Welcome to the Duneland Weavers' Guild!
Our meetings are open to the public and we love visitors,
including non-weavers and not-yet weavers as well as weavers and other fiber artists.

 Have a good summer and weave, weave, weave, knit, knit, knit and spin, spin, spin!

Guild meetings will resume in September after the summer break.  Our first meeting on September 8 will be 1:00 - 3:30 in the afternoon at our usual location in the Library Annex.

For more information about the Guild, including the location and time of the meetings, click on the About link (above).
Click on the Gallery link (above) to see photos of our 2018 annual show and sale.

May 2018 Meeting
(Thanks for the photos, Sue!)
We celebrated the Guild's 70th anniversary year at our final meeting for 2017-18.  Below are photos Sue took of the members who came and enjoyed the delicious lunch which was followed by a fascinating program on Viking Age textiles and the looms and other tools used to make them.
 
Table 1 Table 2

Table 3 Table 4

Julie Watkins, accompanied by her husband, presented the very lively and interesting program on medieval life and warp-weighted looms.  Both were dressed as living history re-enactors in clothing characteristic of the Viking Age (approximately 1000 years ago), and they brought Julie's warp-weighted loom and other tools patterned on those used at that time to produce fabric for clothing and other fiber-based items that were needed for day to day life.

Loom1
Julie and her loom are in the photo above.  Note the warp chains are being kept under tension by the donut-shaped weights and there are three heddle rods for forming sheds for the weft. Julie's loom is a small portable model.  It is likely that the actual Viking looms were much larger.

Loom 2
After Julie's presentation we were invited to come up and look more closely at all the tools and samples of fiber work, including fabric, which she had brought.  Above Chris is holding some fabric hand woven of wool, linen, hemp or nettle, the fibers that were used in the Viking Age.

Naalbinding Tools 1

On the left, Roz is holding a very sturdy mitten Julie made with naalbinding, a method that was used for making items like mittens and socks.  Naalbinding involves only a single needle and predated knitting and crocheting.  On the right, are a variety of tools and items Julie brought to show us, including wool combs for cleaning and straightening wool fibers,  a niddy-noddy for making skeins of yarn, a net bag made with sprang and a length of very strong cord made using a lucet.

Tools 2
Julie also brought a variety of other tools like those used in the Viking Age which are shown in the photo above: a wooden drop spindle, two combs made of bone, an elegant shawl or cloak pin, and other finely crafted small metal tools useful for a weaver.

April 2018 Meeting
(Thanks for the photos, Lisa!  And thanks, Lizz, for notes on another meeting I missed!)

Jacque Gaddy presented a very interesting PowerPoint presentation on current tapestry artists and then provided materials and instructions for people to weave their own mini-baskets with tapestry weave.  We hope people will bring their finished baskets to the May Luncheon so we can see their results.
Jacque
In the photo above, Jacque is holding the tapestry loom her husband Terry made for her, and on the table are the very attractive mini-basket Jacque wove using tapestry techniques and the collection of colorful yarns she brought for workshop participants to use when weaving their own mini-baskets.

April Show and Tell
Kathy1 Kathy3 Kathy2
Kathy attended a workshop on weaving iridescent fabric presented by Bobbie Irwin.  
Above Kathy is holding a scarf she wove using that technique at the workshop.
 
Shelby1 Shelby2
Shelby wove this loom-controlled twill rug using a linen warp and wool weft and 4 shafts.
Margaret Sue

Margaret and Sue attended a workshop in Washington State on nuno stained glass felting.  Margaret (on the L) is holding a scarf she felted with a variety of shapes of areas that let light through, and Sue (on the R) is holding a scarf she felted with a regular rectangular "window" pattern.

Jeane Chris Terry
Jeane wove two towels in huck weave and also brought a cotton shawl she had knit for the Fashion Show. Above is an egg apron (!) Chris knit for members of her family to wear when they collect eggs from their 20 newly acquired chickens. Terry brought batts she had prepared for spinning, including this one in sunset colors.

