Send your news items to Sylvia Emard by the 25th of the month for inclusion in the next month’s newsletter.
Guild Calendar December 2021
December 9, 2021 Virtual Meeting
7:00 pm Evening Meeting Only
Library Pickup/Return
Thursday, December 16, 2021
10-10:30 am – MAC Hallway by PHG closet
Please send your requests to Robin.
Virtual Board Meeting
Thursday, December 2, 2021
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
President’s Message
Happy December everyone!
I am going to keep it short and sweet this month. As we are heading into Thanksgiving (at the time I write this), I realize we have a lot to celebrate between now and New Year’s. There are so many celebrations that happen across cultures, across religions, across the world, and on top of that we have our own personal celebrations, whatever they may be. No matter what or how you celebrate, I wish you a good celebration and peace, love and so much joy as we head into the New Year. Stay safe everyone!
With gratitude,
Sarah McCully-Posner
PHG President
Programs
Program News 2021-2022
For the coming year the board has decided to take its lead from MAC, and when they reopen to the public we will resume our normal meeting schedule of day and evening meetings. Meetings will be held in either the auditorium or the gymnasium as scheduling permits to allow sufficient space for distancing for the comfort of all members. In addition we will continue to include Zoom access for all our meetings for both the Zoom-only meetings as well as those held at MAC.
Until MAC reopens we will continue with our evening Zoom meetings on our normal meeting dates. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6742517131?pwd=Q2dlQkpaeFVQbGhieS8rTndTdTNidz09 and works for all meetings for both the normal monthly meetings as well as the monthly board meetings.
We will continue to record programs and make them available to members via the members-only page at https://portlandhandweaversguild.org/archive/members-only/recordings/. Please note that we are working with presenters to ensure access to all and at the same time respecting the time and efforts of presenters. When requested we will be redacting presentations from the recordings after allowing a reasonable amount of time to allow members the opportunity to view the recordings. If you have missed any presentations from last year I urge you to view them now while you can. Updates may be made to those recordings at any time.
Thanks to all who have provided ideas and suggestions for this year’s programs. I think we have a good lineup, but there’s still a spot open for that amazing speaker or topic you’ve been wanting to see or share with the group. If you have an idea for a program please email Dan at dansteves@gmail.com.
In the meantime here’s what we have on the schedule so far.
| Month | Speaker | Topic |
| December | Laura Fry | S.A.B.L.E. (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) |
| January | Tien Chiu | Visual Design: The Four Factors |
| February | Marilyn and John Harrison | From Flock to Fiber |
| March | OPEN | TBD |
| April | Carolyn Burwell | Inspirations and Works |
| May | Denise Kovnat | TBD: Either “Paint Two, Beam One: Painting Two Warps and Beaming Them as One” OR “Once Upon a Warp: From the Loom to the Runway” |
| June | PHG Board | Strawberry Social |
December Program – Evening Meeting Only
Laura Fry
S.A.B.L.E. (Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy)
December 9, 2021 at 7 pm
Stashes seem to grow and grow until we wonder if we’ll ever have time to use everything we’ve acquired. At some point we all have to stop and take a good hard look at what we’ve got, what we’re doing, and then start thinking about what will happen to all that fabulous fiber. This month, Laura Fry joins us to lead a discussion about managing one’s stash, and what sorts of things happen when we don’t plan properly.
Join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6742517131?pwd=Q2dlQkpaeFVQbGhieS8rTndTdTNidz09
Share your work with the Guild. Please send photos of your recent work to Dan Steves at dansteves@gmail.com for inclusion in the Show & Tell portion of the October meeting. Deadline for submissions is noon on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.
Coming up!
Tien Chiu
Visual Design: The Four Factors
January 13, 2022
When designing a piece, there are four factors in its design that contribute most to its look and feel. The mood – the overall atmosphere of its piece – is set by the range of lights and darks in the piece. The vibrancy determines how eye-catching the piece is, and is set by saturation and warmth. The drama of a piece is the emotional tension in a piece, and is created through contrast. And, finally, the complexity of the patterning determines whether it feels elegantly simple or fascinatingly complex. This talk discusses the four factors and how they work in handweaving.
Workshops
Block Party – SOLD OUT!
Robyn Spady
December 11-12, 2021
Robyn Spady will present IN PERSON, the Block Party workshop that had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic. The workshop will be held at the Beaverton Mill End store classroom. (https://www.spadystudios.com/workshops)
Paint Two, Beam One
Denise Kovnat
March 13, 14, and 20, 2022
The next two workshops come as a set. March 13, 14, and 20, 2022, Denise Kovnat will present via Zoom, her Paint Two, Beam One dye workshop. Supply lists will be forthcoming, and I recommend we group up, or arrange for a group buy of some of the required chemicals. Registration will open in December.
