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WW&S Newsletter, March, 2016 —
March 2016 Newsletter Season 2015-2016, No. 7
Next Meeting
Monday, March 7, 2016
Meeting begins at 7:00 PM
Emilie Wohlscheid
“Spinning Through
Time”
Greet and Treat for March
Julie Anderson
Bob Meyering
Megan Roach
Cindy Root
Kate Shockey
Paula Stark
Meetings are held at
Trinity Congregational Church,
2725 4 Mile Rd NW
Off the Walker Exit of I-96
www.wwas. org
Spinning
Through Time The program for our March meeting will be
by Emilie Wohlscheid. She will tell us about
her fiber journey, starting with spinning, going
back to dyeing and processing and forward to
creative uses for handspun yarn. She has de-
veloped unique techniques in spinning and this
promises to be a very informative and stimu-
lating talk. Emily will also be the instructor for
our next workshop March 12th and 13th.
Remember to mark your calendar to join us
for dinner before the meeting. As always, we
will meet at the Olive Garden on Alpine at
5:00. Last month we had a nice sized group, I
hope to see as many this month. No need to
RSVP, they can deal with whatever number
show up. It is a wonderful time to talk with
other guild members, and to get a bit of extra
time with our presenter.
Heidi Bukoski
Upcoming
Textile Arts Market Details for the Saturday, April 23 TAM
sale at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox
Church are falling into place nicely. The set-
up crew should be able to start set up at 3:00
p.m. on Friday afternoon. It should be fine if
product starts to arrive at 3:00 p.m., but we
will probably start to arrange it on the tables a
little before 4:00. By 6:00 p.m., we should be
all sent up for the sale the next day. Since
many other artists will also be setting up their
work, we suggest that all of us use the back
door on Friday. That should cut down on the
traffic somewhat. There should be time for
limited set up on Saturday morning at 8:30 if
necessary.
The sale begins the next morning at 9:00
a.m. Jane Yelvington would like to go over
check out procedures with those checking out
items at 8:30 that morning. If you are selling
items, it is important that you also sign up for
a work shift during the day. It would also be
helpful if you could bring a snack for the
workers' snack table. (You may also pick up a
snack for yourself there!)
The sale ends at 4:00 p.m. After that, we'll
pick up, clean up, and put away all our stuff.
Then we can start planning for our December,
2016 sale: that's December 9 and 10 at the
Prince Center at Calvin College.
There will be sales tags at the March
WWAS meeting, along with work schedules
and contracts. Any member of the guild is
welcome to offer her/his work for sale at any
TAM sale. If you have questions about proce-
dures or policies, see a member of the TAM
committee or write or call Margaret Jager at
616-773-0360 or [email protected].
Workshop & Retreat Blending & Spinning Fibers Work-
shop—March 12 & 13, 2016. The workshop
is now full and there is a waiting list. Thanks
to all of you who signed up.
Spring Retreat—April 16, 2016, 9 am to
5 pm will be held at the Salvation Army Little
Pine Island Camp (6889 Pine Island Drive
Northeast, Comstock Park), cost is just $20.
This is our last retreat of the 2015-2016 year.
We have a large room at the Little Pine Island
camp; plenty of room for whatever projects
you are working on. If you have a question or
need a little help, this is the place to come. If
we can get enough pre-registrations to cover
costs, we can open it up to those who decide to
come at the last minute. Send your Registra-
tions to Sue Vegter. [Form is attached to this
newsletter].
Last Call for Signing Up The rosepath rug workshop with Nancy
Crampton being held at Julia Daniels' studio is
fast approaching. April 2nd and 3rd are the
dates. We will be using Julia's looms so all
you need are a few supplies and a warp!
Times are 9-4 each day.
I still have some openings. This is a rag
weave technique. If you can warp a loom you
can join in. The price for this two day work-
shop is just $75.00. There will be sign up
sheets at the March meeting or contact Julie at
imaweaver2004@yahoo. com
Nancy is a very accomplished weaver and a
great teacher. (See further information on page
3.)
