PLEASE JOIN US!! Guests and prospective members are welcome at all Guild meetings. If you are not a WGNS member and would like to attend a meeting via Zoom or a Nightweavers meeting, please send an email to weaversguildnorthshore@gmail.com.
WHERE? All Guild and workshops will be held in person at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, with an online Zoom option also available. NIghtweavers meetings are held at the homes of WGNS members.
ZOOM! Zoom links for all meetings and locations for Nightweavers meetings will be sent out in the monthly Newsletters. Links to recordings of the monthly Guild meetings will be available in the Members Only area.
WORKSHOPS: Please sign up early! We have to notify Workshop Presenters at least 2 months ahead of the workshop if we don’t have enough participants to run it. Registration for workshops requires payment in full, in advance, to reserve a space. Because the Guild must cover all workshop costs, refunds will be limited to cases of family & health emergencies. If there is a waiting list and someone can fill your slot, your fee will be returned to you.
SHOW & TELL: Sharing our work with each other is an important part of every meeting, even on Zoom. Please remember to bring your projects to show us.
MARCH
Thursday, March 2, 2023 / 10 am
Weaving New Worlds and Webs at Penland with Noelani Jones
Born and raised on the island of O’ahu, Noelani Jones is a community-building fiber artist and a 2022 recipient of the HGA Mearl K Gable Grant. Her work has been exhibited at Terrain Exhibition’s Art-in-place initiative in Chicago, IL and beyond, Loyola University’s Julio Fine Arts Gallery, Annmarie Sculpture Garden, Black Rock Center for the Arts, and Howard County Arts Council in Maryland, Abstract Acres, a one-day art event, in Fennville, MI, and many alternative, DIY spaces throughout the United States. https://noelani-jones.squarespace.com
Thursday, March 9, 2023 / 7pm
Nightweavers
Program: Needle Felted Ornaments with Mariana McCullough
Hostess: Dagmar Klos/ Co-Hostess: Sue Michalek
APRIL
Thursday, April 6, 2023 / 7 pm (EVENING MEETING!!)
Digital Weaving and Material Illusion with Hope Wang
Join artist and arts facilitator, Hope Wang, for a conversation about her process in the context of digital weaving. She will talk about her photographic research that she references to make textile objects, browsing empty parking lots on Google Images, and making clay impressions of the CTA platform. Contending with sloppy traces of human activity around sites of industrial labour, her work employs the language of textiles and architecture to consider the ways spaces become artifacts of memory and labour. https://www.hopewang.com
Thursday, April 14, 2023 / 7 pm
Nightweavers
Program: Drop Spindle with Carolyn Seng
Hostess: Julia Blake/ Co-Hostess: Kris Wray
MAY
Thursday, May 4, 2023 / 10 am
Velvet Weaving in Venice, Italy with Deb Essen
In 2018 Deb had a personal tour of Tessiture Bevilacqua: a handweaving velvet studio that has been in the same building for centuries. As she toured, asking questions, her husband photographed. Join Deb on a tour of velvet weaving on original 18th century looms with how the looms are set up, the fabrics created and how the tradition continues in the 21st Century. http://www.djehandwovens.com/home.html
Friday, May 5 (9:30 am – 4:30 pm) & Saturday, May 6 (9:30 am – 4:30 pm)
Deb Essen Workshop: Weaving with Supplemental Warps – without a second back beam!
Advanced Beginner through Advanced Experience. Students must be comfortable warping their looms.
This class explores weaving with supplemental warps without needing a second back beam. We discuss how supplemental warps work, designing for textiles using supplemental warps, learn how to set up your loom for supplemental warps and weave samples in class. Click HERE to visit Deb Essen’s website.
To register for this workshop, please complete THIS FORM. Be sure to submit your payment (by check or by PayPal below) to guarantee your place in the workshop. The cost is $165 for WGNS Members and $190 for Non-members.
Pay with PayPal
Thursday, May 11, 2023/ 7 pm
Nightweavers
Program: Beyond the Potholder with Faye Ryan
Hostess: Faye Ryan/ Co-Hostess: Karen Jackson
JUNE
Thursday, June 1, 2023/ 10 am
!!FIELD TRIP!!
