11.23.2009

December Guild Meeting

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 - Joan Babcock on Micro-Macrame Jewelry
More details on this program will be posted soon.

10.22.2009

Guild Meeting: Gretel Underwood Presents! Saturday, November 7, 2009

Gretel began her career in weaving upon moving to New Mexico twenty plus years ago. Our
local expansive landscapes, dramatic skies, and clear, brilliant, unusual light have inspired Gretel in her creations. Using these local influences as well as the weavings of South American countries and Mexico, Gretel has created patterns and color combinations that make her cotton chenille throws famous.

Employing local weavers and seamstresses, Gretel has expanded her work from interior design
products--throws and pillows, to include jackets, coats, and vests. Each garment is individually designed and is a one-of-a-kind creation. You can see examples at her website: www.gretelunderwood.com

Join us on Saturday, November 7, to view Gretel Underwood's work and be inspired by her
achievements.

(Unitarian Church of Santa Fe, Corner of Galisteo and Barcelona, 9:30 am)

9.07.2009

September 22 MEETING CANCELLED

Due to illness in the family, Susan and Archie have had to cancell their Southwest trip. We have advised them that we would welcome them when they are able to visit.

8.20.2009

September Meetings Scheduled

Our wonderful, hard-working program committee has scheduled two September events to kick-off our 2009-2010 schedule.

Tuesday, Sept 8th - a pot luck lunch gathering at the lovely home of Ken and Ruthie Coleman, in Santa Fe (directions will be in newsletter).
  • For the potluck, last names starting with the letters A thru L should bring an entree of some sort; last names starting with M thur Z should bring dessert
  • Program committee provide drinks, cups, paper plates, napkins, utensils (we still have no hospitality person)
  • Parking is somewhat limited: about 10 free spots, and the rest must park at meters down the street (so bring a potluck item that's easy to carry!)
  • We'll have a meeting to include announcements, extended show and tell, reports on IWC, etc.

Our second meeting in September is:

Tuesday, September 22nd - Tapestry presentation at the UUCSF by Susan Martin-Maffei and Archie Brennen

  • Because they are such well-known tapestry artists we have invited EVFAC members and Las Aranas members
  • We wanted to take advantage of their presence in town - hence the date and second meeting in September
  • We'll not be doing show and tell at this meeting

5.06.2009

Our May Meeting

It's too bad that so few members came to hear our speaker, and look at the wonderful selection of towels we wove. I know I mentioned our speaker, Gasali, was a member of the Yoruba in Nigeria, and he does the wonderful dye resist with indigo that is specific to that area. He uses the traditional methods, as well as stitch resisting and wax. But the cassaba paste is the one he used growing up, and Gail suggested we might have a program and workshop next year using this cold resist, which is much easier to remove than wax, and easier to apply also.
The towels were a hit...at least with those of us who wove them, and got to go home with someone elses's towel(or in some cases, towels). There was a suggestion that we do a similar exchange next year...maybe with scarves.
This idea was tossed about more at lunch amidst the discussion of how we might go about getting a tour of Santa Fe galleries included in the Convergence 2010 gallery list, and a discussion of what kind of favor the guild might make, were we to make one, for the Convergence goody bag. We thought about cards with cloth inserts, or small bags on braid similar to those done for the Alanta Convergence (they do have staying power, I still have mine). And the discussion was winding down when Carolyn? the proprietor?manager? or whatever of the Mission Cafe walked in wearing this wonderful scarf of rags. She told us about it, we passed it around and examined it...it was a rag rug narrow scarf, with a weft of 4 ca. 1 inch wide rags in white flowery pattern alternated with 4 thick black cotton wefts, then 4 wefts of a fuschia and cobalt blue cotton about the same width, then 4 more black cotton yarn weft picks then the sequence began again. The rags were left to just have raw edges sticking out from the 2" of weaving, but the black cotton yarn was a continuous weft, at least in the groups of 4. It seemed quite light and flexible, and she had it wrapped around her neck twice...a look that she said was quite popular with her girls. I could imagine doing one with dupioni scraps and metallic threads for the warp, and Phillenore one with raw silk. And while we were in that vein Pam mentioned a woman at the Farmer's Market selling scarves that were just disparate strands of yarn tied together, and someone else mentioned Ironstone having done this at their warehouse, and someone else mentioned some place in Santa Fe where a similar scarf using chenille was being sold for $75. Can anyone tell me where this is, so I can go oggle?
Anyway my towel has a new home with Helen, and I have one of Ann's wonderful crackle towels...although I would have been happy with any of the towels. They really were a treat!
So have a productive, and healthful summer, and come back in September and show us all the things you did. And remember the tapestry class being offered by Sharon on the Hockette Loom.-Su