Tips and Tricks
from Jochen—
February 27th
Workshop
Thank you, Jochen, for being so
generous with your time.
2 —WW&S Newsletter, March, 2016
Woodland Weavers and Spinners Guild
President: Heidi Bukoski
Vice-President: Judy Hogan
Secretary: Cynthia Root
Treasurer: Jane Yelvington
Newsletter Editor: Bob Meyering
Web-master: Jane Fabiano-Turner
————————————————-
The Guild encourages creativity, originality
and excellence in handweaving and fiber arts
through fellowship and education, and
stimulates broader appreciation of the
fiber arts by the public.
Newsletter copy due on the
15th of the month
MEMBER
Guild Schedule for
2015-2016 PROGRAMS
September 14 – Members’ show and tell
October 5 – Joy Castonguay – Of Suds
and Scents? My Quest for the Perfect Soap.
November 2 – Mary Underwood – Will
that be One Hump or Two: Weaving Camel
Saddles in Mongolia
December 7 – Holiday Celebration? Pot-
luck, gift exchange
January 4 – Rita Petteys – Dyeing Warps
for Weaving? Finessing Your Technique
February 1 – Guild Scholarship Presen-
tations
March 7 – Emily Wohlscheid – Spinning
Through Time
April 4 – Joan Sheridan – Towels and
Textiles in America
May 2 – Panel discussion with Susan
Molnar, Bonnie Blandford and guild mem-
bers – Valuing your Work and Marketing I?
June 6 - End of Season Celebration—
Potluck, Swap ‘N’ Shop
WORKSHOPS
October 10 – Joy Castonguay
Morning workshop – Making Marvelous
Milk Soap
Afternoon workshop – Centsible Skin
Care
March 12 and 13 – Emily Wohlscheid -
Blending and Spinning Fibers
RETREATS
November 7 — Christian Reformed Con-
ference Center, Grand Haven
April 16—Salvation Army Little Pine
Island Camp Retreat Center, Comstock Park
TEXTILE ARTS MARKET
December 11-12 — Prince Conference
Center, Calvin College
April 23, 2016—with Potter’s Guild, St.
Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church
Minutes from
February 2016 Meeting The meeting was called to order at 7:05
p.m. by President Heidi Bukoski.
Cindi Oppenhuizen was introduced as a
visitor and Katy Frey and Ilene Madison were
introduced as new members.
It was moved, seconded and approved to
accept the January minutes as written.
Jane Yelvington reviewed the TAM and
general account balances.
The next workshop will be March 12 & 13.
Emily Wolscheid will present drum carding,
spinning long draws and core spinning. The
next retreat will be April 16 at the Pine Island
Salvation Army Retreat.
Jochen’s workshop will be held on Febru-
ary 27. There are still a couple of openings.
The spinning study group meets the third
Monday, 7 p.m. at Jane Yelvington’s house.
There will be no meeting on February 15.
That date will be moved to the 22nd. All are
welcome. The drafting study group will meet
the third Tuesday at 7 p.m. The inkle loom
study group will meet the third Thursday at 7
p.m. The knitting study group will begin
meeting in February on Saturday mornings.
New Business
Members were reminded to submit schol-
arship applications.
Threadbender will have a weaving work-
shop May 9-12. It will meet from 10 am to 4
pm. The cost will be $250. There will also be
a combined KAL (knit-along) and CAL
(crochet-along) beginning March 26 working
on designs by Steve Rousseau. Check the
website for more information.
If you are interested in the fleece to shawl
project, please check with Naomi.
The meeting was adjourned at approxi-
mately 7:30 p.m.
