THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NASHOBA VALLEY WEAVERS’ GUILD
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June 2010
Nashoba Valley Weavers’ Guild ~ PO Box 50 ~ Harvard MA ~ 01451
Potluck Dinner and Annual Meeting
June 22 - Potluck
The potluck is all set for Tuesday, June 22nd, 6:30pm. Those who'd like to carpool should meet at the Fiber
Loft at 6:15. Please let us know in advance, so we don't leave anyone behind! For the meeting, please
bring a dish to share, your guild challenge for the contest and any show and tell you'd like to share. The
hostess has graciously offered to provide all plates and silverware, so there's no need to bring your own
place setting this year.
Annual Meeting We have a few items of "official business" to cover at our potluck meeting on June 22nd. One of those items
is our annual election of officers. Our by-laws call for 2-year terms for all of our officers, with roughly half of
the terms expiring each year to promote continuity among the board.
The slate of officers to be voted on this year, with terms ending in June 2012 (unless otherwise noted) is:
Member at Large, Reba Maisel
Historian, Dorothy Solbrig
Hospitality, Carol Vales
Librarian, Kathy Tappan
Treasurer, Lynn Ferrillo
Webmaster, Janice Boutotte
NEWS REP, Joan Paul
NEWS Consultant, Eileen Fitzgerald (term to end with NEWS 2011)
Officers with another year remaining (terms ending June 2011) are:
At Large, Arlette Stawasz
Co-Chair, Penny LaCroix
Co-Chair, Laura Busky
NEWS Rep, Kathy Tappan
Newsletter Editor, Krista Hampsch
Program Director, Susan Targove (currently filling vacancy)
Publicist, currently vacant
Secretary, Dorothy Solbrig (currently filling vacancy)
Guild Challenge
In keeping with our 3D theme this year, our challenge is to create a container from fiber. For this purpose,
"container" is defined as "anything in which another object may be placed". Containers must be made of
fiber (fabric, grass, yarns, etc) and can use other materials as embellishments. Items will be displayed and
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22nd.
prizes awarded at the potluck dinner/annual meeting on June
If you are unable to attend the June
22nd meeting but would still like to participate, please bring your container to the Fiber Loft and we will see
that it gets entered in the contest. All members in attendance at the meeting will be able to vote for each
category of prize and those items with the most votes in each category will be the winners.
The categories will be: 1) Popular choice, 2) Most useful/functional, 3) Best execution using handwoven
cloth, 4) Best use of mixed media, 5) Most whimsical, 6) Most creative. We may add categories if we end up
with extra prizes.
The prizes (so far) are: Handwoven 2008 Collection CD, a gift certificate for 1 year subscription to
Handwoven Magazine, set of 2 overshot placemats from ATHM, a gift certificate from the Fiber Loft, a
swatch collection of 4 harness patterns by Russ Groff, and a binder of back issues of Robin & Russ's "Drafts
and Designs: A guide for 5 to 12 Harness Weaves".
September 25th is a GOOD DAY TO DYE! Mark the date on your calendar! We'll spend the day exploring
some different fun, easy and safe methods of dyeing. Details are still being ironed out, but we'll be using
cake frosting coloring and Kool-Aid, as well as perhaps some more traditional dyes. The location is still
TBD, but the day is set, so save the date and stay tuned for more details over the summer. This will be a
great way to start our 2010-2011 theme of Basic Fun!
Membership
It’s time to renew your membership in the guild. To keep your membership current, come to the June
potluck or September meeting with $20 in cash or mail your check for $20 to Nashoba Valley Weavers’
Guild, P. O. Box 50, Harvard, MA 01451.
Dunstable Artisan’s Fair Booth
A while back we announced that The Dunstable Artisans' Guild invited our Guild to have a 10' x 10' booth at
their show on October 16 & 17, 2010 in Groton, MA. We had several members who showed interest in
participating, but not enough to make it happen. We feel this is a wonderful opportunity for our members to
participate in a mid-level, juried show and could be the start of a mutually beneficial relationship with the
Dunstable Artisans' Guild. We have restructured our plan to make participation more user friendly, and hope
that it will encourage more of our members to participate.
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The new plan is for the Guild & The Fiber Loft to sponsor the cost of the booth and to take a commission on
items sold to help cover that cost. The commission will be 30% for those who can't help at the show and
15% for those who can contribute at least 4 hours of their time during the course of the weekend. Workers
are needed Friday evening from 5 until roughly 8pm for setup, Saturday and Sunday from 10-5 to "man" the
booth, plus time after 5pm on Sunday for tear down. We hope this plan is enticing, even if you only have
one or two items to sell. If you're interested in participating, please contact Penny LaCroix or Laura Busky at
chair@nvwg.org.
