All posts by Stefanie Selck

Art on the Square – Summer 2024

Announcements, Past Events

Black Sheep Guild participates in annual Art on the Square

           

The Black Sheep Guild once again put together a great booth for Redwood City’s “Art on the Square” series: in this case, the “Jewelry on the Square” event of July 12th.

Guild members demonstrated their crafts and welcomed passersby to try their hand at spinning, rigid heddle weaving, and kumihimo braids.

We made some lovely connections with folks of all ages, including several young people who were particularly enthusiastic.

It was a lovely opportunity to reach out to the larger community. Many thanks to all the members who contributed!

Show and Tell July 2024

Show and Tell

Gudrun P. – Handspun scarf

        

John H. – Rock Weaving

I took a Zoom class two weeks ago on off-loom weaving using rocks, aka Rock Weaving. The class was taught by Lark and Bower (Sarah Ward Podlesney), @larkandbower on
Instagram.

I made one log cabin weave on an actual rock and two twill weaves on some old, dead cell phones that I had lying around.

Ulla de L. – Woven Fabric for a skirt

My US looms are still packed away but I have one in Sweden on which I set up a color/weave pattern last summer. The house was full of kids so the carport would have to do.

The pattern is on 7 shafts and quite subtle.

I have made it on 15 shafts in the past and then the pattern is much more clear.

The blue cottolin shrank more than I expected and I had to add a panel to be
able to wear the skirt. That extra panel made for a handy pocket.

Show and Tell June 2024

Older Posts, Show and Tell

Donna D – Beautiful while Huck Lace yardage

Presented at one of our recent Guild meetings, this fabric was woven for a chuppah.

Stefanie S – Explorations in Satin Weave Structures

Woven with a charcoal Tencel warp and a beautiful Leicester variegated wool in the weft.

I was looking for a way to highlight the variegated yard and found this Satin pattern, which gradually moves from a fully weft-faced weave to a fully warp-faced weave and back, alternating the beautiful green color in the front and back. 

Pattern from Handweaving.net (#56218)

Thursday, June 20th 2024, 7 PM In-Person Guild Meeting: Cata Gomez

Past Programs, Programs

In Person Program for 7:00 pm Thursday, June 20th


This month we will feature guest speaker, Cata Gomes, an indigenous elder, activist and expert basket maker. Cata has documented lineage from three tribes in Central California and is a Rammaytush from the Timiktak Village along the Calera Creek, which is currently known as Pacifica. She is the founder and executive director of Muchia Te’ Indigenous Land Trust, a woman-led organization with majority of Rammaytush descendants on their board of directors.


Dedicated to the rematriation of her ancestral homeland, the land trust is named in honor of the family matriarch from whom Cata is descended. The Muchia Te website is https://muchiateilt.org/
Cata will share one of their many cultural revitalization programs, focusing on their Basket Circle and the making of pine needle coil baskets.
Please plan on attending this informative presentation Thursday, June 20th from 7-9 pm, at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center. Following the program, we will have the new board elections — your vote is important to the guild!
As we no longer have a hospitality coordinator, we appreciate if you can bring a sweet or savory item to share. Hot tea will be available. See you soon!

Hidden Villa Sheep Shearing & Fiber Arts Festival 2024

Past Events

On April 27th I had the opportunity to participate as a volunteer weaver at this fun event at Hidden Villa.

It was a day full of activities and the turn-out was great! We had a small group of weavers presenting their work on a rigid heddle loom, a tapestry loom and a table loom. There was also a big loom for participants to weave in pieces of cloth for a community art piece.

                                                   

Hidden Villa had organized different stations where visitors could see the full process from sheep shearing, through skirting, carding, and spinning to weaving. There was also a great Fiber Arts exhibit with many interesting pieces by local fiber artists.

                          

A Jazz band played during lunch and a few food trucks served delicious food.

There were several activities for visiting children, like block printing, wool spinning and quilting. Visits with the animals on the farm and a few amazing sheep herding demos rounded off the event.

The event was so much fun, and I will definitely be back next year to represent Black Sheep and the weaving community!

Show and Tell May 2024

Show and Tell

Stefanie S – Huck Lace scarf experiment

Since our Weave Structures Study Group was exploring Huck and Bronson lace weaves, I combined a number of my colored Rayon yarns to see if I could get an effect of iridescence. While this did not truly pan out, I was able to weave in an opening to drape the scarf around my neck, which worked out ok. 

It is a fun piece to wear and light enough for the summer. 

Ange M – Bench Rug

I made this little bench rug in March in a Nancy Kennedy class at Pacific Textile Arts in Fort Bragg.

It has enclosed plain weave hems and card woven selvedges, and the body of it is woven in Summer and Winter.

Great class, fabulous techniques!

Thursday, May 16th 2024 In-Person Guild Meeting: CNCH Impressions

Past Programs, Programs

Topic: Sharing of recent projects from CNCH Conference and recent personal projects and any other conferences attended.

Come join us for an In-Person guild meeting to share what you have been up to lately in the area of fiber! We look forward to welcoming each of you and seeing your beautiful works!
If you attended CNCH, let us know about the workshop you attended and your new learnings, as well as any completed projects done then. If you did not attend the conference, we would still love to see you and bring something you have recently completed or share what you are in the process of completing.

Perhaps you have a recent travel adventure to share or a workshop you can recommend.
We will need help with refreshments, so please bring something to share, sweet or savory! Hope to see you soon.

— Barbie, Barbara, Ann and Johanna, Programs Committee

April 18th 2024 Guild Meeting: In Person Program

Past Programs, Programs

Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Ave, Redwood City. The program will start at 7pm, but the room will be open at 6:30 for those who want to visit beforehand.
Our program will also bring us back “home” with four of our own guild members speaking about their different paths that took their lives out of the realm of “hobby” weaving.
Our moderator will be Johanna Gelb

Our panelists will be:
• Barbara Shapiro, internationally exhibited basketmaker and weaver, conference and
workshop teacher https://www.barbarashapiro.com/
• Ulla de Larios, internationally exhibited weaver https://www.ulladelarios.com/
• Jodi Paley, weaver of commissions and pieces for gallery and craft fair booth sales
@stitchfiberart
• Barbie Paulsen, elementary school weaving teacher, retired              

Bring your questions and your own stories of where weaving has taken you. We look forward to seeing you in person.
If anyone would like to bring something finger-edible to share, that would be lovely. We don’t send around a signup sheet for monthly snacks any more.

COVID note: Masking is optional, but please wear a mask if you have any respiratory symptoms, even if it’s probably just allergies from everything that’s blooming.

Show and Tell April 2024

Show and Tell

Show and Tell April 2024

Sarah A – Huck Lace Scarf

Huck lace scarves from Handwoven March/April 2008. I wove the first in grey and teal to give a little depth to the color (the published pattern is all one color). I added black
into the weft for the second one after consulting Knisely’s Huck Lace book, which has lots of color examples to play with. Thank you to all the weaving wizards who helped me
struggle with fraying tencel warp threads! – Sarah A.

Stichfiberart – Handmade Bag with Sashiko & Boro

A very interesting take on a modern Japanese Rice Bag by Black Sheep member @stichfiberart, done with Sashiko and Boro. “More hand stitching than I had planned after I broke the needle on the sewing machine, but a good leaning experience. ”