The program consisted of presentations by
scholarship recipients explaining the courses
they took and what they learned. The program
was followed by Show and Tell.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia Root
New Members Katy Frey
2724 Woodlake Rd SW, Apt 5
Wyoming MI 49519
860-816-9256 (cell)
Eileen Madison
1064 Monza Dr
Denison MI 49428
616-457-3418 (home)
Cindi Oppenhuizen
4222 N Robertson Rd
Middleville MI 49333
cell: 616-498-8449
Library Notes We've added three new DVD's to the li-
brary's collection: Weaving Deflected Double-
weave and Weaving Summer and Winter, both
by Madelyn van der Hoogt, and Creative
Weaving: More Techniques for the Rigid Hed-
dle Loom by Sara Bixler. Hopefully, they will
all be ready for checkout at the March meet-
ing. (The Summer and Winter DVD is on back
order, so we may have to wait a month for that
one.)
Before you leave for the March meeting,
please check to see if you have any DVD's at
your home which belong to WWAS. There
has been quite a demand for many of our
newer purchases, so if you are done with the
one(s) you have checked out, please return
them.
MLH's 19th Biennial
Exhibit Notes The deadline for entering the Michigan
League of Handweavers 19th Biennial Exhibit
is nearly here: February 28! All information
about entering the exhibit can be found on the
MLH website: mlhguild.org. The entire entry,
including pictures of each piece can be done
digitally. The can be done by snail mail too,
but then it needs to be sent out sooner.
Entries should be received by the Museum
by March 14. I will happily take any entries
which Woodland Weavers would like to enter,
but I'd like to drive up to Traverse City either
March 9 or 10. If you would like me to take
your entries, either bring them to the March 7
guild meeting or let me know that they are
coming.
After the exhibit, entries can be retrieved
either the late afternoon of May 29 or the next
week after Memorial Day. I'm also pretty sure
that I can pick up entries on May 29.
If you want to send your entries via car, it
is easiest if you pack them in a covered stor-
age tub, such as a Rubbermaid container. Be
sure you have everything labeled with your
name, phone number and address.
Questions: Call or email Margaret Jager,
616-773-0360 or [email protected].
WW&S Newsletter, March, 2016 — 3
Nancy Crampton Offers
Rug Workshop Interested in rag rugs? I will be teaching a
weekend workshop April 2-3 at Julia Daniel's
studio focused on Rosepath, a four-harness
twill variation.
Plain weave is commonly used in rag rugs,
but Rosepath adds a lot of interesting variation
to your weaving of rugs, table runners and
placemats.
The fundamentals of rag rug weaving will
be covered: dressing the loom, calculating
weft fabric, ways to prepare the cloth strips
and the many methods of joining the pieces.
Weave samples of Rosepath with tabby and
without, double-face Rosepath, unbalanced
Rosepath, inlay and others. Discussions and
samples will include warp setts and widths of
strips suitable for both rugs and table linens.
No rug weaving experience needed, but
you need to know how to dress a loom. You
will come to class with an already wound
warp and we will dress the loom together.
Some weft strips will be available and you
also may bring your own.
Nancy Crampton
nancycramptondesigns.com
[For further information about this work-
shop, Contact Julie Daniels for any questions
or registration. imaweaver2004@yahoo. com
or (616) 887-9007.]
Paula’s Point of View [Paula has decided that what she writes is
not necessarily “pearls,” but they are her
“point of view.” —editor]
On Fiber Diversity There is so much discussion about diversity
in our culture that the word has been obscured
and loss much meaning. I quote from the New
York Times, “How does a word go from com-
municating something idealistic to something
cynical and suspect. If that word is diversity
the answer is: through a combination of over-
use imprecision, inertia and self-serving inten-
tions.” If you look up the definition there is
the one that basically defines diversity as vari-
ety or composed of different elements. The
other type describes cultural diversity from
general statements on culture to very specific
cultural inclusions.
I am talking about the first diversity—
variety. I have recently been exploring all kind
of yarns for projects I am working on. Not
only is there wool, alpaca, llama, cotton, silk
and numerous other fibers. Just within wool
there are probably more than two dozen types
from different breeds of sheep.
Then there are so many varieties of what
we do with fiber. Knit, crochet, weave, felt,
rug hook, sew, quilt. And in each of these
categories and more there are multiple way to
use the fiber. How many weave structures to
you now. Do you wet felt or dry felt? Do you
make blankets, rugs, sweater, hats, gloves,
dresses, animals, dolls or the like.