One Warp, Many Structures
Denise Kovnat
May 12-14, 2022
May 12-14, 2022, Denise Kovnat will present IN PERSON, her One Warp, Many Structures workshop, using the two painted warps from the previous workshop. (https://www.denisekovnat.com/p/classes.html) Either workshop can stand on its own, but the Workshop Chair will first be opening registration to those who want to take both workshops. Registration will open in December.
March, 2022 The Sakiori workshop lead by Yoko Tamura may return. Should it be a go, first priority will be given to those who had originally registered. (Lynne Fitzsimmons still has her warp and silk sari squirrelled away in anticipation!)
September 10-11, 2022, Patty Huffer will present a Beginning Rigid Heddle workshop at Ruthie’s Weaving Studio at 3131 SE 50th and SE Kelley. This is being organized by WeGo, and has a maximum of 6 participants.
October 15-16, 2022 There will be a Deflected Doubleweave Workshop presented by Natalie Drummond via Zoom. Natalie was featured on the cover of the most recent Handwoven. Her website is: https://www.nataliewoven.com/.
Lifetime PHG Member Jerry Swick will be offering a series of short Zoom presentations on how to use Fiberworks PCW weaving software http://www.fiberworks-pcw.com/. There will be no charge, and the presentations will be recorded for members to view or review after the fact. Schedule info coming soon.
Guild News
In Memoriam
Linda Joyce Tilson Davis
October 2, 1944 – October 30, 2021
PHG member, PHG Past President 1995-1996, and ANWG President 2011-2013
Linda Joyce Tilson Davis was born October 2, 1944 in Hood River, OR to Robert Joseph and Roberta Sinclair Tilson. She passed away October 30, 2021 due to acute myeloid leukemia.
She graduated from Forest Grove Union High School in 1962, then graduated from Portland State University in 1966 with a BS in Geography and urban studies. In 1965 she married Charles Lund. They moved to San Francisco in 1968 where daughter Kristin was born.
In 1970, Linda was hired as a planner with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments in Salem, OR, charged with developing the state’s first urban growth boundary. This effort subsequently became the model for state land use law that still exists today. In 1973 she accepted the position of County Planning Administrator and Long Range Planning Director for the Ada Council of Governments in Boise, Idaho where she held board chair.
In 1974 she married H. Tom Davis in Boise and gained two stepchildren, Michael and Linda. Their son Nathaniel, was born in June, 1976.
In 1978 the family moved to Beaverton, OR., where Linda was hired as Planning Director and Community Development Director for the City of Beaverton, a post she held for 15 years. She was actively involved in many aspects of city planning and development including expansion of Tri-Met. In 1994 she joined the consulting firm of Cogan Owens Cogan in Portland and left when she and Tom moved to Sisters, OR, in 1999. She continued to do some free-lance consulting until 2005 when she fully retired.
The family engaged in adventures of wilderness backpacking, hiking, river rafting, canoeing and kayaking. Linda also pursued many other interests including sewing, weaving, cooking and reading. She was a renowned master weaver and wrote two books on the subject.
A celebration of life will be held some time in the future. To read more on Linda’s remarkable life and contributions, including survivors, the family has set up a web page: memoriesoflinda.tumblr.com
Please sign the online guest book at www.oregonlive.com/obits.
Library News
The Multnomah Arts Center gave us permission for limited browsing in the hallway by the PHG closet on December 16, 2021. The library will be available during the COVID standard library time from 10 am to 10:30 am. This is possible because the Arts Center is open to the public and there are no classes that day. Everyone attending must wear masks and attempt to socially distance. If you prefer to just run in and pick up items, please email Robin with your requests.
Theme of the Year – Stash Management
Weavers tend to acquire a yarn inventory over time, their stash. A stash is a wonderful thing. It can consist of yarns left over from completed projects but too nice to discard, yarns that were gifts, or yarns that were just too pretty to leave behind at the fiber festival. There are bread-and-butter yarns like carpet warp and 8/2 cotton and, sometimes, yarns lovingly adopted from a weaver’s estate sale. But without stash management, a stash can outgrow its storage space or is frozen in time, with fiber content, grist, colors, and textures the weaver no longer uses.
There are three main stash management categories: Builders, Swappers, and Depleters.
Stash Builders tend to be those new to weaving. They are excited to build their stashes to have a variety of yarns readily available for projects they hope to weave in the future. They may be weavers without resources to build a stash quickly, who want to get a range of colors in basic yarns, or who want to explore different yarns without a major cash outlay. They can also be weavers who are looking for small quantities of a special yarn, discontinued yarns, or yarns that are difficult to find.
