Hello weavers!  I have had a head cold which has dampened my productivity immensely.  I am looking forward to getting back to it.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Guild Meeting: Our next meeting is July 21, 2025, at 1:00 pm EST.  During the summer months, our meetings are on Mondays.

Emberlight Project: The Guild project is up.  I took the walk today and was excited to see our fabulous entry.    Be sure to go and see it during July.  Don't forget to vote for your favorite.  No pressure.

Retreats and Conferences:

    BUELLWOOD RETREAT: This retreat will be September 19 to 21, 2025 at the Marsin Center in the Hancock/Houghton Michigan area.  We will have classes and camaraderie!  It's a great time in a beautiful setting.

    MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF HANDWEAVERS: The next conference will be in June of 2026.  The conference will be in Marquette Michigan.  This is a great opportunity to go to the conference when it is close (relatively).    

MUSINGS AND GROUP QUESTION: 

I wanted to report back on some previous musings.  Several months ago I spoke about craft versus art and received some musings back.  One reader spoke about negative influences in her life.  This caused her to not see her artistic side.  But she is focusing on slowing experimenting with making artistic decisions and enjoying the end result.  

Another wrote: "I am happy being a crafter...maybe we just need to uplift that label."  She spoke of having been an artist but preferring nowadays not to have to be that complex.  

Last month I asked: What have you tried this year that was outside your comfort zone?  Have you incorporated the technique into your artistic practice? 

Mary wrote the following:  

In March I warped my loom with beautiful Harrisville Shetland wool for a Swedish Hucklace shawl.
I love weaving with Harrisville Shetland as it fulls beautifully and drapes. I found weaving 2 yards of Hucklace is very slow.
In order to maintain 10 picks per inch, I had to beat very consistent and softly. I did use a temple to maintain the consistent width for all two yards. I am now twisting the fringe with the help of a Lacis fringe twister suggested by Melissa Matson.  I know once it is fulled it will be lovely but beating so gently is difficult.

PICTURES FROM JUNE MEETING: 

Sean shared a Baltic pick-up design sheet that he made.  He also shared his pattern holder from COCO knits.  He then shared his inkle weaving with 10/2 and 5/2 cotton thread.

Nate shared his shibori dying, dying making guitar images and a magazine article on a denim jean weaver.

Sue Ellen brought rugs she made from socks.  She also shared rugs she got from Guatemala made from t-shirts and hooked.  

No picture available for sock rug.

Melissa Mattson shared her woven fabric made into a pillow.  She also shared tencel scares and 13 towels made on an 8 shaft loom.  

Mary Brownell brought a treasure trove of her products.  She brough Gee Bend inspired towels from a pattern in Handwoven.  She brought fleece she bought during her trip to Scotland.  She shared a sweater she made out of Norwegian wool using the Brioche stitch.  She let us know that Handwovern has the ability to print out a pattern plan if you need it.

Denise brought her woven table runner resembling birch trees using an inlay technique.  She also brought a Ryijyu she had recently completed.

Karen Mallum brought the sheep inkle band she has finished that she started in last year's retreat.  She brought a bali bag that she bought in Bali on her recent diving trip.  Karen shared socks she made on her sock machine and knitted shawls made in irish linen and wool she had from the 70's!

Mary Markham showed socks made form New Zealand Opossum, Merina and alpaca.

Nina (who is a newby) showed her denim skirt and a tote bag she made.

Olivia (another newby!!!!)  showed baskets and more baskets and a sunjat.

Phyllis showed off her first weaving which was double weave.  She also brought an assortment of inkle bookmarks that are for a friend.

Marci conducted a tour of the library.  THANK YOU MARCI FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.

SEE YOU NEXT TIME.

Hello weavers!  Spring is steadily moving into summer.  The natural beauty is a fabulous inspiration for our weaving.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Guild Meeting: Our next meeting is June 16, 2025, at 1:00 pm EST.  During the summer months, our meetings are on Mondays.

Emberlight Project: Our Guild is entering woven webs as part of the Emberlight Festival Art in the Park Exhibit at the Miners Memorial Park, Ironwood, Michigan.  Be sure to go and see it during July.

Retreats and Conferences:

    BUELLWOOD RETREAT: This retreat will be September 19 to 21, 2025 at the Marsin Center in the Hancock/Houghton Michigan area.  We will have classes and camaraderie!  It's a great time in a beautiful setting.

    MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF HANDWEAVERS: The next conference will be in June of 2026.  The conference will be in Marquette Michigan.  This is a great opportunity to go to the conference when it is close (relatively).    

MUSINGS AND GROUP QUESTION: 

Speaking of camaraderie, I just came back from the Michigan League of Handweavers' conference in Roscommon, Michigan.  Other members who went include Mary Brownell, Denise Engle and Melissa Mattson.  The classes included embroidery, hand manipulated weaves, shaft switching, 3D tapestry, and deep dive into color.  The conference was held at the State DNR conference center on Lake Higgins.  

I love going to conferences.  I come back inspired and energized.  Moreover, I usually meet a wonderful group of people who make me feel welcome.  Each participant has a great story to tell.  

This time I ventured into Contemporary Embroidery.  The teacher, Jennifer Gould, who was delightful and organized.  She had folders filled with pictures of a particular stitch in a completed piece for us to be inspired by.  

I have to admit that this class was way beyond my comfort zone.  There were no step-by-step recipes.   The teacher wanted us to experiment and choose our own path.  This was not my usual method, and I felt completed discomfited.  However, by the second day--I had ideas!!  I was getting excited, and I stayed late to plan.  By the end, my piece had started to come together.  More importantly, I was experimenting!  I was inspired and thinking of different things to do on future projects.  

What have you tried this year that was outside your comfort zone?  Have you incorporated the technique into your artistic practice?  

PICTURES FROM THE MAY MEETING:

The guild had a challenge for this month.  It was snow or snowflakes.  

Nate had multiple snow inspired fabrics.  The first up were his snow-dyed tee shirts.

He also had two rugs that he made after taking a class with Phyllis.  Each were inspired by snow.  On one he bound it with cloth that he ice dyed.  See the rugs and the binding material next.

Lisa showed us her snowflake inspired ryijy.

Phyllis explained the origin of Heike Lunta (the entity you dance to for snow) and did a name draft.

Anita wore her snowflake shirt for the occasion.

Melissa Lewis brought snowflakes made by a friend.

Cynthia , Mary B. and Mary H. made sewn snowflakes.

Mary H. also made ceramic buttons.

Ginger made a hat with her snowflake on top.

David showed us his winter quilt that he had made.

Denise paper pieced a runner.

Jada had her students make stuffed toys based on younger students' pictures.

I apologize, but there is one unknown.  Please let me know what the following photo is.

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH.......