September 2014 Issue of IWC News

Save the Date
IWC 2015
July 23-26
Intermountain Weavers Conference
Fall 2014
IWC news
IWC President’s message
Intermountain Weavers Conference (IWC) 2015 is quickly approaching. The theme for the
conference is Try Something New. Using this theme The Intermountain Weavers Board is
trying a variety of new initiatives that include offering 1-day classes as well as 3-day classes at
the conference, the creation of an IWC Facebook page and a greater reliance on the use of
e-mail for communication purposes.
We will be offering a multitude of 1 day and 3 day workshops in a large variety of disciplines
at the 2015 conference. Take a look. Choose classes that catch your interest and encourage you to try something new, or explore a topic in depth, or just offers a good time. We
have classes for everyone – from beginners interested in learning about fiber arts to advanced
fiber artists. Also we are encouraging attendees to “Try Something New”.
Check us out on Facebook. Pamela Bliss our publicity chairman will be posting updates
and interesting tidbits on our Facebook page.
Our communications to members will be happening through e-mail. Almost all of the attendees at the last conference who filled out evaluation forms indicated that e-mail works well for
them. Please make sure we have your current e-mail address and you can receive email from
address “IWC” and [email protected]. If you need to receive information
from us through the postal service be sure we are aware of this also. The contact for membership is Suzie Bley at [email protected]. In addition we will continue to update our web page at www.intermountainweavers.org. We want to make sure we
keep in touch with you in a way that works for you.
The conference registration costs for members will be $365.00 (includes 3 day workshop )
for the 2015 conference if you register before March 24,2015. This is an increase of $30
from the last conference. Due to a variety of issues which include increased college site costs
and workshop leader costs we needed to increase the conference registration rate.
The conference will open Thursday evening with Robyn Spady as keynote speaker, followed by a reception to give people a chance to visit. Friday evening will feature “Shop ‘ til
you Drop” with our vendors . “Celebration of Fiber Members Exhibit “ and “Your Workshop Leaders and Board Show Exhibit” will also be open . Saturday night will feature the
fashion show, raffle, and announcement of awards.
Plan to attend IWC 2015. This promises to be a wonderful conference. We welcome all of you who have supported
IWC over the years, new fiber artists, and fiber artists who
have heard about IWC and plan to come for the first time.
See you in Durango!!!
Cindy Dworzak
There is more information on each class and workshop instructor on
the IWC website.
http://www.intermountainweavers.org/three-day-workshops/
Changing Shapes
Ribbed Baskets
Linda Lugenbill
All skill levels
Learn the basics of
ribbed basketry. 3 projects: variations on one
concept. Starting with
some traditional approaches, we’ll adapt
and evolve as we try
new ways to create.
Each basket allows for
some personal choices
in materials, color, textures and pattern options.
Creating a Vest: Make it Funky, Make it Stylish, Make it Uniquely Yours
Leslie Killeen
Sewing Experience needed
Explore 2 different design techniques. Starting with
a basic pattern that fits, you alter the pattern to have
curves. In the second method, create a miniature paper
vest made from paper scans of your fabric and a miniature
version of the pattern. This gives you confidence before the first cut of your woven
cloth. Investigate surface techniques that add that special touch to make your vest
truly unique. You end up with a vest you can wear out of class.
Introduction to Sprang Carol James
Beginner Level
Beginning Kumihimo
Carol Franklin All Levels
Spinning Luxury
Maggie Casey
Advanced Beginner
Student should be
able to spin a continuous yarn and be
comfortable at their
wheel. From silk to
cashmere-just how
can you spin exotic
fibers to bring out
their best qualities?
We will start with silk
– bombyx and tussah
in top, hankies and
noil. Then we will spin
cashmere, pacovicuna, alpaca, kid
mohair, and more.
Plying, setting twist
and finishing techniques will be covered as well as blending fibers.
Students learn basic
skills on the maru dai
to explore all four of
the classes of movement and create samples of up to 12 different braid structures—round, square,
rectangular, hollow,
flat, oval, and special
shapes. Students will
work at their own
speed, completing basic
shapes and then moving
into fancy shapes.
Sprang , an ancient interlacing
technique was used by the Vikings
to create an elastic textile. For every
row of work, two rows of mirror-image
cloth are produced. We begin with
a technique using a frame with ready to- go warp. Emphasis is placed on the basic technique,
error identification, correction and avoidance. The initial
project complete, participants learn to start from scratch.
