Edmonton Weavers’ Guild News

Felted Animal Masks with Gladys Paulus – August 2-6, 2019

Posted August 21. 2019

EWG hosted UK textile artist Gladys Paulus for two felting workshops in July and August.

Participants had such a tremendous felting adventure, learning from Gladys Paulus from Somerset England.  Her advanced techniques for felt sculpture left us in awe of her work and quite frankly, our own.  The biggest learning, was seeing a piece from all sides and graduating colours though all 6 layers of fibre.  Gladys expertly guided this menagerie through creating and fitting templates, accounting for unique features of each critter, choosing colour gradations that highlighted particular features and building texture that brought our pieces to life.  While some of these pieces are unfinished, we have the confidence Gladys gave us to complete the finishing touches on our own.

 

If you ever have a chance to sit in a room with this wonderful woman, jump at it!

(Thanks to Brenda for the text and photos)

Annual General Meeting and Potluck – May 29, 2019

Posted May 30, 2019

 

In addition to the business of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), members shared a delicious potluck dinner, and showcased their creativity and skills with displays from:

• The Juniors Study Group
• Get Sett Study Group
• Deflected Double Weave class

and the Paint Chip Challenge.  Last year, members blindly selected a paint chip and were challenge to weave, spin, dye or felt a creation in their paint chip colours.

 

Posted May 26, 2019

 

EWG hosted Denise Kovnat from Rochester, NY for a fabulous 3-day workshop, May 24-26, 2019, exploring the magic of extended parallel threading or Echo threading.

17 participants wove Echo, Jin (also called Turned Taquete), Shadow Weave, Rep, double weave and collapse structures. Denise covered network drafting, and provided a wealth of information (including over 50 drafts), and inspiration.  An amazing learning experience!

The public was invited to a Saturday evening presentation Once Upon a Warp where Denise shared her process for creating handwoven garments.  Denise explained that TEXTS and TEXTILES share the same Latin origin – TEXERE to weave.  “Every warp has a story.  Where does that story begin?”  She then shared the story behind a number of garments juried into the Handweavers Guild of America fashion show, Convergence from 2008 to 2018. 25 participants enjoyed Denise’s presentation, and then had an opportunity to touch and try on the beautiful garments.

See some photos of participant samples in Echo, Jin and Shadow Weave below.

A big thank you to the Handweavers, Spinners, and Dyers of Alberta (HWSDA) for their financial assistance.

Posted May 5, 2019

On Sunday afternoon, May 5th, EWG members benefited from the knowledge of Kathy Buse on how to identify unknown fibres.  In the 4th Master Wannabees session, Burn, Baby Burn! Kathy provided a lecture, handouts and materials, and then guided participants on the burn test.

Kathy described the process to identify mystery fibres:  What is the appearance of the fibre? Is it shiny, matte, thick, thin, hairy?  How does it feel?  Is it soft, slippery, coarse, wiry, smooth, elastic?  What is the fibre length? For example, synthetics are long. What is its strength?  Does it break easily?  Does it smell? Some wool has a spinning oil odour.

She provided samples of different fibres and detailed instructions on how to conduct the burn test.  She stressed that the smoke may be toxic, particularly for synthetic fibres, so be aware of the ventilation and try not to inhale the smoke but pay attention to the colour of the smoke and the shape of the residue which will provide clues as to the fibre’s identity.  With Kathy’s help, participants then had a hands-on opportunity to test the mystery fibres that they brought with them.

A useful Sunday afternoon. Thank you Kathy!

Posted April 18, 2019

See photos of the April 27th opening of the Exhibition on the 65th Anniversary page.

2019_Evite _EWG

Posted April 16, 2019

Instructor Angela Kelly scratched the creative itch of participants who designed a rug, and then learned how to use a punch needle to hook a rug.  Check out our Classes and Workshops page for more course offerings from EWG.

Posted April 10, 2019

Study groups provide an opportunity for the sharing of knowledge, friendship and inspiring each other’s creativity.  Get Sett is a weaving study group that meets every second Tuesday evening under the mentorship of Diane K.  Here are some the creations of Get Sett members over the last couple of months.