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| The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers, 3705 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127, 215-487-9690 |
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The Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers holds monthly meetings from September through June. These meetings are generally held on the first Thursday morning or evening of each month, and occasionally Saturdays. The presentations are in a wide variety of topics interesting to fiber lovers, and the presenters come from our own very talented membership, or are invited experts in their fields. MONTHLY MEETINGS FOR 2011-2012 Thursday, September 8 @ 7pm cancelled, rescheduled for the March meeting In this short presentation Aaron Igler will cover the basics of digital photography, specifically as it relates to shooting your own work. Topics will include selecting a digital camera, DIY studio setup, lighting, composition and digital post-production. He will focus on the fundamental skills needed to produce usable images of personal artwork, weavings, and even process/making. Thursday, October 6 @ 7pm Dr. Davis is an anthropologist who works as an independent scholar and consultant. She has research experience with women and youth, and has done development work in North Africa, including a web site on which she sells textiles directly from women in two villages www.marrakeshexpress.org. Her primary focus is Morocco, where she also leads cultural tourism trips. These trips are unique in that you meet urban and rural people, artisans, experts and social activists, visiting with them in their homes and offices. Her talk will be an ‘armchair tour,’ illustrating one of these trips with photos, highlighting some of the weavers visitors meet, and providing hands-on experience with some of their textiles. Thursday, November 3 @ 7pm Cardweaving (tabletweaving) is an ancient weaving technique thought to precede any other form of weaving. The oldest known reliable evidence comes from @100 BC. The flat tablets (cards) have holes that act as heddle eyes to twist the warp when woven with weft to form unique warp-faced fabric. Patterns can be planned to be simple, complex, subtle or bold. Variations of the basic weave, such as double-faced and doublewoven will be demonstrated as well as tubular woven cord. Friday, November 4 – 10am - 12pm The exploration of cardweaving begins with using the basic warp set-up and the conventional method of turning the cards. With simple changes such as threading direction, where A-B lines are at the Start and the turning sequence, we will create a variety of controlled patterns. The sampler band will be re-creating the background designs on the 18th Century woven silk hanging from Tigre, Ethiopia. Participants are welcome to use their own pre-warped cards in the workshop. Bette will supply instructions for their set-up and suggestions for the yarn to be used. Others who do not have cards may purchase a “workshop kit” that will include pre-warped cards and weft, and the set-up instructions. Thursday, December 1 @ 6:30pm Share your favorite holiday treats and bring your projects — weaving, knitting, spinning, etc. — for our show-and-tell. Thursday, January 5 @ 7pm Participants may present a completed piece or a work in progress, to stimulate a discussion on how the work was carried out or should be completed. This discussion will provide the opportunity for brainstorming ideas, directions, and possible processes and techniques. Thursday, February 2 @ 7pm Vera Nakonechny will talk about Ukrainian embroidery and weaving from the Polissya region. Originally, the patterns that we know as embroidered were woven, but weaving skills were limited. As a result, the patterns were adapted for embroidery, and are still used at the present time. Thursday, March 1 @ 7pm In this short presentation Aaron Igler will cover the basics of digital photography, specifically as it relates to shooting your own work. Topics will include selecting a digital camera, DIY studio setup, lighting, composition and digital post-production. He will focus on the fundamental skills needed to produce usable images of personal artwork, weavings, and even process/making. Thursday, April 5 @ 7pm Nancy will present the textile conservation treatments of several objects, both common and unusual. Her talk will cover standard methods used to treat textiles. Nancy Love holds a Master of Art Conservation degree from Queen's University in Kingston Ontario. After graduation she was awarded fellowships at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. She has been in the art conservation field for over 20 years, the last 12 years as the principal of Philadelphia Textile and Object Conservation. Her clients are private owners, historical societies and institutions in the Mid-Atlantic region. Thursday, May 3 @ 7pm Lucy Fowler Williams will explore Native American textile traditions from the Northwest coast of North America, focusing on the history and contemporary creation of Chilkat weaving and button blankets. Her presentation will include indigenous Southeastern Alaskan textiles in the collections of the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Thursday, June 7 @ 7pm — 9pm
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