Stash Swappers are weavers who already have a stash but want it refreshed. The stash can have yarns that no longer reflect their weaving preferences, where the weaver is learning and evolving and needs their stash to evolve with them. There are lots of partial cones of this or that (usually left over from completed projects) and/or plenty of fiber that is not their “thing” anymore. The desire to have a stash is still strong, just a “stash of a different color.”
Stash Depleters are in downsizing mode. They have more stash than they can ever use – a Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy (S.A.B.L.E) as described by Laura Fry in her Handwoven magazine essay.
Most of these stashes have been years in the making and include such treasures as Willamette Valley linens, cotton bouclés, and vintage colors and textures. These weavers would rather sell or donate some of their stash to other fiber artists rather than see it go to the dump or leave it to a family member to figure out what to do with it in their absence.
This year, PHG proposes Stash Management as our Theme of the Year. Here is a chance to build, change, or deplete your stash. Are you a depleter? Post a picture of what you’re are willing to sell or donate on the GoogleGroup email. Are you a builder? Tell others what you’re looking for. Do you want to change it up? Let others know what you want to swap. In the meantime, weave articles using your own stash, or using materials you acquired from someone else’s stash. At the end of the year, we can share what we wove and what we did to manage our stashes. We’ll have more to say in the months to come, and hope that sharing of our stashes and our Stash Management strategies helps to bring us together in this ongoing difficult time of isolation.
Outreach Co-Director Needed
If you have been looking for a fun way to get more involved with PHG activities, this may be your chance. Maggie Patterson and Cooki Messmer have been serving as Co-Directors for Outreach. Unfortunately for our Guild, Maggie is preparing to move out of state. So Cooki is looking for a new partner to help organize outreach activities.
Maggie got the effort off to a good start over the last year by ordering an outdoor canopy, fold-up table, tablecloth, and a large hanging PHG banner. Activities include contacting organizations for permission to set up a booth for demonstrations and information; then recruiting PHG members to help staff the effort. Despite the pandemic, some of those locations over the last year have included farmers’ markets in Gresham, Woodstock, Cedar Mill; the Troutdale First Friday Art Gathering; and Art in the Pearl.
Members weaving on small looms have attracted lots of interested onlookers with questions about how to check out the Guild and where to take lessons. The informational brochure gets them connected.
If this sounds like a role you would be willing to share, or you would like to help demonstrate weaving sometime, contact Cooki at cookimessmer@comcast.net.
And thank you, Maggie, for your outstanding volunteer efforts to make PHG more visible in the community.
Volunteer Opportunity: PHG Organizational Liaison Chair
Sue Walsh has stepped down as Organizational Liaison Chair and would like to help someone learn this PHG Board position. This person will shadow Sue this year, answer your questions, and then take over fully next year. The work is light, but there are a few time sensitive items. As a Board member, we would like you to join us for the monthly Board meetings, all currently done over Zoom. Please contact Sarah at sarah_mccully@yahoo.com if you are interested.
PHG Website News
Recently a few members reported receiving a phone call from someone purporting to Dan Steves. It’s believed this person may have obtained member information from the website forum profiles. The forums weren’t used much, and the navigation to them was removed from the site earlier this year. In light of this recent event we’ve completely removed the forums and the related software from the site. We have also removed any logins created by non-members who wanted access to the forums, and have blocked any further non-member login creations. We have also updated the page on Privacy, including new instructions on how to update your directory information.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Dan using the “Contact Us” form on the website, or directly via email at dansteves@gmail.com.
PHG Special Projects Grant Program
Have you been thinking about an aspect of weaving, dyeing, or spinning that you would like to explore? After being cooped up for a year with these ideas floating around, isn’t it time to act on them, and would the incentive of a little cash help?
PHG is here to help with you with that!
The Guild has a grant fund available to members for just that purpose and all you need to do is fill out a simple application form and submit it the Director of Education. REALLY this is not some LONG government form and it does not require a COVID test so please think about applying. Go to the website and look under education/special projects or just click on the link below and get started.
This is an opportunity for new weavers who are interested in experimenting with a new type of weave or yarn, experienced weavers to finally research a topic more in depth or attend a workshop that otherwise would not be within the budget. All that PHG asked is that you share your experience with us sometime in the future!
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Linda Edquist
Director of Education
https://portlandhandweaversguild.org/archive/education/special-projects-fund/
Your purchases can benefit PHG! Click on one of these links before buying and PHG will earn a commission from your purchase.
