A Closer Look -- Fashion Show Honorable Mention

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts, the Midwest Weavers Conference, which was held in June.

LeAnna Franklin's Woven Webs. Photo by Larry Retzlaf

LeAnna Franklin of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, won a special Honorable Mention award for her Woven Webs entry in the Fashion Show at Northern Wefts. This piece and two other entries were woven on an old Sears & Roebuck 2-harness loom.

"I still consider myself a beginning weaver," Leanna says. She used machine-spun Shetland wool for the weft (10 epi) and hand-dyed Shetland for the weft. When she wet-finished the fabric, the difference between the machine-spun and hand-spun resulted in a luscious texture that looked as if it had been woven on more than two shafts.

LeAnna used a jacket pattern taken from one of her favorite alpaca sweaters, and constructed the jacket in Mary Sue Fenner's Weave, Cut and Sew class.

A Closer Look -- Superior Breeze

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts, the Midwest Weavers Conference, which was held in June.

Georgie Hurst's shawl "Superior Breeze". Photo by Larry Retzlaff

Georgie Hurst's love for Lake Superior showed in her shawl Superior Breeze, which won the Conference Theme award in the Fashion Show at Northern Wefts. Georgie is from Marquette, Michigan and is a member of the Yarnwinders Fiber Guild in Marquette.
 
Superior Breeze was made of 8/2 hand dyed tencel (30 epi). The undulating twill was woven on an 8 harness Norwood loom. "I had 18” of hand dyed tencel and added 1.5 inches of commercially dyed black to each selvedge," Georgie says. "After weaving the fringe on the two pieces was braided."

To finish her shawls, Georgie soaks a piece in warm water for about 30 minutes then dries them -- sometimes flat, sometimes hung over the shower rod, and sometimes "moved along" in the dryer.

Georgie has been weaving for 25 years. "A friend needed a place to store his Norwood 4 harness loom and asked if I was interested. It had a basic tie up (never changed) and I toyed with it for about five years. That was enough to know that I wanted to learn more," she says. She now has four looms, including her retirement gift to herself, after 29 years of teaching elementary physical education -- a 50” 8 harness Norwood loom.

Most of Georgie's weaving is wearable art pieces for summer and holiday art shows. "When I’m weaving 'full time' I like to have three looms warped," she says. "During an 8-10 hour day of weaving I change looms every 1 to 2 hours."

"The hand dyed warp just holds you at the loom because of the variety of color just keeps flowing from the back beam."

A Closer Look -- Complex Weavers Award

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts, the Midwest Weavers Conference, which was held in June.

Marcia Kosmerchock's "Pillow" received the Complex Weavers Award.

Marcia's inspiration for this project came from Lotte Dalgaard's Magiske materialer. Fascinated by the draft, Marcia did a full range of samples using overtwist, differential shrinkage and various spandex yarns. She also experimented with the length of the floats and sizes of the grid structure.

"It is really a very simple 4 shaft double weave," she says. "Layer 1 is white 20/2 silk sett at 20 epi Layer 2 is black cotton spandex sett at 16 epi in the areas where it weaves . The black spandex weaves in the inside of the grid and floats in both the warp and weft."

"After all my sampling I really wanted to weave a finished project. The weave is very one-sided so does not work well for a scarf and I thought it was a bit too much for a jacket," Marcia says. So making a pillow seemed the ideal application. "Once the weaving was completed the piece was steamed with a clothing steamer. This caused the spandex floats to contract and create the wrinkly grid. I made use of the ruffle selvage on the side seams."

Marcia is "more a texture person than a pattern person." She has been a member of Complex Weavers for about 10 years and co-chaired with Wendy Morris the Collapse Pleat and Bump study group. The goup has members from seven or eight countries and has a sample exchange once a year.

Marcia started weaving in 1972 while in graduate school. Her interest in collapse weaves was piqued by what she saw in Japanese galleries on business trips there while she was living and working in Europe. "My looms have been moved to three different countries," she says. "I hope never to have to dismantle and pack them again!"

A Closer Look -- Stretch of the Imagination

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts.

Jean Hutchison's Stretch of the Imagination was the result of a challenge Jean posed to herself.

"I was introduced to bead leno in a Robyn Spacy workshop," she says. "Experimenting on my own after the workshop, I was excited to find that I could get a somewhat stretchy fabric depending on my sett and fiber.  I went on to try doup leno where I achieved much more stretch.  After experimenting with a series of doup leno scarves, I challenged myself to weave fabric for a garment."

