Past Programs

Wild silk is much more than the miraculous journey of metamorphosis from caterpillar to silken luxury. It is tightly woven to an ancient living culture raising tasar, muga, and eri silkworms in remote forests of central and eastern India. Raising wild silkworms, reeling cocoons, spinning fiber, and weaving silk cloth provides sustainable work and a regular income, while protecting the environment, lifting the status of women, and maintaining a traditional lifestyle. 

In this Zoom presentation, Karen will share photos and stories captured from weavers, spinners, and silkworm farmers over thirty years of field research, and will transport you into their homes and villages to witness the love and dedication involved in each part of the process from soil to cloth.  

Bio

All things silk has provided Karen Selk with a thread that binds together travel, research, writing, artwork, educating, and managing a successful business selling silk yarns and fibres for over 50 years.  She has given hundreds of workshops and presentations on silk and weaving worldwide and has written over fifty articles on silk.    Her passion to learn about everything silk has led her throughout Asia and the wild silk forests of India in particular, for more than 30 years.  The culmination of her field research has been published in a book: In Search of Wild Silk: Exploring a Village Industry in the Jungles of India. She lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, in the Salish Sea on the west coast of Canada. 

Publications

In Search of Wild Silk: Exploring a Village Industry in the Jungles of India, published March 2023 by Schiffer Publishing.

Magazine Articles in 2023/24

• Selvedge – Issue 113
• Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot – Summer 2023
• Textile Asia Journal – September 2023
• Creative Fibre – June 2023
• Embroidery Canada – Fall 2023
• Textile Fibre Forum – December 2023
• SpinOff – Winter 24/25

Website:  www.karenselk.com

Note that there will not be an in-person meeting this month!

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

Wild silk is much more than the miraculous journey of metamorphosis from caterpillar to silken luxury. It is tightly woven to an ancient living culture raising tasar, muga, and eri silkworms in remote forests of central and eastern India. Raising wild silkworms, reeling cocoons, spinning fiber, and weaving silk cloth provides sustainable work and a regular income, while protecting the environment, lifting the status of women, and maintaining a traditional lifestyle. 

In this Zoom presentation, Karen will share photos and stories captured from weavers, spinners, and silkworm farmers over thirty years of field research, and will transport you into their homes and villages to witness the love and dedication involved in each part of the process from soil to cloth.  

Bio

All things silk has provided Karen Selk with a thread that binds together travel, research, writing, artwork, educating, and managing a successful business selling silk yarns and fibres for over 50 years.  She has given hundreds of workshops and presentations on silk and weaving worldwide and has written over fifty articles on silk.    Her passion to learn about everything silk has led her throughout Asia and the wild silk forests of India in particular, for more than 30 years.  The culmination of her field research has been published in a book: In Search of Wild Silk: Exploring a Village Industry in the Jungles of India. She lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, in the Salish Sea on the west coast of Canada. 

Publications

In Search of Wild Silk: Exploring a Village Industry in the Jungles of India, published March 2023 by Schiffer Publishing.

Magazine Articles in 2023/24

• Selvedge – Issue 113
• Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot – Summer 2023
• Textile Asia Journal – September 2023
• Creative Fibre – June 2023
• Embroidery Canada – Fall 2023
• Textile Fibre Forum – December 2023
• SpinOff – Winter 24/25

Website:  www.karenselk.com

Note that there will not be an in-person meeting this month!

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

This meeting has been canceled. Click here to view the presentation from the morning meeting:
The recording passcode is K^a+WQL2.

In this Zoom presentation, Rebecca will talk about her transparent weavings featuring a loosely woven background cloth that she creates with very fine linen, inlaying heavier threads during the weaving process to add designs and imagery. These weavings feel lighter than air. 

Website: https://rebeccasmithtapestry.com/index.html

In this Zoom presentation, Rebecca will talk about her transparent weavings featuring a loosely woven background cloth that she creates with very fine linen, inlaying heavier threads during the weaving process to add designs and imagery. These weavings feel lighter than air. 

Website: https://rebeccasmithtapestry.com/index.html

Note that there will not be an in-person meeting this month!

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

It’s our annual December meeting tradition – the mini workshops. Join us and make something fun for the holidays!

Please note that this meeting will not be available via Zoom.

It’s our annual December meeting tradition – the mini workshops. Join us and make something fun for the holidays!

Please note that this meeting will not be available via Zoom.

WWW: Why We Weave

This presentation documents Rosalie’s work from the earliest overshot pieces woven on a rented floor loom to her current studies in Kumihimo, Block Design, and Rep Weave. Teaching others has become one of the biggest rewards for her as to Why We Weave. 

See her work at https://www.rosalieneilson.com/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

WWW: Why We Weave

This presentation documents Rosalie’s work from the earliest overshot pieces woven on a rented floor loom to her current studies in Kumihimo, Block Design, and Rep Weave. Teaching others has become one of the biggest rewards for her as to Why We Weave. 

See her work at https://www.rosalieneilson.com/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

The North American Linen Association (NALA) is a nonprofit trade association founded and supported by individuals and businesses committed to developing the flax fiber industry across North America.

Learn about NALA and our goals for revitalizing flax fiber (linen) in North America, as well as the history of flax in Oregon

Website: https://northamericanlinen.org/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

The North American Linen Association (NALA) is a nonprofit trade association founded and supported by individuals and businesses committed to developing the flax fiber industry across North America.

Learn about NALA and our goals for revitalizing flax fiber (linen) in North America, as well as the history of flax in Oregon

Website: https://northamericanlinen.org/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

Judilee Fitzhugh is a textile artisan specializing in natural plant dyes and couture sewing. A tour of duty in Japan with the U.S. Navy led to a profound Japanese influence and a lifelong affection for indigo and plant fibers. She gained her Certificate in Craft at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2002 and taught in the BFA and Studio School programs until the school’s closure in 2019. Her finely crafted work combines natural objects with vintage fabric remnants, hand weaving, and surface design to portray a single moment in history.

See her work at https://www.judileefitzhugh.com/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

specializing

Judilee Fitzhugh is a textile artisan specializing in natural plant dyes and couture sewing. A tour of duty in Japan with the U.S. Navy led to a profound Japanese influence and a lifelong affection for indigo and plant fibers. She gained her Certificate in Craft at the Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2002 and taught in the BFA and Studio School programs until the school’s closure in 2019. Her finely crafted work combines natural objects with vintage fabric remnants, hand weaving, and surface design to portray a single moment in history.

See her work at https://www.judileefitzhugh.com/

Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://zoom.us/j/2290207971?pwd=elJvd2w0L2NsMlJPZXhNM3JlTFphZz09

specializing