It’s in the Warp—Color and Design in Rep
Rosalie Neilson Advanced Beginner to Advanced
2 different colored warps combine with thick
and thin weft to form the elements for exploring block design in warp-faced rep. Learn
how “blocks” of rep threaded on 4 and 8
shafts can be combined to expand design
possibilities. Weavers will work exclusively
on their own loom ( 4 or 8 ) to understand
the weave structure of rep, sampling with different weight
wefts to create textiles suitable for the table, wall, and floor.
Mysterious Transformations Stephanie Flynn-Sokolov
All Levels
Intentionally create depth and dimension in your textiles. We’ll
find out what happens when you mindfully place yarn that will felt
next to some that won’t or see what happens when you use a crepe
yarn that looks like it behaves until you wash it and it springs out
of control. No previous weaving experience necessary. A loom will
be provided, you just bring an open mind and a pencil.
New Millennium Fibers Heather Winslow Advanced Beginner to Advanced
What on earth is Lyocell? Why would anyone combine cotton, silk, or
merino wool with stainless steel or copper into a yarn? Aren’t pineapples
and soy beans for eating and bamboo for building? How does a
combination of silk and ramie feel? Learn the answers to these questions and more during this fun filled class using new millennium fibers.
The Many Layers of
Shibori
Dottie Weir All Levels
No Wax Batik-Surface Design
Ray Pierotti All Levels
Explore a multi-layering
process on natural cotton,
linen, or blend using
Inkdye, acrylic paints and
wax base color pencil. Apply these 3 mediums in a
manner that renders them
transparent. The workshop will consist
of hands-on application, photographic
presentation and discussion.
Woven shibori uses the
loom to make fabric as well
as to make a resist for
dyeing and/or shaping. It
is true joining of weaving
and surface design to the
cloth by dyeing and shaping. Participants will learn
to use fiber reactive dyes The Thrill of the Twill Robyn Spady
and vat dyes during this
Advanced Beginner to Advanced
workshop.
This class is for the weaver looking
to further their knowledge about
twills with the emphasis on advancing
and networked twills, but will also cover
corkscrew twills and echo weaves. 4 shaft loom
minimum, but 8 is recommended.
Understanding the Design Process: Fabric to Wear
Sarah Jackson All Levels
This workshop will provide a thorough understanding of the
design process including in-depth discussion regarding working
through decisions about fiber, color, weave structure, and
pattern selection. It is not a round robin workshop, but is a
combination of presentation, discussion, and weaving.
Understanding Supplementary Warp
Barbara Herbster All Levels
Have you ever wished you could achieve multi
colored clean motifs using a single shuttle? You
will weave a beautiful 60” scarf on a pre-wound
chenille or bamboo warp, learn finishing techniques appropriate to your special hand woven
projects and take home the knowledge and confidence to design more projects.
Navajo Rug Weaving
Lynda Teller Pete
All Levels
Students will start with
pre-warped looms. As
they begin weaving, students become familiar
with the loom, the warp,
how the “female stick”
and the “male stick”
work, and they also get a
better understanding of
the knots and tension
issues that arise during
the warping phase. Students will work on a 6
inch by 8 inch rug on an
upright Navajo loom.
Traces, Layers, Narratives and
Surfaces: Designing & Weaving
Transparencies
Shelley Socolofsky Intermedate
Various strategies will be
explored that will fuse our
designs with a sense of time,
dream action and drama. We
will review and apply traditional formal compositional
strategies while examining
various ways to think about
“narrative”. We will explore
digital techniques of layering, wrapping, reflections
and shadows, masking, cropping, transforming and leveled layer adjustments in
Photoshop to create strong
designs. The design exercises will be followed by
demonstrations
of weaving
techniques.
Knitting Without Boundaries
Valentina Devine All Levels
In this class, Valentina
guides you through free
form knitting at its best,
circles, swirls, scrumbles and
more. Discover how to create extraordinary and beautiful designs while using up
all those wonderful yarns
left over in your knitting
basket.
Magic Pouch Workshop
Anita Luvera Mayer
All levels
Design and create a
small “magic pouch”
necklace using shisha
mirrors, embroidery,
beading and crazy quilting.. All the techniques
included in the workshop
are applicable for a fiber
project from clothing to
accessories.
