 I know those of us at the March guild meeting really enjoyed Janet Dawson’s talk on stash busting. For me it opened up a whole new way to use up all my little bits and ends and make it look creative. I was even so inspired by stash that after the meeting I went to Nadia’s fundraiser for Ragfinery and bought 8 more cones. Good thing the husband was out when I got home, and I could sneak it into my weaving room!!
April to me is all things lilac. I started with 2 bushes, and am now up to 4, as I keep falling in love with new varieties. My current favorite is the sensation lilac – a purple flower with white edges. I only wish I could make their blooms and sweet fragrance last longer. But soon enough other flowers come up and make me smile. I like dark rich purples and light lavenders – just all things purple. And as I grow more talented and curious as a weaver, I try new and interesting color combinations to remind me of my favorite flowers. While nature truly is the master designer, I must admit we have many talented folks in our guild, and I enjoy show and tell each month. I can’t wait until June for the grand parade of creativity. Please DON’T FORGET --- the April meeting will start promptly at 12:30pm. We can get into the room at 12noon to set up, then our speaker starts at 12:30. Come and learn about Sprang. The business meeting and show & tell will follow the speaker. See you on the 19th! Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.
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 Gosh, I’m sure no one else feels like it was just Christmas a couple of weeks ago, and now all of the sudden, wham! It’s March………. things are growing, or will be starting soon, plant sales will be running every weekend. St. Patrick’s Day and the official beginning of spring, or in some places, the start of the mud season are just around the corner!
For many people, spring marks the beginning of spring cleaning, a ritual of deep cleaning and purging things no longer needed. While you are doing that, feel free to go through your stash [yes, we all have TOO much] and see if there is anything yarn, books, fiber arts, sewing you might want to donate to the Ragfinery fund raising sale on March 15-16th. And after a great stash busting talk at the guild meeting, you can go to the sale, and either buy your stuff back, or something new. It’s all for a great cause!! As I look outside my window while writing and see my green lawn [its like 85% moss] it won’t be long before the lawn mowers are roaring, and the flower beds are calling. I’m thankful to have a small portable table loom on a stand, so when it’s warm I can head outside and listen to the birds while I weave. I’m not sure that it makes me a better weaver, but it does wonders for my attitude to get some sun and fresh air. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Yeah, it’s February so time to get all mushy......but you might notice I didn’t go the traditional pinks and red. Nope, I figured I’d stick with black and white to inspire you for that rapidly approaching guild challenge. Yes, we did move it up one week, but that’s because so many of us are planning on spending the third Saturday in June over in Yakima at ANWG. If you don’t know what that is, ask someone so you can get your tickets now and have a great weaving and spinning adventure. Ok, on to the definition of LOVE. When I looked it up, I got
1. an intense feeling of deep affection, 2. a great interest and pleasure in something, 3. a person or thing that one loves. There were more, but this IS a weaving guild, not an English class so I won’t bore you. Then I thought, I sometimes like to take popular words and give each letter a meaning, so lets do that for Love. For L I think of all the learning opportunities the guild has given me. From coming to the monthly meetings and all the different topics, to just the informal learning from other members who have encouraged me in my growth. I feel so lucky to try out different types of looms or equipment and see if I like it. I saved myself money NOT buying a pin loom after discovering it really wasn’t my thing. The letter O is for opportunities. Whatcom Weaver’s Guild offers so many opportunities. Yes, you can stay home in your jammies and attend meetings or just come and listen. But you can also join a study group, learn new things, make new friends, and even serve in leadership roles. You might not get rich, but you will make lots of friends and have a great time too. That darn letter V is almost the same, but I want to say thank you to everyone who volunteers. Whether it is at Little Looms each month, or you help set up/take down tables and chairs every little thing you do does so much to help lighten the load. The WWG Board is not paid either, so feel free to say thank you to a board member for their service. We will be recruiting this spring for Education/Outreach chair [something we could divide or job share?] as well as vice president – haven’t had one of those for a while, but I’m not doing this forever......... And finally, E is for everyone. When I look out at meetings, or the membership roll I love what a great group of diverse people we have who all share a love of weaving and fiber arts. It makes we feel proud that I have never seen people form little groups and ignore others or gossip about a beginning weavers project that has flaws and mistakes in it. We are an international, inclusive group. And so, that’s the end for this month..... LOVE is black and white, with a tiny bit of red. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  When I was a young child, years like 2025 seemed so far in the future I thought they would never come! I was sure we would all be zooming around in space cars, like the Jetsons, instead of using Zoom to hold meetings! I spend lots of time trying to pick a new favorite background before each meeting, something interesting that reflects my personality at that moment.
