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Hand Weaver’s

Guild

Of

Peoria

February 2007


February Meeting The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 6 at 7:00 PM at the Weaving Room, 2026 N. University in Peoria. The program will be given by Margo Tennis and is on “Reading Old Drafts” and a report on “Color in Weaving” from Convergence.
Open House 2007 President Joan Quigg, Lise’ Mundwiller, Mary Didesch, Jeanie Krumholz and Margo Tennis met for a planning session for the 2007 Open House. The 2007 Guild Open House will be held Saturday, April 21 at the Ballance-Herschell House, 256 NE Randolph Street in Peoria. This historic home is owned by the Junior Women’s League of Peoria and serves as their headquarters. Guild member, Lise’ Mundwiller is a member of the League and made arrangements for us. The hours will be from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM with visitors once again being encouraged to try their hand at weaving. There will be an area where items for sale can be displayed but the Open House will not be advertised as a sale. There will be a sign-up where visitors can leave their names and addresses if they wish to be notified of the Guild’s Annual Sale in the fall. Refreshments will again be served but door prizes will not be given this year.
NOTICE This month Guild members will receive both an e-mail copy and a snail-mail copy of the newsletter and minutes. We will be discussing member preferences for future format.
The Minutes of the January meeting are enclosed with the newsletter and include a listing of upcoming programs. Guild programs and information about the Open House are also posted on the Arts Partners web calendar at http://www.artspartners.net/. Joan Quigg gave the January program on Silk Fusion. Everyone enjoyed the “hands-on” opportunity to actually do some “silk fusion” after Joan explained the process. Thanks Joan!
Kudos, Cautions, & “Unlady-Like” Thoughts! Jennie Hawkey gave an inspirational demonstration of how efficient the above reed sleying hook can be. A weaver can sley the reed by moving from one dent to the next without leaving the reed. By never leaving the reed, this hook eliminates the pesky problem of finding that a dent has been missed….usually not noticed until the weaver is way past the error. Mary Didesch also vouches for the benefits of sleying with this hook. However, Margo Tennis (who learns most everything by doing it wrong) learned that one must be very aware of problems that may result when using this hook with multiple threads per dent. While threading a blanket using different kinds of yarns and requiring 3-4 threads per dent, this hook had a way of helping the Z twist threads and the S twist threads wrap totally around one another. Hence the warning …so others can avoid those very unlady-like thoughts!
Weaving Trip Ellie Pearson of Milwaukee, WI is inviting weavers to accompany her on a Weaving Trip to beautiful Guatemala. Weavers will have the opportunity to learn to weave on a traditional back strap loom as well as visit many different weaving related sites and visit with Guatemalan weavers. The trip will be from October 28 to November 11, 2007. Because of the timing of the trip, the
Caring for Your Loom Notes from Bill Koepp, Weaver & Woodworker. www.allfiberarts.com 1. Metal parts of the loom should be cleaned with a cloth and oiled with sewing machine oil. Silicone spray may be used on nylon or plastic parts. DO NOT use PAM as it creates a sticky residue. 2. Rust can be cleaned from reeds with powdered pumice. Use a stiff brush to strip the rust, scrub the cleaned reed and oil it well. Keep pumice well away from brakes and bearings and wear a mask to avoid inhaling particles. 3. Tighten all bolts and screws securely and frequently. If bolts are loose, this can cause permanent damage to the loom. Excessive beating with an unstable loom may cause wooden parts to be crushed, screws to be stripped and bolt holes enlarged.