Weave a Scarf in a Day
Jane Patrick
Beginner Level
If you’ve never woven
on any loom or haven’t
woven on a rigid heddle
loom but would like to
give it a try, then this is
the class for you. We’ll
learn all of the basics for
weaving on a Cricket
rigid heddle loom.
Looms will be provided.
Kakishibu Chris Conrad All Levels
Kakishibu, the traditional Japanese dye made from persimmons, is unique among natural dyes. Requiring no mordants, no
chemicals or boiling water, it is the most user friendly of dyes. Simple enough for the
absolute novice dyer and dynamic enough for the experienced, kakishibu offers endless potential for creativity for all levels of experience. This hands-on, projectpacked class focuses on fibers and textiles, exploring kakishibu’s uses on yarn and
cloth with such varied techniques as katazome (stencil and paste resist dyeing), origami shibori and sun patterning. Students are also encouraged to bring modest-sized
samples of their own yarn and cloth to experiment with.
Navajo Spinning
Pam Ramsey Beginner
Using simple Navajo
(lap) spindles, learn
to spin lofty, structurally correct weft
yarns for weaving or
softly spun singles
for knitting. Also
learn to spin firm,
tightly controlled,
warp yarns. During
class, we will explore
Navajo stories of
sheep and weaves.
Kakishibu Shibori Chris Conrad All levels In shibori, mechanical resists such
as binding, stitching, folding, twisting,
compressing, or capping are used to
create design on textiles. The characteristics of kakishibu make it a
natural marriage with the techniques of
shibori.
Beautiful Bands,
Terrific Trims
Jane Patrick All Levels
This introduction to inkle
weaving is designed for the
novice “inkler”. Students will
learn the mechanics that make
the loom work, how to warp
the loom, warp up a band according to a specific design
and weave a finished band by
the end of class.
Beginning Tatting
The Houtz Brothers
Beginner
Tatting is considered an “old”
craft. Interest with it has peaked
and waned over the past couple of
centuries.
Tatting is easy to learn Practice is
all it takes. Basically, tatting consists of tying one knot, referred to
as a double stitch.
Tatting is portable, durable, versatile, and inexpensive. Fits well in a
hurry and wait life style because
you can carry it in your pocket.
Mitered Corners Valentina Devine All Levels
Learn how to knit one-of-a-kind garments
by using the mitered corners technique.
Mitered corners patterns were created by
German fiber artist Horst Schultz. Valentina will guide the student through the
endless world of knitting geometric shapes.
Sculpting Wool with Felting needles Linda Smith All
Levels
Wool Fiber can be worked into a variety of human,
animal, plant, and whimsical forms with only the use
of several different felting needles. This class will
give students an understanding of which types of
wool to use and how to use folds, rolls, and other
techniques to dry felt wool into a realistic face and
Color Changes Shell Valentina Devine All Levels
This technique consists of single motifs which look
like shells. Indeed the individual motif is a
perfect square. By using a rib pattern stitch
and placing it on point (or diamond-like)
the garment grows.
Vest, Kimono, and Body Coverings
Anita Luvera-Mayers All Levels
Learn to design simple garments for
“real women” and the steps in planning including style, fit, fabric/color,
embellishments/joins, fabric finishing, lay out, and record keeping. Participants will have the opportunity to
try on a variety of garments and copy
the patterns. The workshop will also
focus on the use of color, fiber
choices, fulling, and linings.
Mudpies for Adults
Anita Luvera-Mayer All Levels
Participants will make a reference
notebook of surface design fabric
samples including
discharge, foiling,
paint sticks, stamping,
fabric paints, shibori,
tissue paper bleeding,
mono-print and more.
Stations for each
technique will be set-up
so students can work
at their own pace.
Ikkanbari Chris Conrad All Levels
Ikkanbari is the folk craft of extending the life
of worn baskets by covering them with washi
(Japanese paper) and kakishubu (traditional
Japanese natural dye made from persimmons).
We’ll use the Japanese technique of katazome
(stencil and rice paste
resist) to pattern the
washi, and then cover a
Japanese-style dust-pan.