And most of us probably remember Y2K. Computer and IT folks fretted anxiously for months, if not years if all society was going to collapse at the stroke of midnight. I work in health care, and we had double the staff running around that night making sure there were no critical incidents. The only problem we had was the Ciber lock on the staff restroom froze – apparently the batteries went dead, and no one heard the warning beeps in the chaos! So those are a couple of my memories of New Years past…..now I tend to think of all the shades of white. It is such a blank canvas to play on. You can have just a little, or a lot, like the whole project is white. But when I think of white, I also think of SNOW. And yes, you do have to come to work if it snows, and no you can’t stay home and weave all day. Those darn patients will show up no matter what, coming from the far ends of the county, so I toss my knitting or a small loom in the car and head off to work. And my resolution?? To try something new with my weaving, whether a new fiber, or a new pattern, or to mix new colors I wouldn’t usually put together. Sometimes it’s a WOW moment, and other times it’s a blah, toss it quick! I love coming to the guild and seeing what each and every one of you is doing. We have so much talent in our group and its fun to see all the projects that you create. I look forward to what 2025 brings. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Time to flip over another page on the calendar to December. Depending on how you were raised, it’s either the 12 days of Christmas or the 24 days of goodie filled Advent calendars. My cats were so sad when I came home from Trader Joe's empty handed this year, since they had already sold out of the daily kitty treats calendars...... it’s a rough life at our house!My loom is full of light and dark greens, white, reds and yellow – my attempt at something Christmasy in the form of towels. I put on a huge warp, which I’m now starting to wonder if I’ll ever get done! But it’s a simple mindless weave and does go fast when I can find the time. In my usual fashion, I’m already thinking ahead about what I want my next project to be.........rigid heddle, 4 shaft, or 8shaft. What colors, what fiber and just WHAT should I create? Lots of ideas, but I can never seem to commit to an idea until after the current project is finished.
I think my colors for December are all the twinkling lights and festive streamers of the holidays. With December having the longest nights of the year, I think of all the shades of black, and how that makes colors pop out even more. And I enjoy seeing the sparkle in a young child’s eye when they see a Christmas tree and all the presents on Christmas morning. Here's wishing you and your family the peace and joy this holiday season and may all your weaving projects get finished! Looking forward to seeing you soon. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  And all of a sudden, it is November! Clocks are changing [fall BACK if you don’t remember] the days are shorter, and the rain and grey is here. In my quest to find something positive, I remind myself that I have more time inside for weaving and fewer jobs outside in the yard, other than those pesky leaves.
I think my colors in November tend to be more “food based” ……maybe I’m taking after my husband’s 21-pound cat. I think of the lovely browns and golds of turkey and gravy, the deep reds of cranberries and the greens of fresh Brussel sprouts. Of course, you can’t forget the beautiful orange brown of the delicious pumpkin pie! I’m sure you may have a favorite holiday food with its special colors. I’m going to challenge myself this year to see how I might incorporate these colors into my weaving. Another thing that November always reminds me of, is what I am thankful for. There are so many things, my house, my wonderful husband who supports my creative adventures, my family, my health, all my great friends and my small little table looms that fit in the living room and let me weave while watching TV or visiting with my husband. So, enjoy your weaving, and family and holidays and make time for the awesome meeting this month with Robyn Spady. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  So, I walk out to my car in the morning and the days are cooler, the fog in settling in over the valley. I’m dodging the spider webs, marveling at the intricacies of the weaving – how can one tiny animal create something that’s so pretty when it’s covered in dew? The leaves are starting to swirl in the driveway, the reds, oranges and browns of fall. I never used to like those colors, leaving them to my sister but now I’m gaining a deeper appreciation. I’m trying new things and stretching myself in new color ways, surprised at what I can create.
Fall is also when then days get shorter, less time after work to putter in the yard or take a walk. I look out my window and see all those pretty leaves are falling NOW…… maybe I’ll go rake up a pile and jump in them. That was always a favorite thing to do as a kid, jump in the leaf pile with the dog. It was always hard to say who came up more covered in leaves. But it’s getting dark, and the streetlights are coming on. Guess it’s time to figure out which loom gets warped up next and with what? If I was smart, I’d start my Christmas weaving – towels, napkins and the like, since I always taken on doing too many of those! But Christmas is 3 months away, and I have all these wonderful reds, oranges, tans and browns from stash sale……. What’s on your loom??? Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Wow, does anyone else feel like just where did the summer go?? Seems like it was only a couple of days ago I was being welcomed as the new WWG President. Now it’s September and the most incredible stash sale ever is done and it’s time to start our regular meetings. I look forward to getting to know you and learning from you.
