2016 Meetings and Programs February 23—Ondule weaving: the what, the how, and a view of artist’s and craft’s people use of the technique with Elizabeth Mather (2015 Anniversary Reim-

bursement Program recipient) March 22—Education Traditions; How Fiber Has Changed in An Academic Con-text by Jessica Pinsky, Executive Director,

Praxis Fiber Workshop April 26—Thinking Outside of the Stash Box: Alternative Materials to Spin and

Weave by Tracy Jackson, Sheila Colarik May 24—Basketry Construction: Various Techniques from Here and There with Liz

Andraso June 28—special field trip in the works!

TBA

July 26—Potluck Picnic and Stash Relo-

cation at the West Woods August 23—About Alpacas: a panel discussion with alpaca breeders and owners – Cheryl Laufer, Madeleine Schneider, Diane Watson, and Mary

Reed and Anthony Stachowski September 27—Cajun Cotton – doc-umentary and hands on fiber study by

Nancy Curtiss October 25—Hats, Hats, Hats! Fea-turing Deb Henry, Jan Gibson, and Bob-

bie Shafer November 22—A Weaverly Path: the tapestry life of Silvia Heyden - docu-

mentary December/January—Holiday Lunch-

eon and Gift Exchange, location TBD

Western Reserve Spinners & Weavers Since 1975

Member of the the Handweavers Guild of America

2016 SIG* SPECIAL EDITION *Special Interest Groups

Inside this issue:

2016 Meetings and Programs

1

Focus on Felt SIG 2

Spinning SIG 2

Bobbin Lace SIG 3

Weaving SIG 3

Workshops 4

WRSW membership form

4

… to teach and promote the arts of spinning, weaving, dyeing and related

fiber arts.

A Special Edition to our monthly meetings: Tips and Tricks for the Spinner or Weaver!

Throughout 2016 we’re peppering our meetings with handy tips and helpful tricks of the seasoned spinner and weaver. Those little “A-HA” moments that make things work smoother...the insider’s scoop on a great piece of equipment … or a basic skill that might be missing from your stash of knowledge.

All of this as a benefit of being a WRSW member! Some of the topics that we may be covering this year might include: Helpful Knots, Weaving shuttles, Winding equipment, Bobbins… pirns… or quills?, Quick on the draw—spinning wise?, Using a warping reel, To diz or not to diz?, Pop goes the wea-sel, The Great Wheel, Spinning on the cheap, Fulling—what is it, and does it matter?,

and the list goes on and on!

Focus on Felt SIG The creation of felt can use different techniques – wet felting, needle felting… and it may take on different forms – clothing, accessories, items for the home or as gifts. One thing that ties them all together is a love of fiber, color, and textures that turn simple materials into things of beauty and function. The Focus on Felt SIG

explores all of this and more at our monthly meetings. Our flexible meetings cover a range of interests. We usually share books and talk about something we have felted or are working on. So far we have made pre-felts with the benefit of member Diane Watson’s felting machine, created two

types of felted flowers, and explored making felted jewelry. As part of our flexible plan, each member takes a turn at hosting the meeting, and has the option of presenting a hand’s on program, though this is not a requirement. We realize that not everyone has

the same kind of studio or working space available in their home! The members of this SIG range from all over Northern Ohio, and if you’re interested in sharing

or honing your love of fiber and felt we hope you’ll join us.

SIG: Focus on Felt Meeting time: First Tuesday of the month at

11:00AM Location: determined by membership SIG facilitator: Jan Gibson 440.255.0045 Membership: Open to WRSW guild members only

Page 2 Western Reserve Spinners & Weavers

Spinning SIG This year will be hands-on with something new to try at each meeting, and the opportunity to take the “spinners challenge” at the end of each session for the following meeting. It’s a great way to expand

your skills and to also encourage other spinners. 2/20/16 (Saturday) Using Your Wheel: making 8-12 different weights of yarn

Team facilitators: Nancy and Nora Home: Cheryl Laufer 5/21/16 (Saturday) Fleece to Yarn: how to prepare raw fiber for spinning Team facilitators: Susan and Sharon Home: Sharon O’Donnell 8/20/16 (Saturday) What Makes a Blue Ribbon Yarn: spinning for competitions Team facilitators: Nora and Nancy Home: Nora Eason 12/3/16 (Saturday) Roundup – skein review—Pictures of SIG challenges and members – 2017 study topics Facilitator: Nancy

Home: Nancy Curtiss SIG: Spinning Meeting time: 9AM-12 noon Location: As listed above SIG facilitator: Nancy Curtiss 330.995.3811 or nancy@truthforlife.org Membership: Open to WRSW guild members only.

