a nearby restaurant. The cost of the workshop is $75. The materials fee, payable to instructor, is $62 for the Classic Cat Basket, or $52.00 for the Shorty Cat Basket. This workshop is limited to 12 basketweavers, with a weaving level of beginner through advanced. Download the registration form to register for this workshop.
JoAnn Kelly Catsos is an award-winning black ash splint basketmaker and teacher from Western Massachusetts. JoAnn's designs are influenced by traditional Shaker and New England splint basketry, and woven on molds made with help from her woodworker husband, Steve. She has been teaching basketry full time for 25 years. Her teaching venues include art and craft schools, fiber/basketry conferences, local guilds and private groups across the country. JoAnn's baskets have won numerous awards, her baskets are in many private and public collections and are featured in a number of books and magazines. In 1999 JoAnn was honored to have an ornament on the official White House Christmas Tree. She received her Certificate of Excellence in Basketmaking: Level I from the Handweavers Guild of America in 2003.
JoAnn and Steve process splint from black ash trees harvested near their home in the southern Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. They also make the wooden molds, handles, and rims needed for each basket. Her baskets are based on traditional Shaker and native New England utilitarian styles and have evolved into smaller, more finely woven, intricately patterned vessels. Weaving high quality miniatures with splint 1/64 of an inch wide is a challenge, but incredibly rewarding. JoAnn's goal is to maintain the highest quality of craftsmanship possible in her miniature and other black ash splint baskets. Check out these fantastic baskets at JoAnn's website.
October -- Daryl Lancaster
- Day Guild Mon (11th)
Great Garments for Handwoven Cloth
Daryl has a whirlwind lecture for us: covering sett choices, finishing fabric, color and inspirtation, fitting and basic sewing techniques with handwoven fabrics. Hold onto your seats!
- Evening Guild Tues (12th)
Leftovers Again
Explore and experience creative ways to use every precious bit of handwoven scraps. Some require sewing, some agule gun. Some ideas become great garmes, others can be sent through the mail. Lots of ideas and lots of handouts.
- Workshop
- Sat, Sun (9th, 10th)
- 8:00 -- 4:00 pm
- East Boulder Senior Center
The Jumpstart Vest Using Handwoven Fabric
Dust off your sewing machine and jumpstart your skills. This simple lined vest is custom fit, guaranteed to look great, and will teach you the basics of garment construction. Great for handweavers, felters, and surface designers, this vest looks good in all fabrics. All levels are welcome. The workshop cost is $120 plus a materials fee of $25. To reserve a space in this workshop, send a $60 deposit to the Program Coordinator, remainder of fee is due in Early October. Participants will be constructing the vest from their own handmade fabric. Fabrics should have a consistent beat, a firm but drapeable hand. Limit 14 participants, so sign up early. Download the registration form to register for this workshop.
Daryl Lancaster received her BA cum laude degree in Fine Arts in 1977 from Montclair State College, Montclair, NJ and has been actively working since then as a weaver/fiber artist. Comfortable with the sewing machine for more than forty years, she spent 10 years as a production craftswoman, selling her handwoven clothing in craft markets and galleries throughout the United States. She teaches garment construction and related topics to weavers and other fiber enthusiasts across North America. In addition, she exhibits her artwork in galleries across the country. She was the Contributing Features Editor for six years, for Handwoven Magazine from Interweave Press and wrote the Fashion and Color Forecast Column. She currently writes a monthly column for the online Weavezine Magazine. For more detailed information, visit her website.
November -- Strickler Fellowship Reports: Donna Brown, Betsy Blumenthal, Margaret Tullis
- Day Guild Mon (8th)
Natural Dyeing on Cellulose Fibers and Feltmaking
- Evening Guild Tues (9th)
Natural Dyeing on Cellulose Fibers and Feltmaking
Donna and Betsy will report on their research on natural dyeing on cellulose fibers. Margaret will report on her attendance at Convergence in Tampa Bay to explore feltmaking, including felted scarves and felt jewelry.
December
- Day Guild Mon (13th)
Potluck Brunch and Members' Fashion Show
Bring a dish to share. Sign up for your favorite food item on at the November meeting, so we don't all bring quiche or carrots. As for the fashion show, don't be shy, please wear your newest, flashiest handmade, handwoven, handspun, handknit, handbeaded.etc. garment for all to see. Bring a 3 x 5 card with a brief description of your piece for the runway show. Our announcer will be Lynn Detloff.