Many of us also have diversity in the num-
ber of fiber arts we practice or how many way
we practice them. There are people in the
Guild with very diverse background and ex-
periences. We come from different parts of the
country. We live different lives and different
view points of the world.
Why is diversity important to fiber artists.
Without variety, different approaches, new
information and escaping our comfort zones,
creativity can be really stifled. We do not have
to do everything in fiber but I see fiber arts as
part of one long thread. Hang on to that thread
in any one place and you can follow that
thread for a long time. Some parts of the
thread you may just appreciate, others you
make absorb some ideas and parts you may
not like at all. Some will try new ideas or pro-
jects or have their visions of their products
reshaped.
It does not matter. It only matters that you
realize that the thread is long, winding and
diverse. It is yours to explore or not. Explora-
tion can lead to more creativity and expanded
sense of fiber. It can also be a confirmation
that you are just in the right place with what
you are doing with fiber.
I have gotten the most pleasure in my years
at the Guild by the diverse opportunities in
fiber, techniques, classes, sensibilities and
fiber folks. This is the best gift I have received
from being a member of the Woodland Weav-
ers and Spinners Guild.
(If you have a topic you would like me to
write on let me know. I may have a point of
view or not.)
Paula Stark
Julia’s Cinnamon
Cookies Recipe This recipe came from Diane VanderPol.
2-2/3 c. Brown sugar
1 teas. Salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teas. Vanilla
3-1/2 cups flour
1 teas. Baking powder
1/2 teas. Baking soda
1 teas. Cinnamon
Cream brown sugar and butter. Mix in eggs
and vanilla. Add salt, flour, baking powder,
soda and cinnamon. Roll out thin and cut into
shapes. Bake on ungreased pan at 350 degrees
for 8-10 minutes.
Recipe calls for chilling dough, but I don't
bother. Can't add enough cinnamon! Enjoy!
Rosepath with Tabby
Double-faced Rosepath
Inkle/Card Weaving The Inkle/Card Weaving Group will
meet Thursday, March 17 at 7 pm at Judi
Pulver's house.
Loom for Sale Kessinich 8 harness, 46 inch. Loom has 10
treadles and comes with a removable sectional
beam, extra reeds, tension box, raddle, and a
bench with sliding seat. All of this bought
new would be $4980. I'm asking $2000 OBO.
This is a great loom that you can weave the
tightest rugs or the finest silks on. Beautiful
red oak, a true masterpiece. Pick up only in
Martin, MI. 254-702-7593 or email me toe-
Judy Hogan
Request from the
Treasurer If you have a check from the guild that you
haven't yet cashed, please do so. When guild
checks sit out there in the ether, it makes rec-
onciling the checking account much more
difficult. Thank you.
Jane Yelvington
4 —WW&S Newsletter, March, 2016
An Interview with Guild Member Megan Roach
Tell the members a little bit about yourself and your fiber history. My grandmother taught me to crochet and em-broider when I was very young. These skills took a back seat in my life throughout my college years at Grand Valley
State University, although I did maintain a small sewing and craft studio in every apart-ment that I lived in throughout college. I loved being in college and earning my degree in sociology and women and gender studies, but I felt uninspired by the career choices that would utilize my degree.
After college I moved into an apartment with a friend, Elyse Welcher, who had just finished her degree in accessory design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She had her own leather accessories business and wanted a large in-home studio too! That year is when I picked up my crochet hooks again and began to learn about natural dyes and leather work. We even cleared out our living room and studio/dining room to host a holiday pop up shop. It was the beginning of owning a shop together.
This is when I decided that I wanted to own and run a handmade business. I just wasn’t sure what that would look like at that point. In 2014, Elyse and I decided to team up again this time with her partner Jake Vroon (also a leatherworker) to move into a bigger studio and to officially share the work of owning a boutique. Now we work on our individual brands in a beautiful studio space as well as work together on our downtown boutique. During this time I have completed several large fiber installations, including yarn bomb-ing Division Avenue, and I have started my handwoven naturally dyed accessory business, Adventure Textiles. This type of life can be pretty tough sometimes, but it also extremely rewarding.