The Woolery is the place for weaving, spinning, felting, dyeing, rug hooking and knitting. Established in 1981, our extensive inventory of products, excellent customer service and in-house fiber arts experience make us the ideal source for all your fiber arts needs. We have one of the largest selections of weaving loom and spinning wheel floor models for you to test drive. Your Fiber Journey Starts Here!”
Small Equipment Library
Most members are aware that the PHG has table and tapestry looms to rent. Many are probably not aware that we have a number of smaller tools that you can borrow for a month with no charge. These items have been moved from the Rental Equipment page on the PHG site to a new page, Small Equipment Library, under the Resources menu. Kathy Sengenberger’s husband, Dave, generously gifted the guild some wonderful additions to this collection. Now available to borrow are a Glimakra yarn swift, a ball winder, a fringe twister, a bobbin winder and a McMorran balance (to determine how much mystery yarn you picked up at the latest sale. Sorry, you will still need to do a burn test to find out what it is). Try things out, then put them on your holiday wish list! Please email Robin with requests. They will be available for pick up and return during the regular library schedule.
ANWG 2023 Conference: Fiber Connections
The 2023 ANWG Conference has hit the “reboot” button and we are GO for June 11-18, 2023 at the Riverhouse Convention Center and Hotel in Bend. Portland Handweavers Guild is weaving the name tags, and we had been weaving them at various locations across metro area, including sales, demonstrations, and Ruthie’s Weaving Studio as well as in private weavers’ home studios. With COVID restrictions still in place, we currently are restricting weaving to private home studios. If you are interested in weaving some name tags, we can provide you with the draft, pre-made warp, weft, and instructions. Please contact Sue Walsh at sugar2311@comcast.net if you’d like more info. If you’d like to know more about the conference, or wish to sign up for the regular blogs, go to https://anwgconference2023.com/ Thanks in advance!
Membership
Your membership runs from July 1 to June 30, and all memberships are up for renewal on July 1. The only exception is new members who joined after March 1 of this year. For more information or to renew online go to https://portlandhandweaversguild.org/archive/portland-handweavers-guild-membership/renew-my-membership/.
Please reach out to Membership Director Jessica with any questions or concerns.
Latest ANWG Newsletter
The Association of Northwest Weavers Guilds has posted their October 2021 newsletter. Check out the creative ways other Northwest weaving guilds are getting their members together for fiber activities. Click here to read the newsletter.
A Message from Your Complex Weavers Representative
Have you ever considered joining Complex Weavers? Membership is open to those weavers who venture forth on 8 shaft looms, or more. However if you only have 4 shafts right now, we also would welcome you. Complex Weavers gives one the chance to meet like minded weavers, and to share and learn from each other.
Complex Weavers offers many study groups on a variety of weaving topics. We also have an extensive library one can use for their own study purposes. Complex Weavers hosts Seminars, every even numbered year, and this is a chance for members to meet up in person, and enjoy the learning opportunities at that conference.
Additionally, Complex Weavers members have the opportunity to enter a juried show, Complexity, held in connection with Complex Weavers Seminars.
Plans continue to move along for our Seminars 2022. Do know the information regarding housing and classes is up on our Website, (www.complex-weavers.org) We hope you will be able to join us in Knoxville, TN, July 10-13 for a wonderful 2022 Seminars gathering.
We continue to welcome new members to Complex Weavers. It is so exciting to see those new members joining, and our long term members returning to share their talents with us. www.complex-weavers.org.
If you would like to join Complex Weavers or would like more information, please send an email to LadellawilliamsCZZ@gmail.com, text her at 503-729-1704, or write to Ladella Williams at:
4254 NE Flanders St.
Portland OR 97213-1636
Handweavers Guild of America
Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) is our national weaving organization whose mission is to educate, support and inspire the fiber arts community. Many of us think of Convergence, the biennial international conference, when we think of HGA. The next Convergence will be in Knoxville, Tennessee July 15-21, 2022. Registration is open now.
Membership also entitles you to receive the quarterly Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot magazine, guided study opportunities, grants to study or take workshops, fiber resources such as textile kits and multimedia rentals, travel excursions and eligibility for Small Expressions exhibit and the HGA Award given to more than 30 deserving artists each year.
Please go to the HGA website www.weavespindye.org for more information.
