president’s message may bio & program · the silk portions of the sarees were woven in plain...

www.seattleweaversguild.com May 2015

May 21, 201510 – 12pm Board Meeting

May 28, 2015General Meeting9 – 10am Library

10 – 11am Business/HotL11 – noon Program

12 – 1pm Library/Lunch1 – 2pm PM Program

August 21, 2015Deadline for BulletinDolores Ranhofer, editor

[email protected]

MAY BIO & PROGRAMPRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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Please join us at the next guild meeting, May 28, when our speaker will be John Marshall, an internationally renown fiber artist specializing in natural dyes and traditional Japanese dying tech-niques and textiles. For the morning program he will speak about his creative process and problem solving, “Deal With What’s Been Dealt”. In the af-ternoon we will have the opportunity to shop! He is bringing his treasures: traditional fibers, silks, yarns, clothing, dyes and more. John is donating 20% of the proceeds to SWG.

The attached flyer on page 2 gives more details, feel free to share it with others who may be interested.

Well................when we began this year I welcomed the opportunity. I felt we had drifted away somewhat from the require-ments established in our By-Laws, Standing Rules etc. I wanted to try to get us back on track where necessary in order that we continue being the accomplished and successful guild we are. Little did I know just how far adrift we had become when it was discovered that we had been victimized by our treasurer, who had embezzled funds from us. In spite of this crisis we have carried on through the year enjoying the meetings, programs and workshops. The study groups are active and producing wonderful things. We are already planning for the Annual Sale and the programs are scheduled for next year too. This would not have been possible without a support-ing board and membership stepped up to take over responsibilities where necessary. A special thank you to Mary Doherty, our interim treasurer who spent countless hours tracking down the financial discrepancies.

Thank you all for your help, support, and encouragement.

Barbara Doyon

SWG BULLETIN 2015 May 2015

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Lecture &Trunk ShowThursday, May 28

Lecture: 11; Trunk Show: 12-2:00Bloedel Hall at St. Mark’s Cathedral

1245 10th Avenue East, Seattle, WAhttp://www.seattleweaversguild.com/

John Marshall brings his collection to Seattle

For more information contactSeattle Weavers’ Guild, [email protected]

or [email protected]

Traditional fiber treasures galore!Traditional silks sold by the foot.

An abundance of silk and hemp yarns for weavers.Elegant traditional Japanese clothing in silk.

John’s one-of-a-kind hand-dyed fashions.Dyes, DVDs, and much, much more.

Dealing with What’s Been DealtJohn shares his thoughts on creativity and problem solving.

Manufacturing in India - The Fiber Side Article & Photos by Molly Gerhard

Silk Factory

We visited a silk factory outside Mysore but weren’t allowed to take photos inside. They were weaving silk sarees with gold borders along the selvage edges. Because of the noise of the looms, we couldn’t have a guided tour and just watched things as we moved from room to room. However, folks on the tour knew I was a weaver and came to me with questions. I wished I knew enough about the looms to answer my questions.

We were first shown a room where cones and bobbins were wound with fine, undyed silk thread. Fiber on the cones was fed through a 45” reed and funneled down to a 2” reed. Warp was wound onto the back of the looms in 2” sections. I didn’t see how the gold warp threads for the borders were prepared or threaded.

The silk portions of the sarees were woven in plain weave; the gold borders were patterned. Patterns were controlled by an attachment on the top of each loom. It had a continuous loop of chained sticks connected to the heddles with the gold threads—I assume it was one stick for each pick of the repeat. The longer the repeat, the longer the chain and the more sticks in-volved.

Between each saree length, they made a mark in the fabric to show where to cut the lengths apart. Once the warp was woven, fabric for up to eight sarees was wrapped loosely around a pole and dipped into a solution to remove sizing or de-gum the fabric. When it was dry, they did a quality control check of the weaving.

Sarees were then dyed, cut into separate lengths, pressed, and stamped with an ID number before being packaged for sale. Sarees with narrow gold borders started at about $500. The wider the border(s), the more the price went up.

I wished I could have talked to the workers or asked questions of the supervisors to be sure I was understanding the process correctly, but it was a fascinating visit.

Block Printing Fabric

In Jaipur, we visited a factory selling block-printed fabrics, silk scarves, and rugs. A factory tour guide talked us through the block printing process while a master craftsman started the dem-onstration. A separate wood block is carved for each color in a design. The demo featured an 8-color elephant. Each block has a register mark that has to line up with the front and back feet of the elephant so the new color goes in its precise location and doesn’t overlap other colors in the design.