Please tell us what brought you to this deci-sion to open your own studio, working as a true artisan, and the “highs and lows” of this decision you live with every day.
The decision to “go for it” was made in 2014 when Elyse, Jake and I decided that our individual workspaces were too small for what we each needed. We found a new collabora-tive studio home at 401 Hall and Parliament the Boutique began, owned and operated by all three of us.
There are so many highs and lows with this career. I love setting up and running a success-ful event at the boutique or a pop-up shop at a craft fair. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of connecting with people about your work and having a large pay day. The other side of this business is the slow time of the year. 2016 is my first year depending completely on my business and I’m in the middle of the slow season now. This time makes me question if
I’m doing the right thing, but then I look around my beautiful studio and look ahead to the amazing craft tour line up I have in front of me and then all the worry goes away.
Tell us about a typical day in the life of Megan Roach’s Studio and Parliament the Boutique.
Hahaha...there is no typical day in the life of Megan Roach, which is one thing that I love about what I do. Here’s what I did today: I started the day at my studio with a meeting with a couple local artists about an upcoming art show (Art.Downtown) at my boutique, then I had an event planning meeting with Elyse and Jake about our upcoming studio open house. I finished weaving a batch of side snap cowls that were on my loom. Then I cut them off, tied all the knots and made and at-tached all the leather closures. I finished my day at the studio by dressing the loom for my next batch of cotton cowls. My focus tomor-row is to weave the next batch of cotton cowls, work on a community weaving and prepare for a natural dye bath.
What are your plans and goals for the fu-ture?
My main focus this year is to have a very successful craft show season. I’ve added more music festivals and larger craft fairs to the list this year, and I’m even traveling to Ohio, Illi-nois, Colorado and California to vend at festi-vals/fairs. Another goal that I have for this year is to teach a few natural dye workshops. I love teaching and I would like to begin to rely on it for more of my income in the next 3-5 years.
What fiber genre do you enjoy creating the most and why?
My main focus of my fiber journey is dye-ing fiber with natural materials. I love the colors that I can obtain with natural dyes, the possibilities are quite endless. My passion for natural dyes has changed the way that I view nature. I see a sea of bright yellow dye when I see a field of goldenrod and I tend to freak out a bit, in a good way, when someone drops off a large bag of walnuts for me. Nothing makes me quite as happy as boiling up a bunch of flowers and barks and experiencing white or natural fiber change colors.
What has been your most interesting, in-spiring or difficult project?
The most interesting, inspiring, difficult and challenging project I have been involved in was my 2013 Artprize Entry: Division Fi-bers. This was a project that Elyse and I started for the first year that Parliament was open during Artprize. We thought it would be a great idea to yarn-bomb (covering everyday objects with knit and crochet panels) the whole street of Division Avenue between Fulton and Cherry. It was a fantastic idea, but it was also a lot of work. We hosted open knit/crochet nights at the boutique twice a week for three months with the motto of “Don’t know how to knit/crochet? We’ll teach you! And it doesn’t matter what it looks like because it’s going on a tree!” A small team of 6-8 people participated in the actual yarn bombing of all the trees, light posts, and parking meters on S. Division, and an even smaller group (four
people) participated in removing all the panels in the spring.
I really loved people’s reactions to the piece. I loved watching children touching each tree, or men enjoying the weird crochet/knit panels on the tree. My favorite reaction was that of the homeless population that utilizes the social services on Division. There was one woman that showed me her favorite tree after telling me how long it took her to make that decision because they were all so beautiful. It’s amazing that even now so many people recognize the piece, which I think makes Divi-sion Fibers a great success.
What do you see as the most important part in your role as a fiber artist?
