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Saturday, February 16, 2019 at 10 AM – 12 PM
Blending Fibers and Spinning Fancy Yarns
Learn more about mixing & blending fibers that can be used to spin those unique yarns that are perfect for your project.
Saturday, March 16, 2019 (at Barbara B.’s)
Tuesday, March 19, 2019: Needle Felt a Landscape
Learn to needlefelt a 3×5″ landscape. Kits are available for $10 or you can bring a 3×5 piece of wool felt, foam and felting needles, and fiber that you would like to use.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019: Location TBD
Saturday, April 20, 2019: Warping options Location TBD
Lead by Dianne H.
Are you new to weaving and want to learn how to warp a loom with harnesses? Are you an experienced weaver who wants to learn new tricks for warping your loom? This meeting may be just what you’re looking for. We’ll be warping both front to back and back to front. What a treat right?! We’ll be warping looms to use in our July meeting on lace weaving.
Tuesday, May 18, 2019: Bracelets on a Bow Loom
Saturday, May 21, 2019: Location TBD
Resource:
Romatka, Marilyn. Creative Crafts of the World. Taproot Folkarts, 2012.
Supply List
#5 or #8 perle cotton in several colors-10 to 20 yards per bracelet
Size 6/0 seed beads or square beads in several colors—80 to 100 per bracelet
4-ft long, ¼-inch diameter dowel or bamboo rod-one per student with a few extras
Tapestry needles
Crewel Needles-sharp with large eyes
Dental floss threaders-the blue plastic kind
Large paper clips
Duct tape
Sponge
Scissors for cutting the sponge and thread
Bracelet clasps (optional)June 15, 2019: Picnic Who is hosting? – TBD July – Lace Weaving Lead by Dianne H. August – Paper Making (Tricia W) – Location: Lois H. home (Saturday only) September – Book Making (Tricia W) – location TBD (Saturday only)
Tuesday, August 21, 2018. 10:00 am, Historic Ward-Meade Park/Old Prairie Town.
Ethnic Textiles
We’re spending this month exploring textiles from around the world, and YOU can help. Bring a favorite textile to share. Tell us what you know about it. You may learn more as others share what they know. As always, if you don’t have anything to share come anyway, bring a project to work on, and sit and visit and learn about the fascinating world of textiles we live in.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018. 10:00 am, Historic Ward-Meade Park/Old Prairie Town.
Spinning day, with demonstrations of Linen spinning, and other fibers available, too. If you don’t spin, bring any other project and enjoy the good company.
June 2018: Annual Picnic. Combined meeting.
Good food and good company was enjoyed by all. A business meeting was held, with plans made for meetings for the upcoming year. A reminder about officer elections was made.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
Dying scarves with things from nature (Barbara B)
We learned dying silk scarves using natural things like berries, flowers, leaves, etc. The guild provided one scarf for each attendee, with additional scarves available for purchase.
Members had gathered materials for dying, such as some dried daffodils and tulips. Other items that might make for interesting patterns and colors can be used, such as tree leaves.
We enjoyed a pot-luck salad lunch, and business meeting, while the scarves steamed, which took about an hour.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Waulking is a finishing process used only with woven woolen fabric. It is usually done to the rhythm of traditional music. The fabric was woven and waiting. The process requires a number of people so it will be a good day to bring a friend who might be interested. This was the Saturday May meeting for the guild. Visitors are welcome.
Waulking was similar to a quilting bee in that folks got together to do large amounts of fiber at one time while they enjoyed the company.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Knitting, led by Jeanette. Included discussion of exercise for knitters, to help you keep on knitting!
Saturday, April 14 at 10 AM – 12 PM; Tricia’s House (one week earlier than “normal” to miss KAWS.)
Did you know you probably have many sources for dyeing right in your own kitchen? Join us on this journey of color. Tricia led our exploration. This was the guild’s Saturday meeting for the month. Visitors are welcome to join us to see what the guild offers members.
Tuesday March 20, 2018
Exercises for spinners and weavers to keep us limber (Jeanette).
Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 10 am; Copy Center/First Impressions Printing’s breakroom.
The topic for the March 17 meeting was False Damask, a three harness weave. Several looms were warped for sample weaving. This weave was taught by Nancy Squire during a KAWS held in Wichita. She has kindly provided the information she used for that workshop to enable us to have this program. Diane taught this class. We had a good turnout, and 3 guests – soon to become members.
Sample of false damask weaving.