Finger Controlled Weaves and The Power of the Pick up Stick
Jane Patrick Advanced Beginner
In the morning, students will explore the world of finger-controlled weaves and learn what
impressive results can be achieved with these simple yet versatile techniques. Whole fabrics
can be created or just accents added for stunning results. We’ll learn: leno, Brook’s bouquet, soumak, ghiordes knot, Danish medallions, Spanish Lace, and picked-up loops. Samples
and projects will illustrate the possibilities the finger-controlled techniques offer.
In the afternoon, we’ll explore the basics of how to use a pick-up stick on the rigid heddle loom.
We’ll weave patterns using weft-floats, warp-floats and warp-and-weft floats. Swatches and
samples will be used to illustrate how far you can go with pick-up patterns using a combination
of pick-up techniques, yarn and color. Hand outs will be provided. Students should have their
looms warped and ready to weave.
Scholarships
Each conference , money
is set aside for scholarships, and one of the
scholarships could belong
to you! Please fill out the
application, and it will be
reviewed by the scholarship committee. And
good luck to you.
The scholarship application is on the web site.
CELEBRATION OF FIBER MEMBERS EXHIBIT
All attendees of the 2015 Intermountain Weavers’ Conference are welcome to submit 1 or 2 pieces for inclusion in this
non-juried show. The purpose is to showcase our talents and
skills and inspire each other to further fiber art adventures.
The show is held in the same building as registration, the
cafeteria and the vendor area to make it convenient for you
to visit.
There will be prizes for various categories including a special
category this year for something that you tried for the first
time. Try Something New is our theme for this conference.
Articles must have been made since the last conference
(July 2013).
Application forms for all shows will be on the website to
print out to bring with you or you can fill out the forms
Thursday at the Information desk.
Raffle and Silent Auction
Start thinking now about what your guild
would like to donate to the Raffle and Silent Auction. This
can be a themed
basket or random
items of a quality
Fashion Show
Whether you’ve made something new or
designed something tried and true, come
celebrate at the Intermountain Weavers
Conference by participating in “The Fiber
and Fashion Show”. Bring one or two of
your original creations that have been
completed since July of 2013 to show
and/ or wear.
Anita Luvera-Mayer will once again act
as emcee for the fashion show. Many of
you enjoyed her commentary at the 2011
and 2013 fashion shows.
that you would like
to receive.
Outreach
Do you know someone who should be receiving information about the 2015 conference,
if so please let us know? We want this to
be a great conference and experience for
everyone, and contacting guilds and individuals will help accomplish this. Please contact Suzie Bley at
[email protected]
The fashion show is open to all members
and workshop leaders attending the conference
Showing items that you have created and
seeing those that others have created is
great fun. The Fashion Show is always a
highlight of the conference and an enjoyable evening for all. Let’s make this
upcoming fiber and fashion show one of
the best yet!
Fill out the entry form on Thursday during Conference check-in.
Keynote Speaker Robyn Spady
Robyn Spady will be the Keynote Speaker for the 2015 Intermountain
Weaver’s Conference. Below is some information about Robyn written by
Robyn on her website at http://spadystudios.com/about-me.html
“Weaving has always been a part of my life. It started with my baby blanket handwoven by my great-grandmother. While growing up, it helped instill
in me a sense of creativity and confidence at a time when my self esteem
was developing. During my years while working in what I like to call
"Corporate America", weaving helped give me sanity and feel a sense of
productivity,
which was very important while working on long-term projects when day-today progress was not evident.
In 2001, changes in my life provided me the opportunity to dedicate myself
to weaving fulltime. One of the earliest undertakings, that has had a huge
impact on my life and my weaving, was tackling the Handweavers Guild
of America's (HGA) Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving
(COE-W). In October 2002, I successfully completed the Level
1: Technical Skills in Handweaving. In October 2004, I
successfully completed Level II: Master in Handweaving with
the specialized study Loom-controlled Stitched Double Cloth.
I am fascinated by the infinite possibilities of crossing threads
and love coming up with new ideas to create fabric and
transform it into something that has never existed before.”
Registration
Registration for the 2015 conference will open February 1, 2015 for
everyone. IWC members as of January 31, 2015 will receive priority
for workshop selection if registrations are received prior to March
1, 2015. Everyone is encouraged to register early for the conference so that that you are able to participate in the workshop you
want. More information will be included in the registration book
which will be issued through e-mail the first part of January 2015.
See you in Durango for 2015 IWC Try Something New July 23-26 2015 !!
For additional information see our website at
http://www.intermountainweavers.org/