4.14.2009

Our May Speaker

Louise sent me this from a website, Yoruba batik is some of the most beautiful I have seen...I am looking forward to this program!

My name is *Gasali Onireke Adeyemo*. I am the third born of five from a small rural village, Offatedo, located in Osun State, Nigeria. My mother is a trader and my father, a farmer. Although my family was rich in spirit and culture, we were poor in capital and I sponsored my own education throughout my years at St. George Elementary and Ido Osun High School.
From a very young age, I realized my artistic potential and I would attend social gatherings, such as weddings, naming and burial ceremonies, and other cultural parties offering to sketch portraits of the guest, for a small donation. My sketching career combined with long, hard days working on the village farms provided adequate income to successfully complete my academic education through high school.

At this point, my attention turned to improving upon my artistic potential. I discovered the Nike Center for Arts and Culture in 1990, where I remained for a total of six years. The first two years of my experience at the Nike Center was spent mastering the arts of batik painting on fabric, indigo dyeing, quilt making, embroidery, applique, and batik painting on rice paper. During the following four years, I spent long days teaching these skills to incoming students at the Nike Center.
Eventually, the popularity of the Nike Center grew and hundreds of people came to Osogbo, Nigeria from all over the world to study and enrich their knowledge and understanding of the arts and culture of the Yoruba people. I spent much of my time conducting workshops and training people in the crafts of my culture.
In 1995, my long years of service and dedication to the Nike Center paid off, and my artwork was exhibited in Bayreuth, Germany, alongside the work of five other artists from Nigeria. My work made quite an impact, and many people traveled to Osogbo looking for the artist named Gasali.
People who were exposed to my work later commissioned me to do quilt work and other pieces and my artistic career truly began to bloom.
In 1996 the opportunity arose to travel outside of Nigeria for the first time in my life. A woman named Karen came to Osogbo, Nigeria through an exchange program from America. We met and did workshops together.
Impressed with my work, she invited me to come to the University of Iowa to do a series of exhibitions and workshops. Once there, the Octagon Gallery in Ames, Iowa took notice of my work and offered to exhibit it.
I was also invited to work with a group of teenagers doing storytelling and art workshops to share with them the traditions of my own Yoruba culture.
These experiences in Iowa opened the door to greater opportunities. I have traveled across the U.S conducting more workshops and exhibitions.
In the future, I plan to continue to travel worldwide, sharing the arts and culture of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. I currently reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

*July 23-July 26 at the Mendocino Art Center in Mendocino, CA.* Their website is www.MendocinoArtCenter.org <http://www.MendocinoArtCenter.org>. I will be teaching a workshop on Traditional Yoruba Batik, Adire, and Tie-Dye.
*August 11-August 15 at Snow Farm in Williamsburg, MA.* Their website is www.snowfarm.org <http://www.snowfarm.org>. I will be teaching a workshop on Traditonal Yoruba Batik, Adire, and Tie-Dye.
*August 22- August 26 at Peters Valley in Layton, NJ.* Their website is www.PetersValley.org <http://www.PetersValley.org>. I will be teaching a workshop on Traditional Yoruba Batik, Adire, and Tie-Dye.
*October 6-October 10 at Maiwa Handprits Ltd in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.* Their website is www.maiwa.com <http://www.maiwa.com>. I will be teaching a workshop on Traditional Yoruba Batik, Adire, and Tie-Dye.