Field Trip to Shelburne Museum
On Saturday May 22nd six of our members (plus two husbands!) met at the Shelburne Museum in
Shelburne VT for an in-depth tour of their 1890s jacquard loom. We spent a lovely day. Bonnie our guide
was very accommodating. She allowed us as much time as we wanted to crawl around, photograph, and
study the loom.
Although we were not able to see it in action because the warp was not yet tied on in front, by the end
of our time with Bonnie we felt we understood how much of the mechanism works. It helped that she
provided handouts for us to photocopy and share. Interestingly, Joan Paul purchased one of last year’s
placemat samples from the gift shop. It happened to be the very same threading on the loom. We could
compare it to the holes in the pattern cards on the loom and see that the underlying structure, apart from the
vase and bird imagery, was a twill.
It’s worth remembering that it would have been major expense for any weaver to upgrade to this new
and improved technology. In fact, some of the canuts (weavers) of early 19th century Lyon could not have
converted at all to the jacquard because of its height and much greater weight-- at least not without moving
to a larger space on the ground floor where one presumed the floor wouldn’t cave in!
- Lynn Ferrillo
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Jacquard Loom – Shelburne Farm, Vermont
Adele Harvey – Shifu Demonstration
At our April
meeting Adele Harvey presented an interesting program entitled “What to do with
Yesterday's News”. After a review of the history of paper yarn in Japan, Adele demonstrated the process of
preparing and spinning paper of various kinds (dressmaker’s pattern paper, Japanese Kozo paper, tissue
paper, and newspaper) using a bobbin winder.
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Adele Harvey demonstrating spinning
with dressmaker’s paper.
Outreach
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The following organizations have contacted the guild looking for participants. Please make arrangements
directly with the contact person noted if you are interested.
Bolton Fair Fiber Exhibit, August 12-15th. All fiber artists welcome to demonstrate. At least a 3 hour
volunteer shift is required for a free ticket to the fair. Demonstrators may sell fiber artwork during their demo
time. Please contact Laura Busky at laura@northbrookalpacas.com by July 15th if you would like to
volunteer.
Fruitlands Demos, Sundays, September 12 and October 17, 1-5. Once again this summer, NVWG
members will demonstrate weaving at Fruitlands Museum. Volunteers may sign up for 2 hour shifts by
contacting Dorothy Solbrig.
Worcester Center for Crafts – July 5-August 13. The Worcester Center for Crafts is sponsoring an
exhibit of local fiber artists in its gallery July 5-Augut 13. This exhibit coincides with the reemergence of the
fiber arts studio at the Center. An introductory weaving course and open fiber arts studio time will also be
offered in the gallery this summer in an effort to bring the community of fiber artists together. Please contact
Ellen Ferrante, 617-510-5308, and/or ellen.ferrante@verizon.net should you be interested in exhibiting your
work at the Center or to discuss this project.
Events
August 12 – 15: Bolton Fair
http://www.boltonfair.org/
Sept. 17-Oct. 3: The Big E
http://www.thebige.com/fair/index.html
September 12 and October 17: Fruitlands Demos by NVWG
October 16-17: Dunstable Artisans Show
http://dunstableartisans.org/DA_events.html
Classes
From Thistle Hill Weavers: Three new classes taught by nationally known textile expert and Thistle Hill
Weavers owner, Rabbit Goody. They all take place this summer at our mill in Cherry Valley.
Textile Solutions for Small Museums – June 18-20
Weaving Historic Reproductions – July 16 – 18
Pattern Weaving Basics – July 24 – 25
You can receive more information on the classes or register by sending email to: rgoody@hughes.net or by
calling 518-284-2729
NVWG Yahoo Group
We would like to remind everyone that the Guild has a YahooGroup available. We would like to be able to
use it to contact our entire membership, but not all members are subscribed. It's free, and you can decide if
you want individual emails, a daily digest of emails for the day, or no emails (meaning you would need to log
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on to the YahooGroup site to view any postings). To subscribe, go to www.yahoogroups.com. In the "Find
a Yahoo! Group" box, type "nvwg" and click the search button. Our group, entitled "nvwg", should come up
in the search results with a "Join This Group" link. Click the link and follow the instructions. If you have any
trouble subscribing, please let us know and we can "force" your subscription from our end. I will post our
meeting reminder to the YahooGroup list, so you will have some indication if you're already subscribed.