That garment won the Margaret Grant Memorial Award for weaving on no more than four shafts in the fashion show at Northern Wefts. This award recognizes an elegant fashion fabric developed from a simple structure that complements a garment's design.

Whispered aside from Donna: As a volunteer handling garments at the fashion show judging, it was exciting to see judge Daryl Lancaster's appreciation for this entry. I knew I couldn't do justice to an explanation of what it takes to weave this structure. Jean generously answered the questions I should have asked. These are her words.

Doup leno is a structure where two warp ends twist around each other and the twist is held in place by the weft. It produces a lacy fabric. 

First doups must be made. These are the loops that produce the twist. I used nylon mason cord. These are attached to the bottom of shaft 2. 

The doup goes through the eye of a heddle on shaft 1. Then a thread on shaft 4 goes over the doup and a thread on shaft 3 goes through the doup.

 

The result is that the warp ends threaded on shafts 3 and 4 can twist. I found an article by Irma Spaartaren, “Give it a Twist:  Doup Leno” at  www.weavezine.com  to be very helpful in figuring this all out.


As far as the actual weaving, there are only two repeated pics.  The shed is very small for one of them.  On this shed, I used a sword to establish the shed, put the sword up on its edge and then put the shuttle through.  Luckily there were only 8 picks per inch.

The weaving and sewing of this project were definite challenges for me.  I am very thankful for encouragement and help from Alie Thompson and weavers in her Woodstock Weavers garment class, and from Virginia Reisner from Chicago area guilds and Joanne Hall from Glimakra-USA for tips on getting a better shed.

The warp for this fabric is 20/2 pearl cotton doubled and novelty yarn sett at 16 doubles per inch and sleyed as 2 doubles-2 doubles-0 in a 12-dent reed. The weft is Bambu. The garment pattern Jean used is Simplicity 2283.

Jean learned to weave at Sievers School of Fiber Arts almost thirty years ago. Jean is known both for her weaving for the home -- table runners, placemats, window treatments, rugs, coverlets and more -- and her elegant handwoven garments.  "I enjoy designing fabric through  understanding and using different weave structures," she says.

A Closer Look -- Sunset At Sea

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts.

Vicki Tardy's Sunset At Sea

In her stash, Vicki Tardy of Iowa City, Iowa, had some handpainted silk roving she bought at a Midwest Weavers conference a number of years ago. This year, that fiber returned to Midwest Weavers. Vicki went home with the Elsie Bell Award for excellence in hand spinning.

Vicki used that handpainted silk roving to spin the warp thread for Sunset At Sea. The scarf is woven in a technique called turned overshot based on the pattern "Pioneer Trail" in A Handweaver's Pattern Book by Marguerite P. Davison.  The ground cloth is 20/2 silk in navy blue.


You know that fiber you purchased at Northern Wefts? We can't wait to see it again!

A Closer Look -- Iguana Sculpture

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts.

Iguana sculpture by Ann Masemore

Ann Masemore of Minneapolis weaves recycled plastic into yardage to make into handbags and totes -- usually. But one particular combination of colors (produced from Cub, Whole Foods and Lunds grocery and produce bags, frozen veggie bags, retail shopping bags and a black trash bag) reminded her of reptile skin when she took the yardage off the loom. So instead of a faux alligator bag, she made an actual faux reptile. Ann's Iguana sculpture won the hearts of viewers as well as first place in the Non-Wearable category of the Re-use, Re-new Re-cycle exhibit at Northern Wefts.

Entries in this exhibit were displayed with photographs of the materials they transformed.

Iguana was made with 8/4 100% cotton rug warp at 10 epi for the plain weave fabric, which Ann wove on a 4-shaft Kessenich rug loom. The black ruff on the head is actually the header. The body, tail, head and legs were all cut from the recycled plastic bag yardage, machine sewn and stuffed with quilt batting.

The head includes vintage buttons, beads, and brass 2-prong paper brads. The tongue is the zipper portion of a recycled zip-closure plastic bag.

In addition to a one-year membership to the Textile Center in Minneapolis, Ann's winning entry in Re-use, Re-new Re-cycle won a basket woven from recycled Korean newspapers and filled with (naturally) re-gift items.

A Closer Look -- Mushrooms For Color Sweater

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts.

Julie Hurd's "Mushrooms For Color" Sweater

Julie Hurd of Bellaire, Michigan won the Traditional Heritage award in the fashion show at Northern Wefts. Her "Mushrooms For Color" Sweater shows the wide range of hues and shades that can be achieved with fungi in the dyepot.

