ETC goes to the Caribbean

Suzie Liles and Katherine Cranston went to Maho Bay Camp on St John in February to set up a weaving studio. The Maho Bay Camps Trash to Treasure Art Program bought three looms from ETC. Suzie and Katherine went down and set up the looms and taught Annalisa and Ginger how to use the looms and make beautiful rag rugs, runners, place mats and mug rugs. It was alot of fun. They are getting sheets from the resorts in the area and recycling them to make great items. They will be selling them at their gallery. What a wonderful idea they have.

We had alot of fun while we were there.We brought our husbands which made it all the better. On our off hours we went sailing, snorkeling, sight seeing and yes laying on the beach and reading a book.

This place is very great and if you want a place to go to get away this is the place. I wanted to stay. I plan to go back.

They will be looking for weavers to volunteer to come and weave rugs. Any interest?

If you want to know more about maho camps go to maho.org

The images are from our trip. The studio is a tent with open walls with just screens the windows.

It is a beautiful snowy day here in Eugene. I am here inside the store enjoying watching the soft white fluffs fall from the sky as i stock the shelves with books and new fiber that arrived today. I will spend a chunk of time finishing a weaving for a gaelic singing group. They are having a special festival where among other songs will sing some waulking songs. They will use this weaving to full for demonstration. I will try to let you know when the date is, so if you are interested you can go and watch. It should be fun.

Spinner's Tea Party

You can say you read it here first. ETC is having it's first Tea Party on March 19th from

1 - 3 pm. We will have delicious treats, such as is served at an English High Tea. All you need to do is bring your wheel or your spindle. We are charging a small amount of $3 or free with a $10 store purchase. Our hope is that you will come and enjoy a wonderful afternoon with us.

Please call and let us know if you are coming so we can be sure to have enough treats for everyone. 541-688-1565

Travel Guide for Fiberholics

This is the time some people start planning their spring break and summer vacations. You pick a wonderful place and look for exciting activities to keep you busy. Well for a fiber fanatic like myself I also like to shop. When I arrive at a destination I will look in the yellow pages for a store to spend time and money in. Well now there is a book that lists all different stores that sell knitting, weaveing, spinning, quilting and other fiber art supplies. This book covers the entire United States. So if you are planning some time away, come by our store, pick up the book and plan to visit some fiber vendors while away from your favorite store, Eugene Textile Center.

Special Students

We are fortunate here to have two young adults studying with us. They are home schooled students who have chosen to learn about fiber arts and weaving. Both students warped and wove a scarf on a rigid heddle loom. You can see Ryan here with his scarf just off the loom. He still has the job of twisting the fringe on the edges. Alayna is currently weaving a bag on a four harness loom. She has chosen to use two twill weaves alternating, also using different colors. We are so proud of the accomplishments of these students.

Working It

I am sitting here on this gloomy morning, drinking my coffee, envying my boss Susie right now. She is in the Virgin Islands on St. Johns Island teaching weaving at the Maho Eco resort. I checked their weather and it is presently 74 degrees with a high of 81 expected. I take little solace in the fact that it is cloudy there also. Tropical clouds in the Carribean are beautiful, unlike the grey that has loomed overhead for too long. Susie insists that she is "working". I hope she also takes some time to have fun. Maybe one day they will need a spinning class there, and I will apply for that job, until then I will be here to happily serve you our faithful friends and customers.

Painting on Silk

Today was the day for the Painting on Silk demonstration. It was sort of sad for me because no one came to see it. We will do it again in the future, but I wanted to show you a photograph of what I did with my first attempt at Silk Painting. I was initially very intimidated because I am not a painter. I have tried painting in acrylics and that is ok because you can go over your mistakes. This to me was like watercolor painting, once it is on the fabric it is there to stay. But I found you can blend colors similar to overdying and that gave me some freedom to err. It really is very easy and a lot of fun.

Updates

I went Monday to the Spin-In at the Laverne Krause Gallery to spin with Rob Mertens and others. We had cotton batts prepared by Rob, some Corriedale Cross from ETC and polyester stuffing. I had never spun the polyester so i thought I would give it a try. It was really strange to spin as it does not hold together unless it is overspun. I did like using it to do wrapping around a wool single. It is much more slippery than silk to spin. Personally I prefer to spin natural fibers but I enjoyed the experience. Rob is using the fiber spun to "weave" or wrap over a wooden structure he built. I will probably go by on Friday to see how the work has progressed. Rob actually encourages people who have never spun before to try spinning. There is still two more days to spin if you want to participate. If Rob lets me take a photo I will post it on a future blog.

The spinning group that meets here at ETC, has voted to meet every Thursday instead of twice monthly. I hope that makes it easier for people to remember when to come by. We do have a nice time, and would love for more people to join us.