New Exhibit to be announced soon!

A new exhibit with prizes is soon to be announced. 'Just Our Yarn' a loyal vendor has asked to do an exhibit at the MWA conference in Hancock Michigan in June 2011. 'JOY' is located in Falls Church Virginia but they do not have a shop - at least they did not have one when I was out there looking for them. They sell online and as vendors at many conferences around the country. Midwest Weavers was the first conference they did as a vendor a few years back, I have my stash to prove it. They have their own patterns, kits, and beautiful handpainted yarns, tencel, silk, wool and many other kinds of your favorite yarns. Check out their web site at www.justouryarn.com/.

This is just a hint - as they are finalizing the details for the exhibit and will announce it on their website in November and in the Conference Registration booklet. I can tell you the thoughts are 3 categories: 4-Harness or less including Rigid Heddle, 8 Harness or less and more than 8 Harness. The one requirement is that 50% of your yarn must be from 'Just Our Yarn'.

I don't know about you but I have lots of this yarn in my stash to choose from. In fact I already had a 4 yard warp on my 8-Harness table loom that is all 'Just Our Yarn' fiber. I love weaving with their Tencel, it is just too beautiful. My inspiration is from Margaret Roach Wheeler workshop at Roots 2007 in Nebraska. The workshop 'Designing with Summer and Winter' was a challenging class for me. I am finding choosing the colors for the summer and winter patterns to be the most difficult part.

Eight Harness feather pattern from Designing with Summer and Winter








Margaret's garments were unbelievable, check out some of her work if you have never seen her garments.

Margaret Roach Wheeler's garments and detail of the Raven Head dress



Check out Just Our Yarn for the Exhibit details in November 2010 - deadline will be sometime in May 2011. Happy weaving!

About Our New Look

You may have noticed the new name and new look for this blog. We wanted to avoid any confusion as the Midwest Weavers' Association posts conference information to the Midwest Weavers' Conference web site. As the host guild for biennial conference in 2011, we will continue to blog news about Northern Wefts, which will be held June 23-25 in Hancock, Michigan, and link you to the official registration site.

For a quick preview of the Northern Wefts workshop and exhibit titles, see the Midwest Weavers' Association newsletter, which you can read here as a PDF. As additional conference registration information is added to the MWA site, we'll keep you posted.

We look forward to seeing you at Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan next summer when we host the region's biennial conference. And even as we weave together Northern Wefts, we're marking our calendars for the week of June 16, 2013. That's when the Kansas Alliance of Weavers & Spinners will host Fiber Frontiers at Emporia State University.  In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you next summer in Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula.

Oh, and here's what was on the loom recently -- just so you know that conference committee volunteers still find time to weave! Thank you to Mary Brownell for this photo.