"I have used natural dyes, primarily from plants, on my handspun yarns for decades," Julie says, "and I never tire of the rich and unique colors that I can coax from flowers, weeds, trees, and shrubs." When she learned of a mushroom dying class offered at John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina, she registered immediately. The instructor was Susan Hopkins of Saranac Lake, New York.

Shortly before the class, Julie's spinning guild had assisted at a shearing. Julie was assisting in skirting the fleeces as they were shorn and packaged for sale. She knew when whe touched a Bond fleece from "James" that he was the one. Julie took the fiber to Stonehedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan, Michigan for processing into roving. She spun almost seven pounds of James' coat into a two-ply bulky weight yarn on her Ashford Traveler using a Z twist and a supported long draw. The singles were 19wpi. She S plyed two singles with a twist angle of 25 percent. Her yarn, after washing, measured 10 wpi. In preparation for her class, Julie mordanted 1/2-, 1- and 2-oz. skeins with alum, tin, iron and copper.

Most of the 12 species of fungi used in the class were dried specimens collected by the instructor. Special attention was paid to the pH of the dyebaths to produce desired colors. Some species are also sensitive to temperature. "The hues that can be obtained from mushrooms encompass the full spectrum," Julie says. "The shades obtained are typically rich and complex and resistant to fading with light and washing.

Sleeves in process

Back home after her class, Julie chose an Ann Borgeois pattern from Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified. She designed the colorways as she knitted, starting with the sleeves. "I wanted the sleeves to be identical so I measured my colors and saved half of each skein for the second sleeve," Julie says. "Fair Isle knitting generally uses only two colors per row; a peerie band might use four to five colors total."

This project left Julie wanting more experience with mushroom dyeing. "Mushrooms are seasonal with most of the dye producers appearing late summer through fall." Happily, she says, there is little overlap between edible mushrooms and dye-producing species. "Those choice morels can go directly into the frying pan as they have no value for dyeing."

A Closer Look -- Aurora Rug

This post is part of a series taking a closer look at award-winning entries from exhibits at Northern Wefts.

Aurora by Wynne Mattila

Wynne Mattila of Minneapolis earned the Handwoven magazine "Weaving For The Home" award of excellence with her handwoven rug Aurora. This entry also received the Libbie Crawford Memorial Award for Loom Controlled Weaving, and first place in the Natural Elements category Woods in the Member Exhibits.

Originally from South Range, Michigan (just a few miles from Houghton/Hancock), Wynne took her first weaving class at Suomi College, which is now Finlandia University. She wove her first rug in 1985 in a beginning rag rug class with Janet Meany and Paula Pfaff.

Wynne has lived in Minneapolis for nearly 30 years. A member of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, Wynne teaches Scandinavian rug weaving. Her special interest is weaving rugs using Finnish cotton seine twine warp and cotton fabric strips as weft. She particularly loves designing with color by blending fabrics using an alternating 3-shuttle technique.

Aurora detail by Wynne Mattila

"My Aurora rug was inspired by the colors of the aurora borealis (the northern lights) and a Finnish Lapp weaving called a raanu," Wynne says. "Raanu are traditionally woven with wool. They are tied together to make the cover of a goati (a teepee-like structure) or for warmth as bedcovers in the Arctic climate."

Wynn says this rug can be woven on two harnesses. The warp was 8/5 wet-spun Irish linen with a sett of 10 epi. For the weft she used seven cool colors (blues and greens) and eight warm colors of Halcyon Geo singles wool yarn. The finished rug is 29 inches wide by 59 inches long plus the fringe.

At Northern Wefts, Wynne says she particularly enjoyed her pre-conference workshop on felting with Phyllis Fredendall. Very soon, she'll also be enjoying the free one-year subscription that comes with winning the Handwoven Weaving For The Home Award.

Congratulations, Wynne!

Award Winners from Northern Wefts

Many wonderful things happened last week when weavers and fiber artists from throughout the region (and beyond) met in Hancock, Michigan for the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference. Stay tuned for stories from the conference hosts. And if you have stories and images to share, please email them to Donna Kallner or Mary Brownell.

But for now, here's a complete list of the award winners from Northern Wefts. Congratulations to all. And  thank you to everyone who shared their work in the exhibits, to all the judges, and to everyone who took the time to view the exhibits. Special thanks go to Eve Lindsey who wove the beautiful ribbons presented to award winners, and to Nadine Sanders, the Singing Weaver, who brought the awards ceremony and the conference to a harmonious close!