Bringing attention to age old crafts and teaching these skills to eager participants is the most important role of a fiber artist. I enjoy educating people on the history of natural dyes vs. synthetic dyes. Showing someone how a loom works and hearing their stories about grandmothers or mothers weaving or knitting is so incredibly special, it’s all about making that connection with people about their own personal fiber history.
I also love teaching people how to sew their own clothes. There’s nothing quite as empow-ering as making a wearable garment for your-self and I think it’s very important to encour-age people to try for themselves.
Do you have a dream project you’d love to tackle?
I really want to experiment dyeing with lichens. I’m in awe of the colors that can be achieved. I am in the process of educating myself on techniques that will not harm the natural ecosystem of a lichen community. I also dream about owning an 8 or 16 harness loom. I love the patterns that I can achieve with my 4 harness but I would love to expand my pattern potential.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? One of my dreams is to establish, or con-
tribute to establishing, a textile art center in Grand Rapids. This would be a larger space that can accommodate a small yarn/finished fiber art store, a curated fine fiber art gallery, room for teaching fiber skills (including the dye kitchen that I have been dreaming about), a natural dye garden, and small studio spaces that can be rented by local fiber artists. There’s a beautiful example of this type of center in New York.
What words of encouragement do you have for someone starting out in the Fiber arts?
It’s so important for a new fiber artist to experiment in their craft. I’m constantly ex-plaining how awkward and weird a new fiber skill can be to learn and how much practice a new fiber skill takes. It’s important for some-body that just picked up a crochet hook to know that they are not doing it wrong, that they just need practice and their hands just need to get used to holding/moving the hook and keeping the appropriate tension. It is so important for a person to get past that awk-wardness so that they can truly begin to enjoy their craft. Don’t give up! Keep practicing!
[Megan was interviewed by our roving-reporter Paula DeYoung.]
WW&S Newsletter, March, 2016 — 5
2015-2016 WORKSHOP & RETREAT REGISTRATION FORM
Date
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone E-mail
WORKSHOPS:
Please check the workshops you wish to attend.
October 10, 2015, Joy Castonguay, Plainfield Senior Center, Plainfield, MI;
_______ Morning Workshop? Making Marvelous Milk Soap; $18 workshop fee* + $15 materials fee
_______ Afternoon Workshop? Centsible Skin Care; $18 workshop fee* + $15 materials fee
If taking both morning and afternoon, workshop fee is $34
_______ March 12 & 13 2016, Emily Wohlscheid, Blending and Spinning Fibers, Megan Roach's studio, 401 Hall St.
Grand Rapids; $75 workshop fee* + $40 materials fee
*non-members of the Guild add $30 to workshop cost
RETREATS:
______November 7, 2015, Christian Reformed Conference Center (CRCC) Gathering Center, Grand Haven, 9 – 7, $25 for all day
(Includes lunch and dinner) & $15 for ½ day (Includes lunch only)
______April 16, 2016, Salvation Army Little Pine Island Camp Retreat Center, Comstock Park 9 – 5, $20 includes 1 meal
Workshop Policies: Workshop registrations for Guild members must be received at least 2-weeks prior to the workshop date. Registration
must be accompanied by full payment. Materials fee will be paid directly to the instructor. Non-members will be included if a workshop limit is not
filled by members within 2- weeks prior to the date o? the workshop. The cost for non-members is workshop and materials’ fees plus $30. If a non-
member decides to join the Guild after the first workshop participation, the next workshop in which s/he participates will be at the member rate for
the rest of the Program year (the $30 can be applied to dues). Full refund is issued prior to 2-weeks of the workshop, no refund after that. For both
members and non-members a complete refund will be issued if the workshop is canceled.
Retreats: Registration and payment must be received 2-weeks prior to the date of the retreat. No refunds will be issued after that date. If a
retreat is canceled, a full refund will be issued.
Please forward completed registration and payment (WOODLAND WEAVERS & SPINNERS) to:
Sue Vegter
2160 Eagle Blvd.
Holland, MI 49424
Questions? [email protected] or 616-990-0429
