Threads Along The Peace Blog February 2014

Two dye pots of dull dud dead dye.

 - disappointing, dreadful. 

A dire day.

 

 

Canadian Tapestry Network Newsletter – Autumn, 2013 Page 17

See www.facebook.com/canadiantapestrynetwork

 

Community Threads tapestries wove the Community together.

 

By Line Dufour

 

Weaving is an appropriate metaphor for community engagement and activity. Both weaving and community can be described as a means of producing a coherent united whole or collaboration through the combining and interlacement of various elements. Words and text can inspire and elevate our noblest and philanthropic feelings about community and what it is, but real engagement comes in the physicality of doing, in materiality, in actions, interactions, processes and events shared by an assortment of individuals and groups.

 

In January of 2011, The Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners, in Alliston, Ontario Canada, asked me to help them design 12 handwoven tapestries, 15" x 60", composed of four images - each, depicting the history and culture of New Tecumseth and the surrounding areas and a grant from the Ontario Arts Council made it possible for me to work with the guild to this end. The initiative entitled Community Threads, depicted the many faces of South Simcoe: historical sites such as the Museum on the Boyne, leisure activities such as music, golf and hockey, and the beautiful natural and pastoral scenery of woodland and field of the area. One tapestry panel features only the Banting Homestead, another, the Gibson Centre. A third is woven entirely from handspun fibres by spinners in the Guild. Once the designs were created, there were many hours of preparation before we could even start weaving. Guild members solicited the general public to weave on the tapestries, including the staff of both the South Simcoe Arts Council and the Gibson Centre for Community Arts and Culture, where the project took place. All during the project I’ve been blogging about what has been happening, noting the people involved, my own observations, insights and surprises as well as posting lots of pictures of the projects denouement: http://www.tapestryline.blogspot.ca/.

On October 27 2013, the exhibit opened at the Gibson Centre. Nine of the 12 panels were completed and three were nearing completion, which were/are also on exhibit. The purpose of this – the Community Threads project was not just about designing and weaving the tapestries. This alone does not make one an artist or craftsperson. Another aspect that participants learned about was what an artist/craftsperson needs to do to promote and market their work and as guild members discovered, it takes a lot of effort and time. The participants in this project were very successful in engaging the community and the media and the opening reception evidenced their labours in that regard. Four different media sources came out to put the opening, the tapestries and their creators in the spotlight. One of them was the local CTV news which aired that same evening. The Mayor, Mike MacEachern, also showed up for the reception and tweeted about the tapestries and opening. Through funding received by the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners, Sandi Nemenyi designed an accompanying brochure featuring the tapestries and explaining each one, as well as listing the projects participants. Many people need to be thanked for their contributions to making the Community Threads tapestries a source of civic pride, which has increased the esteem and profile of the guild members. CTN Newsletter – Autumn, 2013 Page 18

The outcomes, apart from the physical aspect of creating tapestries, has been much greater than I thought possible: i) it re-invigorated the guild and its activities; ii) it generated an influx of about two dozen new members for the guild; iii) it aroused a lot of interest, appreciation and respect for tapestry in the community; iv) it created a lot of local media attention; v) it brought other organizations to liaise with the guild such as the local historical society and the arts council, and vi) I’ve discovered that I love working with weavers and guilds on a project like this, one in which each person brings their talents and gifts to the table, and plays a part in creating an amazing project, and work of art.

 

Weavers of the community tapestry project displaying their work

Many people need to be thanked for their contributions to making the Community Threads tapestries a source of civic pride, which has increased the esteem and profile of the guild members. Betty Cerar, the president of the Nottawasaga Weavers and Spinners said:

"The tapestry project represents the meaning of "community" not only in the pictorial sense, but in the deeper sense. A community is created by people whose lives and stories are woven together on the warp of their shared experiences, with their individual contributions acting as the weft of our social fabric..... We are grateful to all of the people named in this story, and many who are not specifically named, for their time, skill, encouragement and support. Of course, all of the members of the Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners Guild helped to create this project in countless ways, from translating their artistic concept of the Nottawasaga area into pictures and then into tapestries, finishing and mounting them, donating yarn, lending looms, writing descriptions, advertising the exhibit, setting up the display, and even providing the refreshments that are available today."