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Member Exhibits -- Natural Elements (judged by Robyn Spady)
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Woods (fabrics, rugs, linens)

• 1st place Wynne Mattila for Aurora
• 2nd place Peggy Baldwin for Overshot Towel

Water (felt, knitting)

• 1st place Sue Bell for Hold It Bag
• 2nd plat Mary Boulet for Solstice Moondance

Winds (clothing, hats, scarves)

• 1st place Karen York for Dancing on Water Jacket
• 2nd place Mary Brownell for Wild Rose Scarf

Weft (tapestry, painted weft/warp, handspun weft, 3D)

• 1st place Bonnie Hay for Earth Spirals coiled basket
• 2nd place Vicki Tardy for Sunset At Seat handspun silk overshot

Wondrous (jewelry, wire, beads)

• 1st place Carol Henry for Firebird woven copper
• 2nd place Candace Gerbers Brey for Viking Chain with Felt Pendant

Elsie Bell Award for Hand Spinning
sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis

• Vicki Tardy for Sunset At Seat handspun silk overshot

Libbie Crawford Memorial for Loom Controlled Weaving
sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis

• Wynne Mattila for Aurora

Ila Roberts Memorial Award for Handwoven Table Linens
sponsored by Illinois Prairie Weavers

• Peggy Baldwin for Overshot Towel

HGA Award of Merit
sponsored by Handweavers Guild of America

• Bonnie Hay for Earth Spirals coiled basket

Handwoven Weaving For The Home Award
sponsored by Interweave Press

• Wynne Mattila for Aurora

Complex Weavers Award

• Marcia Kosmerchock for Pillow

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Guild Exhibits (judged by Anita Mayer)
====================================================

• 1st place Margaret O’Shaughnessy Award to Weavers Guild of Minnesota Rag Rug Study Group
• 2nd place Weaving Indiana
• 3rd place Weavers Guild of St. Louis
• Viewers Choice to Weavers Guild of Minnesota Rag Rug Study Group

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Fashion Show (judged by Daryl Lancaster)
====================================================
Conference Theme Superior Seasons award

• Georgie Hurst for Superior Breeze

Traditional Heritage award

• Julie Hurd for Mushrooms For Color

Margaret Grant Memorial for weaving on no more than 4 shafts

• Jean Hutchison for Stretch of the Imagination

Judge’s Choice award

• Alie Thompson for Cloudy Day In the Northwoods

Originality award

• Peggy Bowman for Spike’s Cuddle Coat

Honorable Mention

• LeAnna Franklin for Woven Webs

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Re-use Re-new Re-cycle (judged by Pamela Kotila)
====================================================

Wearables

• 1st place Julie Hurd for Country Casual Encore
• 2nd place Jean Hutchison for Holiday Vest
• 3rd place Mary Sue Fenner for Wool Afghan Jacket

Non-Wearables

• 1st place Ann Masemore for Iguana Sculpture
• 2nd place Jessica Speer for Superior Shore
• 3rd place Poppy Hatinger for Copper Pennies Bag

Links To The Past -- Ila Roberts

This series of posts honors weavers whose memorial awards will be presented during the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference. 

Ila Roberts

Ila Roberts was a founding member of the Prairie Weavers Guild of Springfield, Illinois. Although she was skilled in a variety of crafts, weaving was her favorite.  She taught many people to weave and was always ready to help any weaver who was having problems. While helping a new weaver warp her loom and untangle a very knotted warp, a determined Ila stated, "I've never lost a warp yet!"

Ila held just about every office in the Prairie Weavers Guild over the years and was the "unofficial" guild photographer. She coordinated the annual guild exhibit at the local public library every year, and was a long-time volunteer at the Illinois State Museum.

Ila joined the museum's volunteer corps during an exhibit of Edward Worst weavings, where, as a member of the Prairie Weavers, she demonstrated weaving. After that event, Ila continued working with the Museum’s decorative arts collections and programs, contributing her talents in collections management and the research and installation of exhibitions. During a special exhibition of Joy Orozco dolls, she helped with conservation of the dolls and their costumes, and wove area rugs and bolts of fabric for the doll houses.

Ila celebrated her own family history through her weaving, as well.

 

You might have known Ila from MWA conference classes or other workshops. She was she also responsible for orchestrating the Swatch Swaps for MWA 2001 and 2003 conferences. According to Vicky Tardy, "Ila always had a kind word of encouragement to new or frustrated weavers and showed us that with patience, anything was possible."