February 20th, 2018 (Tuesday): Spinning Day/Bring Your Project Day
Meeting was cancelled due to icy weather.
Old Prairie Town at Ward-Meade Historic Site and Botanical Garden
124 NW Fillmore St, Topeka, Kansas 66606
The Tuesday meeting will be on February 20th at Ward Meade (10:00) and the program will be spinning. Bring your wheel or spindle, carders and fiber. Spend the morning spinning away! Not a spinner? No problem, bring a hand project to work on! New to spinning? Here is your chance to get some tips from members!
February 17th, 2018 (Saturday)
There was no Saturday meeting this month since is the same day as the Lutheran Fine Arts Council of Topeka’s Fiber Arts Workshop. Several guild members taught at this event so it replaced our Saturday meeting. Planned activities included classes on silk scarf dyeing, weaving, felting and more. The fun took place at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Topeka.
Saturday, January 20, 2018; Location: Yak’n’Yarn shop, inside Fairlawn Plaza Mall. 10 am to 12:30 pm
Karen taught us how to make a beaded heart pin just in time for Valentine’s Day. This is great way to practice some embellishment skills. Bring a pair of scissors. The cost is $5 for materials. Email yaknyarn@gmail.com for shop information.
We also discussed where we will hold the February meeting (cancelled due to conflicting event) and plans for the March meeting.
The Old Prairie Town/Ward Meade hearth luncheon followed the meeting for those who made a luncheon reservation.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018; Location: Old Prairie Town/Ward Meade Park
The Tuesday meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 16th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at Ward Meade. The theme of the meeting is False Damask, a three harness weave. Several looms will be warped for attendees to make a sample of this weave structure. This weave was taught by Nancy Squire during a KAWS held in Wichita. She has kindly provided the information she used for that workshop to enable us to have this program. We will also be discussing plans for February and March meetings.
2017 year long We applied for and were accepted to have a tree in the Festival of Trees, benefiting Sheltered Living, Inc. We used time at several meetings to make decorations/ornaments for the tree. Lois coordinated.
Festival of Trees dates/times:
Thursday, November 30 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Friday, December 1 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Saturday, December 2 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sunday, December 3 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
It was beautiful! Over 300 hours spent on making the ornaments. It sold for $200.00. Thank you to everyone who participated! (Our tree did not seem to get much appreciation from the general public, however, so we aren’t likely to do it again soon, especially as it took so much time at meetings.)
October 2017
Tuesday, 10-17-17
Nine people were at the meeting on Tuesday. We packaged small amounts of yarn in zip lock bags to weave for a children’s class for the Mother Earth News Fair. It was
fun coming up with color combinations! Thank you Barbara for all of your preparation!
Due to Mother Earth News Fair there was no Saturday meeting.
Mother Earth News Fair
The Mother Earth News Fair was October 21 and 22. The guild had ongoing demonstrations of fiber arts. In addition, this year we had two hands on activities; weaving on a simple loom and felting a coaster. Members who participated had a great time sharing their particular specialties. The hands on activities were well received. Judy Massey, our MENF contact, thanked us “for having such an awesome hands-on experience for the attendees!” Thank you everyone who participated and made it such a great success!
Weaving Round Robin
Sept. 9th, 2017, all day, held at Yak’n’Yarn store
Explore the world of weaving. Try a variety of floor and table looms. Take home samples of various pieces you’ve woven including rosepath, shadowweave, broken twill, log cabin, M’s and O’s, and more. Looms will be warped. The cost is $10 for guild members and $20 for non-members which will include a guild membership. Registration is open to current members until August 1 and remaining openings to the public after that. There are a limited number of openings available. Payment is due by the first of August. Contact us via email at topekahandweaversandspinners@gmail.com, attention Tina.
July, 2017
15: The Saturday group’s meeting will be at Tina’s at 9:30 am. Tina plans to show us how to make an origami Christmas tree from fabric that we can use on the Sheltered Living tree. Added 7-6-17: please bring your favorite hand sewing needle, and scissors.
18: The Tuesday Meeting will be held at Ward Meade on July 18, 2017. Barbara Beyer will present the program. The program will be circle weaving. Barbara was inspired by a Majacraft loom and decided to make her own. She has made one from an embroidery hoop!
For the meeting bring a long tapestry needle or soft sculpture needle, scissors and tape. Barbara will provide the remainder of the supplies. If you have embroidery floss or similar weight yarns and want to bring them please feel free.