 

This article is important to repost as it articulates the building of community that is a significant result of an active guild.  Those of us who have been members of a guild for many years (decades) have realized that we are not just a group of people learning the craft.  We have become friends and almost family.  We support each other in difficult times.  We talk about our problems, help each other with problems, craft related or not, laugh a lot, prepare and eat wonderful food together, celebrate our shared cultural holidays, family celebrations and the seasons together and create our own  traditions.  We have also learned a lot about spinning, weaving, dyeing, felting, rug hooking etc. We reach out to the community, adding colour and texture to the community with public demonstrations and workshops. 
 And our regional group, the Peace Country Spinners & Weavers has added the richness to our lives of more workshops with instructors from further afield, and lets us build relationships with those in other communities in Northwestern Alberta and Northeastern British Columbia. This creates further bonds of community in the entire Peace Country.  Being a member of the local guild and a member of the Peace Country Spinners & Weavers has been a rich social and cultural experience.

You are welcome to join us and experience for yourself this building of community.


Please remember:

 the Sprang Challenge.  Two pieces completed for Show & Tell at the Theo Moorman workshop April 12, 13 in Fort St. John with Cheryl Peebles instructing.


to sign up for the Theo Moorman Workshop.  Send cheque to treasurer. Members: $100. Warp: $10. Book: $25. Non members: $120.  Please check with  1358@telus.net for more info.


Happy Spinning and Weaving.  Happy Winter!

Sprang into 2014

As we begin the New Year, a good resolution would be to Sprang into 2014. Remember our challenge of two finished items using the Sprang technique ready for the Spring Conference. Happy New Year everyone. Happy Spranging.

It is always quite refreshing to put the last of the Christmas decorations away and straighten the furniture and enjoy the house in its simpler form again. But January and February in the North can feel a little bleak. Keeping something red from the Christmas decorations, or finding something red for display in the house, should help. The first weaving workshop that I attended was in Grande Prairie many years ago. The instructor, Brin Pinchin, remarked that beginner weavers seem to always start to weave with a white or off white warp. Why? She said that a red warp is a more interesting way to start and she challenged us to try this and find out for ourselves. Perhaps January and February are good times to start weaving a project with a red warp.

A colour gamp is a good way to explore colour. The picture below is a sample of a gamp woven by Norma in a course a few years ago taught by Cheryl Peebles through her store, Cheryl Peebles Studio, Fort St. John.

A recent dye project with red was the result of my early practice of not rinsing yarn after it was dyed. I wove 2 hitchhiker scarves from boucle cotton and I knew that there was a lot of fugitive dye to be rinsed. An earlier experience with fugitive dye gave me an idea. I had felted a lot of knitted samples of various colours in the washing machine in hot water for 15 minutes or so. It was just a mix of uncoordinated colours. Some of the yarns had not been rinsed, so there was lots of fugitive dye in the mix, predominately red. When the felting was complete, I was delightfully surprised with my felted samples, as they all matched. The harsh yellows were now more golden and mellow. It was exactly what needed to be done as now I could cut out shapes from these samples to decorate my hats and they coordinated nicely. So I took this experience one step further and put my unrinsed scarves into the dye pot with skeins of yellow, orange, pink and red wool yarn. I added a couple of glugs of vinegar (optional) and put it on the woodstove to slowly heat. All dye stuffs were wet first and water added with progressive heat, as per instructions for dyeing wool. I had dyed the cotton with Dylon or Rit, so I was quite confident that it was appropriate for dyeing wool. The results were excellent. There was more fugitive dye than I expected. I now have a range of oranges to reds that blend beautifully as you see in the picture. There are plans for hand-woven fabric for the front and back of a sweater in Shadow Weave with off white heather tone yarn. This sweater should be great to wear next winter to scare away those winter blues.

