Wednesday Summer Series 2022
The 2022 Wednesday Summer Workshop Series offers Guild members an opportunity to view 10 Morning Workshop Zoom recordings. Each video will be available to registered attendees for 7 days beginning on a Wednesday, during which time you can watch as often as you wish with full video control such as pause, back up, and fast forward. If the instructor has provided handouts they will be available for download on the website video page.
July 6-12, 2022
Gretchen Romey-Tanzer
Tackling Turned Drafts
Rosepath, Monk's Belt, Overshot, Taqueté and Honeycomb are some of the drafts that can be successfully “turned”. Some can be woven with a 4-shaft loom but others require 6 or more shafts to be successful. A common feature to these structures is that the pattern is generated by multiple shuttles with different weft colors or fiber weights. When the draft is turned it puts all the color into the warp and is woven with a single weft shuttle.
In this workshop Gretchen looks at samples of turned handwoven fabrics and their corresponding drafts. I will share a collection of resources with the participants of where more information on the subject can be found.
July 13-19, 2022
Mary Mandarino
Making Chenille
Learn how to make your own Handwoven Chenille to make deep piled Rugs. This is the Ultimate Stash Reducing Project! Mary reviews the specifics for setting up the loom, weft options of wool or cotton yarn or rag strips of different fibers, and the post weaving process for finishing the yardage, cutting and securing the chenille strips.
Mary then reviews the design process. The class works through the design considerations and calculations to make a simple geometric rug by weaving the vertical chenille strips for use in making the horizontal chenille strips for a thick piled rug.
July 20-26, 2022
Deb Essen
Introduction to Supplemental Warps
What are supplemental warps and how do they work? Deb provides a quick tour/introduction to the weave structures woven with supplemental warps, and then she explains setting up your loom to weave.
July 27-August 2, 2022
Denise Kovnat
Dorset Buttons: Their History & How to Make Them
Come learn the history of these small treasures and view lots of inspirational photos along the way.
Denise starts with a history presentation. We then spend time learning the fundamentals for making these buttons, part of the historic craft known as “buttony.” The variations are limitless and they can be created anywhere using only curtain rings, a tapestry needle and yarn (and beads if you choose). Further, you can customize these buttons to match your own creations, using yarns from your stash.
August 3-9, 2022
Marcia Weiss
Double Cloth Drafting
In this technical, “how to”, drafting workshop, Marcia shows how to create weaves, threading, tie-up and treadling diagrams for loom-controlled double cloth. Her discussion includes: vertical and horizontal tubes, double width fabric, checkerboard pockets, two single layers and pleats. Marcia includes the 5 steps to creating double cloth structures.
August 10-16, 2022
Penny Lacroix
Doubleweave V-Shawl on 4 Shafts
Penny teaches how to design and weave a V-shaped shawl on a single warp, with no seams! The workshop starts with a review of double weave on 4 shafts. The techniques are then applied by demonstration to show participants how to use them to weave a V-shawl or scarf. Expect “Aha!” moments!
The class then turns to design and how the choice of warp color patterns changes the final product. This workshop is appropriate for all levels of weavers
August 17-23, 2022
Wendy Landry
Velvet for Contemporary Handweavers
Wendy presents the principles of handwoven velvet, and techniques and loom adaptations for contemporary exploration. She shows how it can be made on the simplest of frame looms with weighted warp systems. She discusses how common 4 and 8 shaft looms can be used by contemporary handweavers to explore velvet pile textures, velvets with brocade, and even polychrome options with two pile warps, to make images using pick-up techniques.
August 24-30, 2022
Margaret Arafat
Ondulé Weaving
An ondulé or fan reed is no longer a total mystery to the weaving community. Knowing how to use one, however, is another thing. If you’ve never seen one or really don’t know what one is, you can learn a bit about this unique weaving tool.
Margaret talks about some of the challenges a weaver faces with an ondulé reed, from designing a pattern and choosing the yarn to finishing the woven piece; challenges that move beyond weaving with a conventional reed. You will see samples and finished pieces. Because we learn from what works, and especially what does not, Margaret shares some of her mistakes, too. In addition, there are video demonstrations on how to use the reed on table and floor looms. You are invited to take a short ride down the slippery slope that Margaret finds so rewarding.
August 31-Sept 6, 2022
Ann Graham
Shadow Weave
Shadow weave, a structure derived from plain weave, can be used to make fabrics suitable for fashion and home furnishings. Two colors alternate in the warp and weft to produce color and weave effects with a great number of patterning possibilities. Mary Meigs Atwater and Marion Powell developed their own notations for shadow weave; learn how to read their drafts and compare the advantages that each system offers. Convert your favorite designs to shadow weave.
Note: students should be able to read a weaving draft.
September 7-13, 2022
Ellen Hess
Developing Color Ideas from Visual Inspiration Images
A weaver’s voice comes through the use of color, pattern and texture. But where do we get our color inspiration? We see beautiful paintings, landscapes or photographs and respond viscerally to the color combinations, but we may be challenged in applying the colors effectively to handwoven cloth or other fiber arts. Woven designers often work from an existing color palette provided by a Trend Forecast service. They have to use those colors to develop a new line of fabrics.