The master applied enough dye to the block to apply color precisely. Too much dye could squish outward and blur the design; too little dye and the color could be light or blotchy. Then he aligned the register marks, flattened the block on the fabric, gave a sharp knock on the back of the block, and lifted it straight up to leave a clear imprint.

After we watched the process a couple times, the tour guide asked if one of us would like to try it. Sharon, one of the great Canadian women on the tour, volunteered. When the block was finished, the master held it up for us to see.

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I couldn’t resist taking a shot of some of the wood blocks for background designs and wished I could have bought some blocks. I really gained an appreciation of the block printing process and bought 2 lengths of fabric to make summer tops for myself. Now I’ll just have to work up the nerve to cut into the fabrics.

Rug Making

The rugs we saw were knotted ones. The looms were like tapestry looms—large frames with the warp running vertically. Weavers squatted in front of the looms with a graph paper chart of the design. They used a curved tool to pull out the warp threads for each knot. Skeins of weft yarn hung around them. They drew out yarn to match the graph color and tied a knot around the warp threads pulled forward—a tedious and demanding job.

When rugs were woven, another worker cut the pile to an even length and cut the selvages to smooth the sides. Then someone used a torch to singe the surface and burn off any loose fibers.



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Next the rugs were washed and tied to a frame to dry. Prices at the factory were good and several tour members bought rugs to be shipped home.



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SWG MAY Bulletin Board andSWG Announcements

SWG Dues are due by June 30, 2015

Members: $40Student $25Guild Friend $65Angel $100 or moreNew Members: $35 for first yearPlease mail check to:Mary Doherty - SWG Interim Treasurer9032 Loyal Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117

Please check the latest information for you in the directory or bulletin changes. If you need to correct anything, send that information to [email protected].

Tapestry Presentation and Workshop

SWG members and interested fiber lovers are invited to attend a presentation by Joan Baxter, an internationally known tapestry weaver from Scotland. She will be showing slides of her work and discussing tapestry weaving on Wednesday, May 20th, 7:00-9:00 p.m, at the Penny Farcy Fire Training Center, 10019 SW Bank Road, Vashon, WA. Ms Baxter will be teaching a tapestry workshop to members of the SWG tapestry study group and members of Tacoma Weavers’ Guild May 18-22, thanks to an ANWG grant. Her evening pre-sentation is a part of the week with the Seattle/Tacoma weavers. If you have questions, please contact Joyce at [email protected].


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The Twill Study Group has moved its monthly meeting! We'll be meeting at:

Town Square Fabric and Yarn 445 SW 152nd Street, Burien 98166

http://townsquarefabric.com/

the 4th Monday of each month from 10am to 12noon. There are a coffee shop, book store, King County library and an Irish pub all very close, so it's a great location! We're studying twill and let me tell you, IT IS A THRILL!

Normally, our meeting in May would be 5/25 but since Memorial Day is that day, our first meet-ing at Town Square Fabric & Yarn will be June 1st.Then the next meeting would be June 22nd, then July 27th, etc., on the 4th Monday.

We have plenty of room for anyone who'd like to join us. Contact Dav'ne Stahley at [email protected] or Carole Browne Stewart at [email protected].

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SWG MAY Bulletin Board and

SWG Announcements continued

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Announcements continued from page 6

ANWG Conference 2017Treadle Lightly Victoria B.C.

We are moving ahead.

The dates for ANWG NW Weavers' Con-ference are set for June 28th to July 2nd 2017, in Victoria B.C. Canada. The confer-ence will be taking place at the University of Victoria.We have added some more information

to the ANWG website. The Invitation to Instructors for submission of Workshops and/or Seminars is online. There is infor-mation regarding the Process of Selection for Instructors and the online forms for Instructors to fill in. The deadline for each proposal is June 30th 2015. If you know of any Instructors that you would like to see at our Conference please pass this infor-mation along. Instructors having any ques-tions can contact Workshops Coordinator. Please visit our website at www.anwgcon-ference2017.com.There is now more information regarding

the Fashion Show, Juried Show and Open Show. Requirements for entering your article are now online. The categories are now available to view. Categories include weaving, spinning, basketry or containers, dyeing, saori weaving and felting.We are accumulating a list of Vendors.