Page 3

Bobbin Lace SIG The craft of bobbin lace is not always thought of in the traditional sense of weaving. But the threads are woven together, pair by pair to form the beautiful laces seen throughout history. When popular, every country had its own style of lace patterns, equipment and preferred

materials. Today that gives us endless choices to create something we love. …So are you interested in learning BOBBIN lace? As tutor, Tracy Jackson, works with our Beginning and Continuing students at a private residence in Auburn Township. Gatherings are held ALL day - usually on the first Monday

of the month. We’d love to have you join us! SIG: Lace Meeting time: Usually the first Monday of the month, all

day (Day and time subject to change) Location: Private home SIG facilitator: Katherine Dunlevey 440.543.8138,

or dunlevey@windstream.net Membership: Open to both WRSW guild members and

non-members

Weaving SIG: We presently have two levels for our Weaving SIG: Phase I and Phase II. If you are wondering which Phase

you belong in contact Facilitator Susan Conover.

1/9/16 (Saturday) 9am-4:30pm Refresher Day at Susan Conover’s home studio in Parkman. Bring your portable

loom and we’ll beam it, get you started with threading, etc. Participants should bring a sack

lunch and beverage. Enrollment limited to 8 participants. 1/10/16 (Sunday) Phase I participants will study twill and birds eye weave structures. Phase II participants will come prepared with sample materials, a draft and questions regard-

ing their Shadow Weave projects. Moderators will be Nancy Curtiss and Nora Eason.

4/10/16 (Sunday) Phase I participants will study rosepath weave structure. Phase II participants will come prepared with sample materials, a draft and questions regard-

ing their Rep projects. Moderators will be Nora Eason and Mary Beebee.

9/25/16 (Sunday) Phase I participants will study M’s & O’s weave structure. Phase II participants will come prepared with sample materials, a draft and questions regard-

ing their Overshot projects. Moderators will be Mary Beebee and Susan Conover.

11/13/16 (Sunday) End of the year round up. Bring your projects and smiley faces for a photo opportunity. We

will also be discussing the projects for Phase III during 2017.

SIG: Weaving Meeting time and location: Susan Conover’s home (Sunday meetings are 2-4pm) Facilitator: Susan Conover 440.346.5702, or szc@conoverworkshops.com Membership: Open to WRSW guild members only

WESTERN RESERVE WESTERN RESERVE WESTERN RESERVE WESTERN RESERVE SPINNERS AND SPINNERS AND SPINNERS AND SPINNERS AND

WEAVERS GUILDWEAVERS GUILDWEAVERS GUILDWEAVERS GUILD

To become a member of the Western Reserve Spinners and Weavers Guild, please send the form below with your check to: Nora Eason, Treasurer 11483 Robin Wood Lane, Auburn Twp., Ohio, 44023 Individual Membership~ $15.00; Family ~ $20.00; Name ___________________________________________ Address _________________________________________ City, State, Zip ___________________________________ E-mail address ___________________________________ Phone number ____________________________________

2016 Workshops more information may be found at http://wrspinweave.org/workshops/

April 15-17, 2016—Milanese Lace with instructor Louise Colgan: Louise Colgan will be teaching Milanese, a free flowing form of tape lace, and Bedfordshire lace, using many special joining techniques which make the lace structurally very interesting and pleas-ing to work. To familiarize members who are interested, the Bobbin Lace SIG will be com-pleting a Milanese hummingbird while watching Louise’s detailed DVD. During the class

Louise will teach lace for beginners and experienced lacers. Louise has taught classes nationally and internationally, written 3 books of patterns, pub-lished in several magazines, and has been very active in the lace community as an officer of

IOLI. We are pleased that she is able to join us. May, 2016—Introduction to Wet Felting with WRSW member and expert felter, Cheryl

Laufer. This one-day class is a perfect introduction for beginners. Date and location TBD. September 10-11, 2016—Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving & Pattern Weaving on Rigid

Heddle with instructor Constance Hall. This will initially be offered as a 2-day workshop. Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving: Have you always wanted to learn to weave but were worried about the time and space required? Would you love to make some quick projects with the stash you have? Have you woven on a Rigid Heddle loom before but want to brush up on your skills? Then this Rigid Heddle Weaving workshop is for you. This workshop will teach you many new skills and revisit ones you might have forgotten: Warping, Weaving, Weaving multiple items on one warp, Fringe, and Finishing. This is a step by step introduction to weaving the easy Rigid Heddle

way. No experience required, only a desire to have fun and weave! Pattern Weaving on Rigid Heddle: Pattern weaving on a rigid hed-dle loom is an amazing and easy way to turn that simple looking loom into a weaving powerhouse. Using a pick up stick or two you will weave patterns that it would take a multi harness loom to weave. This is a no worries, step by step workshop. We will warp the looms and weave a sampler of patterns from warp floats to leno and lots in between. Come learn to make magic

happen on your loom.