You might not have known how joyfully Ila could multi-task. With a loom on her lap, she could weave while she watched her grandson fish.

Ila wove a wide variety of items and enjoyed trying new weaves, but her favorite items to weave included dish towels, placemats and table runners. At Northern Wefts we'll be presenting the first Ila Roberts Memorial Award for excellence in weaving table linens. The award is sponsored by the Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild.

Thank you to Linda Flotow for her help preparing this post.

Links To The Past -- Libbie Crawford

This series of posts honors weavers whose memorial awards will be presented during the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference. 

Libbie Crawford

Libbie Crawford (1913-1983) reportedly liked "all kinds of yarn and weaving as long as it isn't blue."

Libbie Crawford in a fashion show garment

This information, written by Betty Epstein, appeared in the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis newsletter after Libbie's death in 1983.

In 1939 (Libbie) stopped to buy some rugs in a shop in Boone, North Carolina.  Upon discovering it was a weaving school, she stayed to learn to weave. When Miss Elizabeth Lord, who taught Libbie to weave, went on a sabbatical, Libbie became her replacement at Berea college. She also studied weaving at Penland and in Sweden. 

In 1951, with her husband Paul, she moved to Kirkwood, Missouri. She joined the Weavers Guild of St. Louis and the Artists Guild, where she gave lessons in their building on Union Boulevard.  She taught weaving at Washington University and in her own studio.  She was a past president and permanent information chairman of the Weavers Guild, a founding member of the Midwest Weavers Conference and a member of the the first nominating committee of the Handweavers Guild of America, in which she served as state representative and member of the Board of Directors.

She loved weaving and weavers until her death in August, 1983.

Weaving by Libbie Crawford

The Libbie Crawford Memorial Award for loom-controlled weaving will be presented later this month at Northern Wefts.

Thank you to Karen Kelley Schultz and members of the St. Louis guild who provided this information.

Links To The Past -- Elsie Bell

This series of posts honors weavers whose memorial awards will be presented during the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference. 

Elsie Bell spinning demonstration, 1974

Elsie Bell joined the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis in 1967. Helen Wenzel recalls that Elsie was an active spinner and taught spinning when she was in the guild. "She had an interesting life, following her husband to remote places. She had spent many years in South America (I think Peru) before she came to St. Louis."

Guild records show that over the years, Elsie presented several programs about those travels. In 1967 it was Weaving In Peru. In 1968, Elsie attended the World Craft Conference in Lima, which she spoke about at Washington University in 1969. In 1973 she did a guild program on Highland Ecuador.

A new generation of spinners interested in recycling and green yarns might wish to travel back in time to 1978. That's when Elsie gave a mini-workshop on creative spinning, including plying and shredding and how to use old yarns.

We'll be thinking of the legacy she left when we present the Elsie Bell Award for Hand Spinning later this month at Northern Wefts. And I hope there are some creative spinning entries in the Re-use Re-new Re-cycle exhibit. I suspect Elsie would have entered in that category.

Thank you to Karen Kelley Schultz and members of the St. Louis guild who provided this information.

Links To The Past -- Margaret Grant

It's just a couple of weeks until we host the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference, with a full schedule of workshops, programs, vendors, visiting, and the fashion show and member exhibits, which are always highlights of a conference. At the awards ceremony that Saturday night, you may even hear your own name or that of a friend called. You'll also hear some names connected with the memorial awards. You may not have known the people honored by those awards, so we thought we'd share a bit of their stories.

We'll start with Margaret Grant, whose memorial award is presented by the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis for weaving from no more than 4 shafts.

Margaret Grant

Born and raised in Australia, Margaret received her psychiatric social work degree in London and worked at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. From the late 1960's until her death in 1993, she held offices, served on committees and juries, and reported on events for the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis. Margaret was instrumental in establishing a scholarship fund and getting new weavers involved in the organization.

Her obituary in the guild newsletter included this story.

In sharing a crowded cab in Chicago at Convergence she had to sit in the front seat with the driver and recognizing his accent from Zimbabwe they were shortly chattering away about his native country. She loved to share discoveries about world arts, events and people. But in our study groups we shared giggles like school girls.

Margaret's specialty was weaving clothing with fine threads. We honor her memory with an award the recognizes an elegant fashion fabric developed from a simple structure that complements a garment's design.

Thank you to Karen Kelly Schultz and members of the St. Louis guild who provided this information.