Pam1 Pam2
Pam brought a purse she had made using 8-shaft twill fabric she had woven using 10/2 (possibly) rayon.
March 2018 Meeting
(Thanks for the photos, Lisa and Sue!  And thanks, Lizz, for notes on the meeting I missed!)

Our March meeting was the Weavers' and Spinners' Challenge (a.k.a. Weavers' and Spinners' Poker).
Each of the volunteers received a "hand" of cards that specified criteria such as fiber, color, weaving pattern or spinning technique, for example.  Each received five cards and one could be discarded.  The weavers then created a woven piece, and the spinners spun skeins of yarn and one spinner then knit a piece with the yarn she had spun.  Below are the weavers and spinners who took the challenge showing what they accomplished with the cards they were dealt.

PShirley PMelvenea
Shirley's cards: Crackle weave, tencel silk yarn, citrus color, three colors, beaded.  She wove yardage for this very attractive vest with beads along the front edge. Melvenea's cards: Spin with wool; space-dyed purple, fuscia, green & gold; sparkle; chain plied.  She knit this lovely shawl with 600-700 yards of her handspun yarn.

PTerry2 PTerry1 PTerry3
Terry's cards: Spin with metallic, green, thick & thin, cabled.  She spun several beautiful skeins of yarn, each one with at least one of the characteristics on her cards.  Above Terry is holding her thick & thin yarn on the L, her yarn with metallic fiber in the center photo, and her green thick & thin yarn on the R.

PLisa PBarb
Lisa's cards: Weave checks, something from Handwoven magazine 2014 and for the kitchen (not towels), clothing, green.  Her result was this neat checked pocket she wove and sewed onto a denim apron. Barb's cards: Spin wool, blue, beads, spin z & ply s.  Her result was skeins of this lovely blue yarn.

PPaula PPaula1

Paula's cards: Weave undulated point twill, wool, green, stripes.  Her solution: Drop the green and weave fabric for this elegantly patterned jacket.

PChris1 PChris4 PChris3 PChris2

Chris's cards: Spin buffalo fiber, natural color, long draw, plied as strip, something from stash.  Her solution was to spin several very attractive skeins of yarn, each using at least one of her cards.

PEllen1 PEllen2

Margaret (in the L photo) presented Ellen's response to the challenge.  Ellen's cards: Weave miniature overshot, cotton, multi-colored warp, metallic (stainless steel silk).  On the R are Ellen's very elegant pieces: a wristlet (also held up by Margaret), an evening bag and an infinity scarf.

March Show and Tell

Margaret Paula Shelby
Margaret wove four scarves with a bamboo warp and either a cotton or a silk weft. Paula's scarves were woven with a space-dyed tencel warp using different wefts and patterns created by changing the tie-up on her 28-shaft loom. Among the pieces Shelby brought to show us was this optic twill rug (look closely at it).  It's a Jason Collingwood pattern using a linen warp and wool weft.

 Jeane
Jeane brought several pieces to show us also, including this "Panda" silk shawl she knit with a Close to You pattern.

Marcia2 Marcia1
 
To encourage weavers to produce pieces for the April Show, Marcia brought two pullovers she had made using her handwoven fabric.  She is modelling a pink one on the L and holding a striped one on the R.  Both were easy to sew and required a relatively small amount of fabric.

Jacque Terry Shirley
Jacque wove this afghan with Harrisville wool on a 16-shaft loom. Terry brought several skeins of yarn she had spun in a variety of colors. Shirley wove, sewed and embellished cotton bibs for grandbabies.

Melvenea2
Melvenea knit this shawl using yarn she spun using a variety of natural colors of cotton, some from South America.

Margie2 Margie1

Margie, who is on the L, wove both the wool scarf she is holding and the color gamp she is holding on the R.  She wove the gamp with 10/2 cotton.