Sale News
PHG Spring Sale – Call for Volunteers
We are looking forward to having our Spring Sale, May 6-7, 2022, with the Gathering of the Guilds. For any event to be successful there needs to be an army of volunteers to get all the jobs done behind the scenes. We need:
1. Coordinator of Volunteers
- Set-up Sign Up Genius, a free online sign-up program for vendors participating in GOTG
- Remind volunteers/vendors to sign up for required hours
- Remind volunteers/vendors to work their shifts
2. GOTG postcards/flyers/posters distribution
- Ship or deliver to vendors and others to distribute
- Pass out at PHG meeting
3. PHG demonstrations for lobby
- Recruit PHG demonstrators
- Prepare guild loom
- Coordinate transport of equipment MAC and OCC
4. Demonstration from outside of group
- Recruit outside fiber arts group to demonstrate
- Coordinate with John Beard
Please contact Jane or Jessica if you can help.
Jane Wilson, janewilson1949@outlook.com
Or
Jessica Bardsley, jessica.a.bardsley@gmail.com
Bulletin Board
Looking to Buy or Sell Weaving Equipment or Materials?
Check out the Items for Sale page.
Fiber News and Events
Rain Spark Gallery 2021 Holiday Show
Now through December 24, 2021
Lake Oswego, OR
Portland Handweavers Guild members Janis Johnson, Leanne Streit, Bonnie Garlington, Francisco and Laura Bautista, Teresa Ruch and past member Janet Ronacher are participating in the Holiday Show at Rainspark Gallery in Lake Oswego on “A” Ave. and State St. along with 44 other artists. 11 am – 7 pm daily except Sunday 11 am – 5pm. Free parking in structure behind building. More info here.
Fiber Artisans Market
Now through January 2, 2022
Lincoln City Cultural Center Fiber Arts Studio Gallery
More info here or LCFiberArtsStudio@gmail.com.
Mending The Social Fabric
Now through January 30, 2022
Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education’s Menashe Gallery
Interactive exhibition by textile artist Bonnie Meltzer.
More info here.
Handweavers Guild of America
Textiles & Tea
Tuesdays, Now-March, 2022
The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc.’s (HGA) exciting new program for 2021, Textiles & Tea, takes place every Tuesday at 4 PM (ET). We’ve invited some of the most respected fiber artists in the field today to join us for an hour long conversation where we will discuss their artwork and their creative journey. Make a cup of your favorite tea and join us as we talk about fiber, creativity, inspiration, process and so much more.
More info here.
Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat
February 16-20, 2022
Tacoma, WA
Rose City Yarn Crawl 2022
February 24-27, 2022
Portland, OR
RAGS Wearable Art Sale and Show
March 10-13, 2022
Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma, Fife, WA
Supporting YWCA Pierce County’s life-saving domestic violence services.
www.ragswearableart.org
Fiber in the Forest
May 13-15, 2022
Camp Myrtlewood, OR
Fiber in the Forest is coming back in 2022!
More info here.
MAWS 2022 Visions In Fiber Conference
Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners
June 21-26, 2022
Carroll College, Helena, MT
The conference is scheduled for Carroll College in Helena June 21-26, 2022 (including pre-conference workshops). More info coming in the Fall MAWS newsletter. There is also a fashion show, towel exchange and skein exchange planned! The Conference Theme is “Visions in FIber”. More info at https://www.montanaweavespin.org/ and https://helenaweaversandspinners.org/
Handweavers Guild of America-Convergence 2022
July 15-21, 2022
Knoxville, TN
Convergence® is heading to the Smoky Mountains for 2022!
Convergence
The Weaving Guilds of Oregon (WeGO) committee is delighted to announce that the traveling show will take place beginning in January of 2023. This show travels around the state of Oregon showcasing the fiber arts in our communities. The Title of the show is “Filaments.” A prospectus for submissions will be coming out soon and we hope to have a large response from participating guild members. The WeGO Traveling Show has been well received in the past, so now is the time to begin to plan your Filaments project.
Happy weaving,
WeGO 2023 Traveling Show Committee:
Sarah Mostkoff
Marilyn Roberts
Charlene Virts
ANWG Conference – Fiber Connections
June 11-18, 2023
Riverhouse Convention Center, Bend, OR
Click the link below to read all the news for the ANWG Conference 2023.
anwgconference2023.com
Call to Artists
RAGS LIVE! Wearable Art Sale and Show
March 10-13, 2022
Mercedes-Benz of Tacoma, Fife, WA
2022 Artist Applications are open. Click here for the prospectus. Click here to apply online. Deadline to apply is December 10, 2021.
Sunriver Art Fair
August 12-14, 2022
Sunriver, OR
Applications open for all artists December 1, 2021 on ZAPP. Application deadline is March 4, 2022. More info here.
Rental Equipment
PHG has equipment available for rent to current PHG Members. Click here for more info.
PHG Board and Chairs
Please click here for a list of PHG Board Members and Committee Chairs.