Please contact Vendors Coordinator, if you are interested in being a vendor.We will be providing you with some links

to places to see while visiting our city. I recommend the Royal British Columbia Museum. Butchart Gardens will be in full bloom in June and July.If you would like to stay at a hotel dur-

ing the conference, there are several good places. The Oak Bay Beach Hotel is about a 15 minute drive from the University. There is also the Howard Johnson Hotel on Elk Lake Dr. also about a 15 minute drive to the University.

To the ANWG reps: If you would like to share or forward this newsletter in this format, you can send it to a friend . The link is in the footer. When you do this your friend can add their email address to the data base for future newsletters.Prairie Escallier is our Guild Liaison for

the Conference. She is looking for a Guild to weave material for buttons, to be used to make the name tags. She is also look-ing for a Guild to weave approximately 50 ribbons. We will provide the materials and consultation, as well as the pattern. If your Guild is interested in this project please contact Prairie at Guild Liaison. If you have a blog please consider

advertising the ANWG Conference and pro-vide a link to the website. Thank-you.

Like & share Treadle Lightly onFacebook and on Twitter

http://us8.forward-to-friend1.com/forward?u=02c845a451eb6b3b2a8b1adc3&id=c7db0049ae&e=c0f07e4663

SWG Guidelines for submitting Expense Vouchers:

· Expense Vouchers must contain signa-tures of Committee Member and Commit-tee Chair;· An original receipt must be attached to Expense Voucher;· If an Expense Voucher is sent via email the original Expense Voucher must be pro-vided to Treasurer to obtain reimbursement check;· Expense Vouchers should be provided to Treasurer no later than the Tuesday prior to the board meeting for approval that month.· Reimbursement checks will be handed out

Announcements continued on page 8

at the general monthly meeting or, if check recipients are not in attendance, checks will be mailed.

Mail Expense Vouchers to:Mary Doherty

SWG Interim Treasurer9032 Loyal Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117

General Announcements

The Arizona Federation of Weavers and Spinners Guilds proudly announces that our 9th biennial workshop conference, FIBERS THROUGH TIME 2016, will be held in early March, 2016.Please mark your calendars!

Radisson Hotel Phoenix North10220 N Metro Parkway East

Phoenix, AZ 85051March 10th - 13th, 2016

Our committee, chaired by Carma Koester of Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild, is hard at work. More details to follow so stay tuned.

This is a statewide project. The numerous sub-committees will be glad for your help. More details on these needs will follow, as well.Looking forward to a dynamic conference! FTT2016 Committee [email protected]

Okanogan Valley Fiber Festival [email protected]

Good Morning Fiber Enthusiasts!Spring has arrived, lambs, crias and kids are being born daily, and we are exactly 2 months away from the Okanogan Valley Fi-ber Festival. It’s a very busy time of year, but we hope that you will take some time out to come and visit us at the Agriplex on

May 30-31, and experience the beautiful Okanogan Valley in all it’s springtime glory.

This is just a reminder that we still have some spaces left in our workshops. Also, we now have all the details on the fleece grading and sorting up on our web site. We are particularly excited about this part of our event, as it is the first time that we know of that a regional sort (fleece sort-ing and grading) has been done in a fiber festival setting. This is an opportunity for anyone who raises fiber animals (sheep, alpaca, goat or rabbit) to have their fleeces professionally evaluated, with the oppor-tunity to sell them on site. In order to be as efficient as possible, we are requiring pre-registration for fleeces to guarantee evaluation. Last minute fleeces will only be done if there is time. All the information is on our web site: www.okfiberfest.org.

P.S. For all you Facebook users out there, we have an event page:

www.facebook.com/events/741292199300950

Let us know if you’re coming, and share with other Facebook friends.


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"Paper Transformed"An Exhibition at Northwind Art Center, Port Townsend, WA

July3-26, 2015www.northwindarts.org

"Paper Transformed" is an exhibition of the work of eight Western Washington artists who

transform machine and handmade paper into artist books, sculpture, jewelry, baskets and other visual objects. Dona Anderson, Mary Ashton, Danielle Bodine, Zia Gipson, Lois James, Dorothy McGuinness, Jean-Marie Tarascio and Sande Wascher-James all use paper for its inherent infinitely malleable character, not just as a substrate for traditional artists’ media. To paraphrase philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, Paper Transformed is an exhibition where "the paper is the medium and the message.”