Please contact Barbara by July 10th to allow Barbara to make enough looms!
August, 2017
19: The Saturday meeting will be setting up the tree, figuring out what we have and what we still need, and getting a description and such done for the Festival program and promotion. This meeting will be at Copy Center.
Join us to set up and decorate the tree we are planning to donate for the Festival of Trees this fall. We will see where we’re at in terms of decorations and determine what we still need. Lois is hosting (at Copy Center).
22: Tuesday info to come.
September/October, 2017
Apple Festival, Old Prairie Town/Historic Ward-Meade Park. From Shawnee County Parks website:
September 30, 2017 - October 1, 2017, All Day
“Due to its popularity, Apple Festival will become a two-day event in 2017: Sept. 30-Oct. 1. The Wheatstock music concert will become part of Apple Festival to make this one of the best fall festivals in northeast Kansas.”
Oct. 21-22, 2017:
Mother Earth News Fair, Expocentre, Topeka, Kansas
June, 2017
17: The combined June meeting was a potluck picnic at Carol’s. A LOT of excellent food was brought my members (and their spouses). Our hosts provided 2 varieties of meatloaf, one a spicy taco/beef version and the other turkey, both delicious.
The meal was followed by a business meeting, featuring election of officers. Aslo, attendees at KAWS, and Quilting on the Square (at Holton), were asked to re-cap their experiences.
♥ ♥ June 2 – 4 ♦♦♦ KAWS 2017 ♥ ♥
hosted by Kaw Valley Fiber Guild, Lawrence, KS.
May, 2017
16: Tuesday group: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00. Meet at Barbara B.’s home and take a trip to Holton to visit The Golden Fleece. Please let Barb know if you plan to participate.
20: Saturday group: 10:00 a.m. – Noon. Bobbie A. will host and present a travelogue on her visit to Thailand. The meeting is to be at her home. Bobbie will highlight Thai textiles.
April, 2017
8: Saturday group: 10:00 a.m – noon. Jeanette Wegele presented program on the Kitchener stitch at her home. Jeanette presented a brief history of how it got that name, and discussed some uses for the technique. She had also prepared knitted samples for us to use for practice/learning. Thank you.
18: Tuesday group: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Ward Mead House. Program: Sometimes projects do not turn out like we expect. Group attendees were asked to bring projects that we altered or adapted after initial completion.
March, 2017
18: Saturday group: 10:00 a.m. to noon, Needle Felt a pin cushion taught by Regina Shaver. Copy Center, 305 E. 17th Street.
19: General Guild meeting, 2:00 – 4:30 p.m., Continued review of bylaws. Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, one of the 2nd floor meeting rooms.
21: Tuesday group: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Create Yarn Birds. Ward-Meade House
February, 2017
18: Saturday group: 10:00 a.m. to noon, wet felting poppies taught by Trish Waggoner at her home.
Whether you want to wear your poppy behind your ear or not, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to make one of your own. Tricia will take us through the process of wet felting a poppy.
You will need red and black dyed top (you can also bring a bit of green if you wish), needle and thread. Also bring bubble wrap if you have some.
Tricia has some dyed top if you need some; the cost would be $4 for this. Tricia will supply soap, water, bowls, and some bubble wrap for folks who don’t have any. RSVP to Trish, please, so she knows how much materials to have on hand.
21: Tuesday group: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Discuss suggested by laws and share projects new and ongoing. Ward Mead House/Preston Hale Room.
General Guild Meeting – Saturday, January 21
Originally we scheduled a general guild meeting, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.. The meeting was to be held at Old Prairie Town Park in conjunction with a Hearth Meal. We did not have sufficient response to hold the meal,met on Saturday, January 21st, in the Ward-Meade House (Preston Hale Room). The program consisted of a short business meeting, discussion of the suggested by laws and a program presented by Barbara Beyer. In response to the recent survey of guild members 85% of the respondents responded that the guild should establish current bylaws. A copy of the suggested by laws will be mailed to the regular members by January 16. The purpose of the discussion at the January 21 meeting is to get feedback and suggestions from those in attendance. Please come prepared with your suggestions.
Barbara Beyer will lead a discussion focused on “How Individual Members Pick and Complete a Project”. Barbara would like those attending to share with the members describe the process each member uses to pick a project; keep the project on track; and meet the expected completion date.
If Lois is present, we will ask her to overview the Festival of Trees project she described in a recent email.