3.13.2009

Up coming meeting and other announcements

Our April meeting will be on Saturday April 4 at the Unitarian Church. Our speaker for the month will be Donna Sullivan, and her topic will be sewing with handwovens. We will have a workshop the following day (Sunday) at EVFAC, in which we will be making a bog jacket from some handwoven, or similar fabric.
Donna's Class Description: The bog coat is a simple garment that can be made from whole cloth with no waste, and requires only two cut seams. The class will focus on how to cut and finish seams using hand woven fabric. I will teach at least three separate seam finish
techniques. You will also learn how to use interfacings in hand woven fabric and ways to bind the edge of the garment. All sewing can be done on other fabrics as well.
Donna has been teaching this class in Arizona to other weaving guilds. Her resume is as follows:
Education:
Associates Degree, Fashion Design, Chaffy Community College

Master’s Degree, School Administration, California State University, San Bernardino
Bachelor’s Degree, Anthropology, California State University, Fullerton

Teaching Experience:
Californian Public Schools, elementary, secondary, community college
American Sewing Guild Workshops
Local Quilt Shops - California
Sewing Expo, Chapman College
Private classes in Surface Design and Fitting and Alterations

Related Experience:
Custom Dress Making Business in California
Participant – Annual Fashion Show, Wearable Art Connection of Southern California
Participant – Tapestry of Talent, Fashion Show for The Common Thread
Participant - Redlands Quilt Show

Work is currently for sale at The Common Thread, Silver City, New Mexico

Bog Coat Materials List
Sewing machine, in working order and must know how to use (EVFAC has machines).
Sewing supplies
Scissors
Pins
Thread
Note taking material
Measuring tape

Fabric – varies according to your size and what you want to make. If you are small 45” will go around you with some ease then 1 yd is sufficient. Otherwise bring 1 ½ to 2 yds of 45” +. Fabric may also be pieced if you have something you like. Extra fabric will be needed for the band and collar. One yard can be cut on the bias and pieced for a short jacket. A bog coat can be made from just about anything you like so just bring something you would want to wear as a jacket. Drapey fabrics look best on larger individuals. They are more forgiving. I will also have fabric available for sale if you wish.

Materials List for Seam Samples

1 yard of solid color cotton. No polyester.

We have room for more participants so contact me at sleebechtold@q.com or 505-466-4569

The next Tapestry Study Group meeting is March 21 at Evelyn Campbell's. Please contact her for time and directions, if you need them.

I am hard at work trying to get something off my loom, so I can start my tea towels. I hope that everyone else is farther than me!-Su

2.17.2009

Monthly Guild Meeting

Next Meeting: Saturday, March 7, 2009

Rita Padilla Haufmann
"Puentes del Rio Grande" (Bridges of the Rio Grande)

At the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe
9:30 am: Social Time
10:00 am: Business Meeting
10:30 am: Presentation

Rita Padilla Haufmann grew up in Tesuque, NM, where her family has lived for many generations. Rita weaves exclusively with churro wool which she washes, cards, spins and dyes. She uses the natural colors of the fleece or she dyes the wool with natural dye stuffs in use during the colonial times in New Mexico. Her designs are of her own creation but are informed by her awareness of traditional Rio Grande designs she has studied in collections.

Rita has received many honors for her textiles. These include first, second, and third place awards at the Traditional Spanish Market in Santa Fe plus the Jake Trujillo Award and a Purchase Award; First places in both Traditional Plain Weave Horizontal and Traditional Geometric Horizontal categories at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Fiber Arts Fair; First place award and Purchase Prize at the Taylor Museum Indian-Spanish Market in Colorado Springs. In addition, her textiles reside in many museum and private collections.