October Guild meeting

always a smile on Jean's face when using Fiber

Our guild meet on October 17th and decided to correct our guild name to be 'Buellwood Weavers and Fiber Artists Guild'. We think this name will include all Fiber enthusiasts and gives a better idea of what we are about.

We also decided that the Buellwood Retreat held on a weekend in the Fall was very successful. Therefore we plan to hold another one the third weekend in the Fall of 2017.

Our Guild will be demonstrating at the November 12, 2016 Art Affair at the Houghton High School from 10 am to 4 pm. If you are interested in helping at our table and would like to sell some of your fiber work please contact Carol at 906 281 8388 to commit to a time you can work.

We are planning a fiber challenge for our June meeting. We are asking all members whether you can make the meetings or not to work on something over the winter to share with the Guild in June (pictures will be accepted if you cannot attend the meeting). It can be anything fiber related there is not theme to follow. We are calling it 'Buellwood Best Fiber Challenge 2017'. We are hoping to get participation from all guild members and would like to offer a Peoples Choice Award at the June meeting. So get busy and create a fiber piece that you are proud of. Maybe even display our work at some location after June.

designing the felted piece

Our program this month was led by Jean and she shared a felting method she learned at Convergence 2016 this summer. Jean did a demo on 'Silk Fusion' and she shared with us her renewed interest in all things fiber.
She prepared a great handout for us to take home and try our own designs. These felted pieces are to be displayed in a window to show the transparency of this delicate work.

silk and copper pennies used for this design

Jean pushing the edges of the fibers to secure the salvages

the textile medium used

tray of foil used to transport home and dry overnight

 A small amount of fiber was used along with some copper Pennies to add interest and weight to the finished piece.
The fiber design is placed in between two layers of Tulle to hold it together until dry.

After the salvages have been attended to the entire piece is coated with the textile medium just enough to make the fabric sturdy and not plastic.

 Show and Tell this month was very interesting.

 Kathie, a new weaver, brought in a runner she wove at the Calumet Art Center. She used some yarn that belonged to 'I believe' her father in the runner for its special meaning. A great use of color and very nicely woven.

Kathie's runner

close up of Kathie's woven runner

Karen's phone pouch

Karen also a new guild member brought in her woven and knit Birch bark phone case. Although Karen has been teaching and making Art for some time, she is excited to join our guild for community and inspiration. Karen will be teaching a program on Cordage in May to our guild. We are looking forward to learning from her.
Welcome to our 4 new members, we hope to see you at some of our meetings in the future.

Karen's birch star necklace

Carol is a busy weaver, spinner and felter she brought in some scarves she wove on her Rigid Heddle loom. She has also taken on the chore of Co Chair for our Guild along with John. They have some great ideas to keep our guild growing.

Carol has been busy weaving scarves on her Rigid Heddle loom

 I have been busy weaving my Finnish Rag Rugs that are on a loom in the Garage. I did get them off the loom this week before the really cold weather comes. But here is a picture of the last of two rugs on my loom. I am hoping to have them finished to sell at the Art Affair in November. I learned this technique from Wynne Mattila in 2012 at the Calumet Art Center.

Finnish Rag Rug

Our next guild meeting will be November 21st at noon at the Gloria Dei Church in Hancock Michigan. We welcome new members or visitors at all our meetings. Bring your lunch and join us for our next program presented by John and Clare on Coiling.