For these artists, paper is flexible and rigid, forgiving, shape-shifting, ubiquitous, easily

stacked, bound, and collated into books, permanent (nearly) and transient, thick and thin, durable, recyclable, translucent and opaque, and gossamer thin. It can be folded, stained, painted, cast, felted, cut, torn, sewn, and woven. With paper in hand, these eight artists become sculptors, papermakers, naturalists, storytellers, printmakers, acute observers/manipu-lators of fiber made from cotton, linen, abaca, hemp, mulberry, mitsumata, and recycled wood pulp.

The paper work of Lois James, Zia Gipson and Danielle Bodine carries the record of cultural tra-

dition, personal memory and story telling. Dona Anderson's and Mary Ashton's paper sculpture resonates with the living things which give the work its connection to nature. Jean-Marie Taras-cio and Sande Washer-James artist books celebrate paper's long history of being used to make books. Dorothy McGuinness's intricate paper baskets are made from richly colored and patterned paper cut with surgical precision then folded and woven into rhythmic shapes. The eight artists in "Paper Transformed" show us how paper is infinitely alterable, taking the observer from the flat smooth surface we use daily to record the most mundane of life's events to the richly tex-tured surfaces of handmade three-dimensional objects.

Paper-related workshops for adults are being offered by Danielle Bodine and Mary Ashton.

Bodine will teach Paper Vessels July 11 and Ashton will offer Western Papermaking on July 18th and Asian Papermaking on July 19. See http://northwindarts.org/news/workshops/ for more information.Other special events include a reception for the artists Saturday, July 4 from 5:30-8 PM and a panel discussion featuring several of the artists on July 12 from 1-2 PM in the gallery followed by mini demonstrations and workshops for kids from 2-4 PM.

The exhibition and related programs will be held at Northwind Art Center in theWaterman Katz Building at 701 Water Street in downtown Port Townsend. WA.

Northwind Arts Center is open and staffed by volunteers Thursday – Monday: Noon – 5 pm.

Contact: Northwind Arts Center [email protected]


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Local Announcements for SpinnersMAY 28-31: NORTHWEST REGIONAL SPINNERS ASSN (NwRSA) ANNUAL CONFERENCE. University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. If not registered to attend this event, consider the Public Spin-In dates of May 29 and May 30, 9am-5pm. There will be vendors, and lots of room to spin so bring your wheel. www.nwregionalspinners.org.

JUNE 20 (Saturday): VASHON FARMER’S MARKET SPINNERSROCK DEMONSTRATION OF FIBER ARTS and VASHON FIBERSHED GROUP INFORMATIONAL BOOTH, 10am-2pm. We will be processing fiber, spinning, weaving, etc. The Vashon Fibershed group will be promoting their mission / focus, recruiting new members, etc. If you want to do-nate an item made with locally sourced fiber, please let me know. The Vashon Fibershed group will be selling items to raise funds to help support upcoming activities. More info coming on this soon.

OCTOBER 2-4 (Friday afternoon thru Sunday am): SPINNING RETREAT AT CAMP BURTON Hosted by the MOONSPINNERS AND ARACHNE GROUP

Museums and Galleries


The Seattle Art Museum is hosting a ma-jor exhibition, “Indigenous Beauty”, of Native American art from tribes across North America, drawn from a private collection. Many of these items have never been seen by the public. In conjunction with this show, the museum will also have a selection of Northwest Coast Native works from local private collections. The exhibit runs until May 17. Information: www.seat-tleartmuseum.org

The Burke Museum presents “Here and Now: Native Artists Inspired”, and exhibition that focuses on how today’s artists learn from past generations. New works are featured along with key pieces from the Burke Museum’s col-lection that artists identified as important to them. The show runs until July 27. Informa-tion: Burke Museum. The Experience Music Project Museum in

this bulletin: “Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars and the Power of Costume” pres-ents nearly 60 hand-crafted costumes from 6 Star Wars films. The exhibit includes sketches, notes, and interviews with the artists, design-ers, and actors. Another exhibit at the muse-um, “Fantasy: Words of Myth and Magic” also includes costumes. On exhibit until October 4. Information: EMP Museum.

The Washington State History Museum pres-ents “Pomp & Circumstance: the Clothing of Transformation”, which explores the central role clothing takes in various life events. Items are drawn from the Washington State Historical Society’s vast clothing collection, and features items of ceremonial clothing and accessories from the 1800s to the present. The exhibit runs through June 21. Information: washing-tonhistory.org

The Nordic Heritage Museum, has just opened the exhibit “Finland: Designed Environments”, which looks at the explosion of creativity in Finnish design over the last 15 years. Exam-ples of furnishings, fashion, craft, and archi-tecture illustrate the thoughtfulness of Finnish design. The exhibit runs until July 26. Infor-mation: Nordic Heritage Museum.