- Evening Guild Tues (14th)
Christmas Party and Ornament Free For All
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January -- Chad Alice Hagan
- Day Guild Mon (10th)
Brave New World of Feltmaking
Feltmaking
- Evening Guild Tues (11th)
Brave New World of Feltmaking
Feltmaking
- Workshop
- Sat -- Sun (8th and 9th)
- 9 am to 6 pm
- Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins Classroom
- Cost: $160
- Materials Fee: tbd
The Bubble Boa Scarf, the Airey Fairy Scarf, or the Bark Scarf
Workshop participants can choose to make two scarves, choosing from the Bubble Boa, the Airey Fairy or the Bark Scarf. Check out these fantastic scarves at Chad's website. Sign up by mailing your registration check and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. Bring a lunch or plan for a short lunch break at a nearby restaurant.
- Workshop
- Tues -- Wed (11th and 12th)
- 9 am to 5 pm
- Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins Classroom
- Cost: $160
- Materials Fee: tbd
Resist Dyeing and the Quick Wrap Felt Journal
Day one will be a long day of resist-dyeing, in which you will create a supply of unique, multicolored felt pieces to use as the ground fabric for your book cover. On day two you will design and stitch and bead your felt pieces into a slip cover for a pre-bound journal. Bring a lunch or plan for a short lunch break at a nearby restaurant. This workshop is limited to twelve participants. Sign up by mailing your registration check and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. to Betsy Blumenthal.
Chad Alice Hagen is a feltmaker from Asheville, North Carolina. She has been exploring hand-felted wool since 1980. Her feltmaking specialty and passion is resist dyeing of handfelted wool. She received her BA in Art and Masters in Textile Design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work has been featured on the covers of Fiberarts Magazine, Surface Design Journal and Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, American Craft Magazine, Echoes, and Fiberarts Design Books, among others. Her work is included in the collections of the Mint Museum of Art and Design (NC), the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in corporate and private collections. She is the author of The Weekend Crafter: Feltmaking, Fabulous Felt Hats, and Fabulous Felted Scarves (with Jorie Johnson). She has taught feltmaking extensively to adults and children in the US and Europe.
February -- Strickler Fellowship Report: Jill Graham
- Day Guild Mon (14th)
The Spinning COE
Why on Earth Would You Want to Get Your COE?
- Evening Guild Tues (15th)
The Spinning COE
Flax, and Cotton, and Silk, Oh My!!
- Workshop -- CANCELED
- Saturday the 12th
- 10 am - 4 pm
- Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins Classroom
- Cost: $65
- Materials Fee: $10
Copy Commercial Yarns -- CANCELLED
Copying commercial yarns is a way of understanding what factors are important in different types of yarns. This class will help beginners to advanced spinners create replicas of the yarns we covet. Twist per inch, angle of twist, and wraps per inch, effect of finishing, and importance of yards per pound will be covered. A variety of smooth and even wool yarns will be provided as examples. Bring wheel and accessories. This workshop is limited to 10 participants. Sign up by mailing your registration check of $65 and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. A cancellation refund will be made only if we can fill your space.
- Workshop
- Sunday the 13th
- 10 am - 4 pm
- Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins Classroom
- Cost: $65
- Materials Fee: $10
Preparing Cashmere and Other Down Fibers for Lace Knitting -- CANCELLED
We will begin with some raw fiber and some commercially prepared fiber and spin fine yarns for lace knitting. Shetland, Orenburg, Arctic, and Estonian lace characteristics will be explored. We will knit a lace sample and cover hints and techniques for successful lace knitting. Bring wheel, spindles, and/or charkha. This workshop is limited to 10 participants. Sign up by mailing your registration check of $65 and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. A cancellation refund will be made only if we can fill your space.
Jill is a spinner and a member of our Guild. Jill managed adult and teacher programs at the Butterfly Pavilion and Denver Museum of Nature and Science for 12 years and taught art and science to people of all ages for 35 years. Jill is currently pursuing the COE in hand spinning through the Handweavers' Guild of America. She won Grand Champion twice at the Taos Wool Festival for her black 2 ply alpaca lace yarn in 2010 and white 2 ply lace cashmere from her own goat in 2008. Jill aspires to create a new twist on cultural arts using traditional techniques beginning with the animal and concluding with a shawl or rug. She lives with four cashmere goats and a Navajo churro sheep who help the process along.
March -- Margaret Coe
- Day Guild Mon (14th)
Up from the Mill: A Burler and Mender's Daughter
There is a rich history of textiles in Margaret's native county of Yorkshire, England. Bronze Age residents wove on simple looms as early as 2000BC and wool became a chief source of revenue by the 12th century. Much of today's fiber arts are rooted in this history which Margaret will explore with narrative and images.
- Evening Guild Tues (15th)
WWW -- Weavers' Website Wisdom
The complete process of establishing a website is explained step-by-step in plain English while a site is created in real time. Topics include: overviews of graphics and layout, suggested content, organization and emerging design technologies.
