Afternoon Speakers 2022-2023
Fall speakers will present live via Zoom to our in-person meeting. They will be available for questions.
September 14, 2022
Sharing the Stories of Gist Yarn
Sarah Resnick
Sarah will share stories about how she began her weaving yarn company, Gist Yarn, which she opened in Stoughton, MA in 2017. She will share her experience working in cut-and-sew garment manufacturing, and what prompted her to take the leap over to starting a yarn business, focused on domestic textile production. She will share the growth and evolution of Gist Yarns, including how partnerships developed with textile mills to create new lines of yarn for weavers, and relationships with emerging and experienced designers to the creation and publication of new weaving patterns.
October 12, 2022
Technology and Weaving
Barry Duncan & Dawne Wimbrow
Dawne and Barry will cover how technology can be a helpful assist during the design, setup and weaving process. While technology doesn’t set up our looms or weave for us, it can be a wonderful assistant that helps us weave when we otherwise may not be able to concentrate to avoid mistakes.
The presentation will cover Dobby and TempoTreadle technologies for weaving to explain how they work. We’ll also talk about weave design software and how features to visualize, quickly iterate through color and design choices as well as help with the project planning can encourage the creative process.
Finally with technology, although it is a big help, there is a learning curve. We’ll talk about how we’ve seen that addressed in our business with weavers young and old, and some with little prior experience with using computers and technology.
November 9, 2022
Uzbek Ikat: The Personal Saga of an Exceptional Cloth
Marilyn Romatka
Experience the exotic in your own home town; travel to Central Asia in this multi-media presentation.
We have all seen Uzbek Ikat on the runway in New York and London, now travel back to Uzbekistan to watch the process of its production with Marilyn. Each thread manipulated, dyed, and woven into exquisite cloth – truly hand-crafted.
The February Meeting will be held on ZOOM. All other Meetings and Afternoon Speakers will be Hybrid - both Virtual and In-Person
If you plan to attend the ZOOM session, you must register. In-person attendees do not need to register.
February 8, 2023
Textile Travelogue:
Members’ Experiences (Zoom)
Textiles hold a key to understanding about other peoples and cultures. During the February 2023 meeting, members will share pictures of a textile piece and talk about it as a possible inspiration to their weaving practice, the history behind the piece, or as a moment of sheer wonderment. Members will be asked to prepare a short narrative based on prompts provided. Talking time 7-10 minutes per travel destination. Images will be shared via a central Power Point presentation organized in advance of the meeting.
March 8, 2023
Split-Shed Weaving
Deborah Silver
Deborah will give a PowerPoint lecture explaining the split-shed weaving process, including how to read a split-shed draft, how to form a split shed on different loom types, and the myriad structures that can be created using a split shed with just four shafts.
Deborah will also show examples of her woven art and discuss her creative process. In addition, there will be dozens of split-shed woven samples for participants to peruse.
April 12, 2023
Creating Intuitively through Art & Design
Paula Stebbins Becker
Paula will share her experience and journey as an artist, weaver and textile designer through photographs and physical samples of her work. She will discuss how she is inspired by nature, color, textiles, art, and design, while sharing recent woven work that has been shown in various gallery exhibitions as well as examples of her artworks that she created for textile designs.
Paula will share examples of her unraveling and reweaving process and talk about how she began her creative journey while an MFA Fiber student at Cranbrook in the early 1990’s.
May 10,2023
The May Meeting is an annual celebration of the Guild's programs and members. The schedule includes the Annual Business Meeting, Ratings Exhibit and presentations, Awards, the Guild Challenge presentation, a light-hearted Fashion Show, and a 100th Celebration Luncheon. There are no morning workshops or afternoon speaker.
Carol McClennen's lovely tartan shawl from the 2022 Fashion Show