Gary Olds Presentation 'Seeds to Satchel' Flax to Linen - Fall Retreat schedule

Flax project book by Gary Olds

Our guild meeting in August 2019 we invited Gary Olds, who is originally from Calumet, to present a program on a project he is working on in St Louis MO. Gary belongs to an Artisan Guild that decided to do a project called 'Seeds to Satchel'  'Flax to Linen'. It is a project the guild is working on together growing flax seeds. Processing them to Linen then creating a lovely satchel of linen and leather with buckles all made by members of the group. Gary role is organizer of this project.

Flax

completed satchel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always we start our meeting with show and tell:

Anita brought in some interesting fiber pieces she found in the U.P.

Quill work with paper

tiny tatting sample

felted bird hanging

Dawn found some simple square looms and shared her nalbinding finished mat that she felted.
Also a huge basket she bought from a family in the Keweenaw. We thought it might be a good future workshop for our guild.

U.P. Basket maker sample

Phyllis really took to the Nalbinding workshop and has been busy perfecting her stitches.

Her first sample is a round mat with changing the colors as she worked. Next she made two egg cozies. Then she started an oval start project and is working on two hats, one of which is hand spun yarn.

round start with changing colors of yarn

egg cozies

hand spun wool yarn hat

oval start sample

Phyllis is hoping to have enough yarn to finish the striped hat below.

hat with alternating colors

Clare showed up with daughter Lyra and having just returned from Finland she brought in a sample woven bag she found during her visit. Lyra is keeping Clare very busy these days.

wool weaving from Finland

Lynn's first runner

 Lynn found out that she did not know color as well as she thought after attending MLH and taking a Finnish Style Runner/Cotton Rug technique workshop from Wynne Mattila. This is a 3 shuttle technique using 15 ply Finnish Seine Twine for the warp with a cotton fabric weft.
Lynn admits that she learned the importance of using a temple as well as combining colors during this class.

Lynn with her second Finnish style runner

Mary has taken a few quick classes this summer by local artists with some friends.
Ann Wickman teaches a lovely twined rug class at her beautiful home on the Wisconsin River. It turns out this is the perfect size for a bench I have.  Not only did we make a beautiful rug out of flannel strips from old sheets. But we each came home with a loom.

Mary took Karen Tembruell's Basket 101 Mixed Media at the Porkies Folk School. She found working with these natural basket materials very satisfying. Karen is an excellent teacher and the class did a fine job of finishing their baskets.









Mary also took a Eco dye and print workshop with Debbie Jircik at the Porkies Folk School.  She does not use mordants or chemicals at all with her natural dye baths. We got some lovely colors here shown on silk noil fabric.

 

Because we had a quest speaker we had some visitors who drove a long way to attend our Guild meeting. Here Denise a new weaver shared a woven sample from a workshop at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival. She also knits and completed this beautiful shawl with yarn she purchased at the Jefferson sheep and wool festival last year.

woven sample

Denise and knit shawl

Melissa brought in her finished towels hemmed, washed and pressed. Very well done.

 

Gary Olds presented 'Seeds to Satchel'

Gary found art in elementary school in Calumet with the help of Nancy McCabe his art teacher. He also experienced his first loom in Calumet. He is now retired military and decided to pursue a career in Art. I was attracted to his weaving which I only was able to view through the window at the Copper Country Arts Center because I heard about the exhibit too late. His weaving was much like a weaver I admired, the late Randal Darwall 

I contacted Gary and asked if he would visit our Guild meeting and make a presentation when he was in the Keweenaw for the summer. So we were lucky to have him visit and share with us his St Louis MO project with slides and samples.

The inspiration for this Project comes from participation in several 'Sheep to Shawl' competitions over the years. Flax\Linen offered a new challenge since so little contemporary attention has been paid to this once common practical ancient fiber source. 

This group of 15 writers, gardeners, leather crofters, blacksmiths, woodworkers, dyers, spinner, weavers, sewers, are working on the project right now in Missouri. 

                                            

Variety of Flax Seeds

The project started in May of 2019. They have planted the 3 or 4 varieties of flax seed in as many gardens. The flax requires 100 days growing period to harvest,  which is about now (in August). Then the retting and drying needs to be completed this fall with the spinning, weaving sewing and finishing of the Satchel over the winter. He is hoping the Satchel will be completed by May 2020. So he can return to our guild meeting next summer with an overview of the project's success.

Sample of dry Flax

                                                                          

Flax spinning wheel

processing tool for Flax

Buellwood Weaver and Fiber Artist Guild presents their annual Fall Retreat at the Marsin Retreat Center near Houghton, MI on September 21 and 22 from 9 am until 5 pm both days.

Our Guild Members fee is $25 for the year due in September for this small fee you can attend our Retreat and for supply fee of $5 for some of the workshop you can join in the activities. 

Scheduled for this year is :
Saturday AM: Dawn will do Eco print on Paper workshop

Saturday PM: Block Print carving with Lynn and Card loom weaving with Marilyn 
Saturday Evening we thought everyone could bring a spinning wheel or spindle or forage for dye materials.
Sunday AM: we will block print on our Eco printed paper.
Sunday PM: finish up whatever we want to work on spin some more, card weave 

Bring fiber items to sell, trade or give away. 
also this is pot luck lunch so bring a dish to pass.