The Sidney Art Gallery in Port Orchard pres-ents a show called “Fiber Art by Fiber 19”, featuring work by a group of mixed media fiber artists who met at the Fiber Arts Certificate Program at UW. The show runs through April 25. Information (a Facebook page, sorry): Fiber 19

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Opportunity to Demonstrate Fiber Art at the Festival

Folklife will have a venue for fiber artists to demonstrate at the Memorial Day Weekend Folklife Festival.

The days for this are Sat, Sun, and Mon, May 23, 24, 25. The times are 11AM -3PM or 3PM -7PM. This is a great way to promote our guild, inform the public about us and to find new members. It is a unique opportunity because of the vast numbers of people who come to the festival.

What this entails is that you will sit at a table and weave, spin or do any other fiber art and be able to answer questions when festival-goers stop by to see what you are doing.

Additionally, if you want to sell your work, Folklife has set up a way for you to get a temporary Seattle Business license for $5. They also ask that you donate 15% of what you make as a donation to Folklife.

It would be great to have at least one or two Seattle Handweavers at the demo tent for all 3 days. Let me know if you want to do this and I will get your information to Folklife. Send me your name, email address, phone, US mail address, what day and time you can demo, if you need help with loading, storage, and if you need to have parking reimburised.

Below is a check list for what to bring if you decide to do this.

1.Table cloth2. Chairs will be provided but if you need a more comfortable one please bring it.3. Information about your guild or organization and membership forms4. Examples of your work, either for sale or not for sale5. Your Business cards6. Business license

Jill Green [email protected]

PLAY TIMENorthwest Folklife Fiber Arts Demo’s

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Summer WorkshopJuly 23, 2015

Summer Program at Magnuson Park

10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Pavilion 1

Join us a Magnuson Park to see some gorgeous felted items by award-winning felter Flóra Carlile Kovács and do some felting yourself. She will teach us to felt a hollow shape using merino wool, water, soap, and agitation. We’ll also felt a cord to make a drawstring, and shape a casing with no sewing at all!

Check out Flóra's beautiful felting at http://floranemez.eu

Flóra Carlile Kovács The award winner of several wearable art shows, Flóra is a professional fiber artist born in Szeged, Hungary, now living and working in Seattle Washington. In her work she incorporates two bodies of knowledge, the nomadic traditions and the urban, modern style of feltmaking. Coming from the European tradition of craftsmanship and quality, she is constantly experimenting with ways to improve not only the visual artistic aspect of her work, but also its physical integrity as a functional object ap-propriate for everyday use. She believes in improving the world by making functional, durable and beautiful objects of very high quality, using sustainable materials and methods of craftsmanship.


Summer Program with Flóra Carlile Kovács

— Make a Felted Pouch —

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New SWG Members, April 2015

Bruggman, Karen ph: 425-778-493319008 78th Place, W. c: 206-909-4933Edmonds, WA 98026 e-mail: [email protected]

Karen is a beginning tapestry weaver, also interested in learning to use her rigid heddle loom. She has experience as a spinner, helping to organize the annual St. Distaff’s day spin-in. She is also a quilter. She owns a fiber business in Edmonds, WA, called Spinnindipity Fibers.

Gehringer, Susan ph: 6215 225th Ave. N.E. c:Redmond, WA 98053 e-mail:

Susan is primarily interested in design, and seeks to expand her horizons.

Green, Jill ph: 206-324-4714929 26th Ave. c: Seattle, WA 98122 e-mail: [email protected]

Jills notes joining SWG has “been on her list a long time.” She wants to be/learn with other fiber artists. She has focused on basketry, and volunteers at the Burke Museum. She is a grad-uate of the UW fiber arts certificate program. She is our “flash mob” motivator for the Folklife Festival.

Moncrief, Liz ph: 360-982-213511276 Michael Place c: 970-692-3949Burlington, WA 98233 e-mail: [email protected]

Liz recently moved here from Colorado, where she had a long history participating in weaving guilds. She has focused on rugs and art pieces. She is newly retired and spreading her roots here.

president’s message may bio & program · the silk portions of the sarees were woven in plain...

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