Form, Color, and Material with Bryana Bibbs
Local Chicago textile artist, painter, and art educator Bryana has invited us to see her works for upcoming exhibitions and works that have recently been exhibited. Presenting from where she creates, join her for a peek inside her studio to view past, present and future woven works. https://www.bryanabibbs.com
Thursday, June 8, 2023/ 7pm
Nightweavers
Program: Felted Jewelry with Tonya Utkina
Hostess: Marilyn Lindeman/ Co-Hostess: Potluck Picnic
Potluck Details: June is our annual potluck dinner. If you plan to come, we really need to know. We are doing things a bit different this year; we will not be grilling. We are asking people to sign up for appetizer, salad, entree, or dessert. When you rsvp to Dagmar, please let her know what you would like to bring.
JULY
Thursday, July 6, 2023/ 10 am
West African Woven Textiles with Dr. Amanda Gilvin
Everyone who loves textiles knows about kente cloth from Ghana, but there are many other beautiful weaving styles from West Africa. Dr. Amanda Gilvin, an art historian who has done research in West Africa since 1999, is available to give a presentation on three types of weaving done in the West African country of Niger–the téra-tera,the sakala,and the kounta. https://www.wellesley.edu/albright/about/faculty/amanda-gilvin
Thursday, July 13, 2023/ 7pm
Nightweavers
Program: Basket Weaving with Lynn Rosenberg
Hostess: Helen Rek (new location)/ Co-hostess: Jeanne Wehman
AUGUST
Thursday, August 3, 2023 10 am
!!PICNIC!!
Meet up at a park with group project/show and share/swap meet. Details in newsletters.
Thursday, August 10, 2023/ 7pm
Nightweavers
Program: Dyeing with Dagmar Klos
Hostess: Dagmar Klos/ Co-Hostess: Carolyn Seng
SEPTEMBER
Thursday, September 7, 2023/ 10 am
Split-Shed Weaving Process with Deborah Silver
Deborah will present about the split-shed weaving process, making a cartoon on cloth, her artwork, and the creative process. Deborah will also have dozens of split-shed samples for attendees to peruse. https://www.deborahsilverstudio.com/
Friday, September 8 (9:30 am – 4:30 pm) & Saturday, September 9 (9:30 am – 1:30 pm)
Deborah Silver Workshop: Split-shed Tied Beiderwand
This workshop will teach the basics of split-shed weaving using a variation of the tied Beiderwand (extended summer and winter) pattern. This structure uses four shafts, five treadles (on jack looms), and three weft yarns that travel from selvedge to selvedge. Students will learn how to produce shading with yarn in order to create dimensional-looking imagery. This is the same technique Deborah uses to weave pictorial imagery in her art. Students will also learn how to make and use a cartoon on cloth that will advance with the warp and will not wrinkle when beating. Although this workshop can definitely be done on a table loom, a floor loom is preferable as it speeds up the weaving process. Click HERE for a YouTube video with Deborah demonstrating Split-shed Tied Biederwand!
Looms will need to be pre-warped. Students will provide their own weft yarns (instructor will suggest acceptable yarn types). Students will also need two 10″-14” flat shuttles and one other shuttle of their choosing that will be comfortable to use with an 8 to 9-inch wide warp.
If time allows, students will have a chance to experiment with split-shed Bronson lace and an unbalanced tied weave structure, (using the same warp), with slight changes to tie-ups
To register for this workshop, please complete THIS FORM. Be sure to submit your payment (by check or by PayPal below) to guarantee your place in the workshop. The cost is $185 for WGNS Members and $210 for Non-members.
Pay with PayPal
Thursday, September 14, 2023/ 7 pm
Nightweavers
Program: Paper Bag Weaving with Karen Jackson
Hostess: Marilyn Lindeman/ Co-Hostess: Marcia Powers
OCTOBER
Thursday, October 5, 2023/ 10 am
The Art Institute of Chicago Textile Department with Melinda Watt CANCELLED
In lieu of our general program, we would like to invite members to stay after the business meeting and have an informal meeting where weavers can bounce ideas off one another, work on projects, discuss Fine Art of Fiber and tag items for the event.
Thursday, October 12, 2023/ 7 pm
Nightweavers
Program: Finishing Techniques – A Group Effort
Hostess: Tonya Utkina/ Co-Hostess: Sue Michalek
NOVEMBER
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, November 3, 4 & 5, 2023/ 10 am – 5pm
Fine Art of Fiber 2023 at the Chicago Botanic Garden
No Nightweavers Meeting
DECEMBER
Thursday, December 7, 2023/ 10 am
Wounaan Baskets, Preserving an Indigenous Colombian Tradition with Karen Torres
The Wounaan people from the Choco rainforest are masters in the art of basketry. Learn how these stunning works of art are made, who makes them, and the arduous journey they must overcome. https://www.tulias.com/pages/about-us