Another wacky dye story: 4 quarts of home canned peaches with mold. Scoop off the mold, blend thoroughly in blender, juice and all. Put in dye pot with several glugs of vinegar. Place presoaked skein of white alpaca yarn (or wool) in pot. Stir thoroughly and let slow cook on woodstove for several hours. Do not let it simmer or boil. Remove pot from heat and let sit overnight. Surprise surprise! Peach coloured yarn that smells like canned peaches. It turned the disappointment of spoiled peaches into a fun and easy nature dyeing project. J

The Threads Along the Peace Newsletter was mailed out to members in December. If you have not received a copy by now please contact the editor or 1358@telus.net for a complimentary copy.
Remember to sign up for the Spring workshop April 12-13 in Fort St. John. The topic is Theo Moorman Technique with Cheryl Peebles as the instructor. There is always something new to learn at each workshop, even if the topic is not entirely new. A different instructor presents the topic from a different point of view, has different samples, uses different combinations of yarns and we come away inspired once more. It is another opportunity to deepen one's understanding of the weave structure. And it is always wonderful to get together to share our latest spinning and weaving creations. The fee is $100 for members of the Peace Country Spinners and Weavers and $120 for non-members, plus a $10.00 material fee. Registrations fees are to be sent to the treasurer. A portion of the registration fee is non-refundable depending upon circumstances. Contact 1358@telus.net for more information.

Loretta shares this article about brightly coloured thread made out of snail poop. It's a very particular and surprisingly appealing form of recycling. http://grist.org/list/this-brightly-colored-thread-is-made-out-of-snail-poop/#.UqkJ8pHRMRI.email

What a wonderful cold snowy time of year to settle back in our warm homes and design new projects, finish old ones and just get on with working on the craft that we love. Happy New Year everyone!

 

Merry Merry

The Christmas season is upon us. Threads Along the Peace, the PCSW newsletter, is about to be mailed sometime in the second week of December. Look for your copy and please contact the editor if it is not received in a reasonable time. Have you paid your membership dues for this year? A few complementary copies are available upon request. 1358@telus.net

A snippet of news from the newsletter is the topic for our Spring gathering in Fort St. John. Theo Moorman technique will be taught by Cheryl Peebles. This technique is a weave structure that allows the weaver to create a design with weft threads that float on top of the cloth and are tied down with thin warp threads that are almost invisible, yet producing a strong cloth. It allows for a great range of creativity of organic free form design and is faster than tapestry. This technique is good for placemats, bags, clothing, wall hangings, and liturgical weaving. No worries if you have done this before. Each study of a topic deepens your understanding and widens you creativity. We look forward to this opportunity to learn more about the Theo Moorman technique.  This picture shows fabric using this technique.

So what can be made in three weeks' time, a last minute gift that is creative and fun to make and reflects your talents as a spinner and weaver? Can you make something from a 50 gram ball of homespun? This is the challenge that some of us have taken on this season. Funky irregularly shaped scarves such as the hitchhiker scarf (See Ravelry for pattern), neck warmers, small purses, gift bags, Christmas ornaments, fingerless mitts, hats, headbands, hot mats, sachets or cosy bags filled with rice, heated or cooled for achy muscles. These are a few suggestions. Besides, a 50 gram ball or skein of your own hand spun, in itself makes a great gift that would be appreciated by another crafty friend.

The woven fabric from workshops that was woven at home to finish off the warp can be made into interesting bags. The edges can be butted together and sewn with an embroidery stitch on the sewing machine, which produces a very strong seam. Even samples that are less than perfect can become attractive serviceable bags. Add handles and they are ready to go as a lunch bag, shoe bag or purse. Somehow people who are not weavers do not see the mistakes. Not sure how that works but that seems to be the case. Some bags made from samples:

Have a merry time over the holiday season. And Happy New Year.