- Workshop
- Sat, Sun (12th, 13th)
- 9:00 - 5:00 pm
- Shuttles Classroom
- Cost: $145
- Materials Fee: $22.50
Digital Weave Design
This workshop is a detailed step-by-step presentation of current trends in digital weave design using graphics software such as Adobe "Photoshop" or Adobe "Photoshop Elements", in combination with weaving software such as "Fiberworks PCW". The workshop is a methodical approach with participants following the presentation in realtime as they develop their own liftplans. Topics covered are twill, satins, double-weave, tied weaves, polychrome summer and winter, and Taquete. All participants will receive a tutorial and pertinent WIF and graphics files.
Sign up by mailing your registration check and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. A cancellation refund will be made only if we can fill your space.
Margaret's hometown of Bradford Yorkshire, the center of the UK wool and worsted industries, gave her early exposure to yarns. She has received national awards in knit design and weaving. The teaching of spinning, dyeing, weaving and related topics for guilds and at conferences, led to a focus on computers and structure. Margaret has completed college studies in digital approaches to weave design and graphics design studying Digital Arts with a concentration in web design. Visit Margaret's website for more information.
April -- Michael Rohde
- Day Guild Mon (11th)
House for Nomads: A tale of Three Continents
In the summer of 2006 Michael Rohde traveled in remote eastern Tibet. Based on this experience he created a body of more than twenty two tapestries, entitled: Houses for Nomads. His presentation will include images of the inspirations for the tapestries, pictures of all of the tapestries and of the museum exhibition, and a subsequent exhibition in California.
- Evening Guild Tues (15th)
Setting limits as a Stimulus to Creativity
Michael will address how one can overcome the "blank canvas/empty page" block that many artists occasionally suffer as an obstacle to beginning the creative process. The program will include slides and examples of his own work to illustrate the points, and how he has made use of setting limits.
- Workshop
- Mon afternoon (11th)
- 1:00 to 5:00 pm
- Shuttles Classroom
- Cost: $25.00
- Materials Fee: none
Knotting 3-Dimensional Forms
This is a hands-on workshop on half-hitch basket making. In this workshop we will be employing a small simple form and an assortment of yarns to get you started with ideas of where you might go for larger 3-D forms.
Sign up by mailing your registration check and registration form to Betsy Blumenthal. A cancellation refund will be made only if we can fill your space.
Michael is a rugmaker and tapestry weaver from California. He has been a fervent weaver since 1973, with formal training in drawing, color, and design from the Alfred Glassel School for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. He is a workshop leader and instructor for national, regional, and local guilds, and an exhibitor in many national and international juried and invited shows. Recent work has been included in the US Department of State, Art in Embassies Program; an exhibit at the American Craft Museum in New York City; a solo exhibit, Houses for Nomads, at the Janina Monkute-Marks Museum in Lithuania; an exhibit at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego; and the permanent collections of the Mingei and the Arts Institute of Chicago.
In addition to rug and tapestry weaving, he has recently been making 3-D forms with the technique of knotting. Although the basis for this work is the repetition of a simple half hitch knot, a wide variety of colors, textures and forms may be made with this technique.
May -- Jay Rich
- Day Guild Mon (9th)
Pretty, Yes... But What's the Fiber Content and Dye Process?
Jay reviews his analytical approach to textile collecting, how his collection influenced his own sampling and deepened his understanding of resist dyeing and texturing processes.
- Evening Guild Tues (10th)
Evening Guild Challenge
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- Workshop
- Mon afternoon (9th)
- 1:30 to 4:30 pm
- Shuttles Classroom
- Cost: $20.00
- Materials Fee: none
Hands on Investigation of Jay's Textile Collection
Jay brings parts of his collection for study in an informal, question and answer format. Areas of focus include shibori or resist dyeing, carved board clamp resist dyeing, indigo and other natural dyes as well as some unusual odd bits.
Bring a lunch or buy lunch nearby. Make a new friend or catch up with old friends! We'll eat lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 and the program will start at 1:30.
Sign up by mailing your registration check and registration form to Donna Brown. A cancellation refund will be made only if we can fill your space.
Jay is an indigo dyer and textile collector. His textile education has been informal -- beginning in childhood with family members and accidental teachers along the way. North Dakota winters were cold and textile handwork was a frequent indoor activity. Jay's science background has helped more recent explorations of indigo, natural dyes, and shaping silks. Textile study has included trips to Japan, Chile, UK, China, France, and many venues within the United States. Jay has a working textile studo and gallery with colleagues at the Hot Shops Art Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, and a dye kitchen in his home. His approach is initially scientific exploration, then becomes highly intuitive.