December 2016
The Saturday Group met at Jeanette’s. Several additional meeting programs were planned. Preparing a tree for the Festival of Trees was also discussed. A potluck lunch was part of the program. Much good food and fellowship was enjoyed by the 7 members present.
October 2016
15: No regular meetings were held in October due to participation in Apple Festival and Mother Earth News Fair.
16: An Afternoon at Linda Lee’s Sewing Workshop (1:30 – 4:00 pm)
18: Tuesday group meets (10am – 2pm), Ward Meade House; work on projects, discuss Linda Lee’s program; bring food to share.
18-23: Central Kansas Yarn Hop (see Yak ‘n Yarn website – http://www.yaknyarn.net).
22-23: Mother Earth News Fair; Kansas Expo Center; Handweavers have 4 booth spaces. (see Events page)
November 2016
1: Tapestry Talk; Mulvane Art Center (6 – 8 pm). Guild members are encouraged to attend. (see Events page)
13: Guild Business meeting; distribution & discussion of proposed bylaws (2 – 4:30 pm), Topeka Shawnee County Public Library, Perkins Room.
15: Tuesday group meets (10am – 2 pm); Ward Meade House
19: Saturday group meets (10 am – 2 pm) Lois Herr’s home to learn to make Yarn Birds. (Moved from August) See the Newsletter for supplies to bring.
September 2016 Meetings ??
August 2016 Meetings
Tuesday meeting:
August 16th, Ward Meade. Bring items for the St. Francis gallery display, so Diane can collect them. Program information: Barbara Beyer presented a program on Color Interaction. Members were to bring: Red, yellow and blue food coloring—liquid not gel; small paint brushes or Q-tips (6-8); paper towels; other pieces of paper, ie: stationary, copy paper, newsprint; pen and paper for notes. Large bottles of the colors were to be provided, so that if people do not have any they do not have to buy them just for this.
Saturday meeting: August 20th, Tina Davis’s home. Items were collected for Diane to take to the gallery in St. Francis for the display/sale. Ideas were discussed for future programs and workshops from the program committee.
July 2016 Meetings
Both meetings in July; spinning. Bring your wheel or spindle and plan on a morning of spinning. If you are new to spinning and want pointers or have questions, this is the meeting for you. Do you have a problem that the network of spinners can help you with? Bring it! If you want some time to just enjoy company and spin, this is the meeting for you too! Don’t spin? Bring your hand work or just yourself and enjoy the meeting!
Tuesday Meeting:
July 19th, Ward Meade. Bring a snack to share. 10:00 am till
approximately 1:00 pm.
Saturday Meeting:
July 16th, Diane Hooper’s studio in Lyndon. 10:00 am till
approximately 1:00 pm. Bring your lunch. (“This will be the last
meeting in Lyndon as I have given up my lease. Please bring a
chair, there will not be much left there!” Diane Hooper)
June 2016 Meetings
Both meetings, topic is color in weave. We will explore the color wheel, color terms and how color of yarns impact weaving and knitting.
Saturday, June 18, 2016 10:00 till 1:00
Diane’s studio in Lyndon
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 10:00 till 1:00
Ward Meade in Topeka
Bring snacks to munch on!
(We covered color terms, impacts of weave structure or knit structure on color, how the mind plays a factor in the colors we see, and demonstrated color terms on the color wheel. We then did an exercise where we used colored thread to mix colors applying several of the things we discussed.)
Guild picnic: members check your email. Contact Diane Hooper, dianehooper@terraworld.net for more info.
May 2016 Meetings
Both meetings in May focused on reading and understanding
draw downs. It should give new weavers an opportunity to learn some drafting basics. If you are an experienced weaver it was a good refresher! Lois Herr discussed weaving drafts at the Saturday meeting and Regina Shaver
provided the program for the Tuesday meeting.
As part of the meeting portion of the Tuesday meeting, we also filled in the calendar for programs for the next several months. Please come with program ideas and be ready to commit to leading a program.
Tuesday Meeting:
May 17th, Ward Meade. Bring a snack to share. 10:00 am till approximately 1:00 pm.
Saturday Meeting:
May 21st, Lois Herr’s home. 10:00 am till approximately 1:00 pm. Bring your lunch.
KAWS 2016 Was a WONDERFUL Event.
We thank all of you who chose to join us
in sharing some of the many creative possibilities of fiber.
We will post some pictures and notes when they become available.
Topeka Handweavers and Spinners Guild 