When I told LeslieAnn I was interested in the president’s job, I figured I should choose a theme for my articles. This meant I’d have a starting point, and hopefully they would get turned in on time [no promises, but I’ll try!]. So, my theme is “the twelve or more colors of weaving in my life”. Of course, my first mistake was not thinking about the fact that there wasn’t a newsletter in July or August……. but fear not, I’m going to share those ideas with you anyway, just late. When I think of July, I think of all the shades of blues. The sky, sometimes totally clear, sometimes cloudy and the water at the beach or a stream when I’m hiking. I love relaxing and enjoying the warmth of a nice summer day. In the same way, I like watching how different shades of blue, from very pale to royale to dark navy, mix with other colors in my weaving. August to me means a dark charcoal or black sky, full of little pinpricks of light, and shooting stars sometimes zooming through. I used to think black was so dark or depressing, but now I see how much it makes the other colors pop. Sometimes I use a fine line of it, other times it becomes the feature color. And finally, September, for me is always yellow, from the big yellow school buses that roll by my house every morning but also for the giant yellow sunflowers growing by my shed. They welcome me home every day after work with their bright faces. I LOVE using yellow in my weaving, and typically use a lot more than the pattern suggests. I tend to feel if a little is good, then a whole bunch more must be better. It makes me feel happy. Welcome back to WWG meetings, and I look forward to sharing my other nine months of colors with you. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. Meg Spaulding WWG President 2024-2025 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Hello Fiber Friends,
June has arrived, marking the return of summer and the call of the outdoors. Our Guild takes a break over the summer months, with no scheduled meetings during July and August, though there will be plenty of opportunities to gather together (keep your eye out for announcements from Sharon Allen!). As this year closes out and I prepare to leave both the presidency and the area (*see note below), I've been reflecting on all the ways and places we have gathered as a group this year. We started off the year by hosting a booth at the Evergreen Quilt and Fiber Arts Show in Ferndale. A steering committee and many volunteers came together to create a space that allowed us to showcase both our Outreach programs and the talents of our members. It was a rousing success on both levels and raised money for the guild as well as the members who sold their work and met (exceeded!) our goal of exposing more people to the fiber arts and engaging them with our outreach projects. We are looking forward to participating again in September 2025 and encourage you all to think about weaving/creating work to sell in our booth. January ushered in the new year and a host of gatherings that brought guild members together to think about what is important to us about the guild and how we can nourish and continue to support the growth of our group. The first was at our monthly meeting in January; bad weather kept the meeting Zoom-only and canceled our speaker at the last minute which lead to a delightful and very touching discussion amongst ourselves about the value each of us gets as a guild member. The stories that were shared all spoke to the same thing - the best thing we get from this group is community. We were fortunate to have the opportunity the following weekend to attend an online retreat put on by the Handweavers Guild of America. A group of us met at Sharon Allen's to watch a series of panel discussions about challenges facing guilds and ways to strengthen and grow our guilds into the future given all the changes of the last few years. We had some exciting and visionary conversations after the presentations were done and it led to the creation of some committees to address specific aspects of this. Those committees continue to meet, and we will hear from them at our upcoming meeting; I'm looking forward to hearing their ideas for keeping our guild active and vibrant. On a more informal level, now that the weather has warmed a bit, Wednesday Weavers (aka Driveway Weavers) has resumed, and we've been coming together with our various small projects and show-and-tell pieces to enjoy good conversation, camaraderie, and inspiration. It is also a great way to stay connected through the summer when there are no monthly meetings. The location for our monthly meetings has been inconsistent this year and the board recognizes this is a problem. We hope to present some ideas and ask for input (and volunteers for a committee!) at our June meeting. Having a consistent location will increase our visibility and make it easier for people to find us. Leading us forward in that location next year will be our new President, Meg Spaulding. She has stepped forward with enthusiasm, experience with other guilds and some great ideas for handling the many facets of guild-building and sustainability. I think 2024-25 will be an exciting year and I'm looking forward to it! LeslieAnn Bestor WWG President 2023-24 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.  Hi fellow fibers friends!
The colors of spring have been spectacular this year with the flowering bulbs giving way to the trees and shrubs covered in blossoms. I've spent the last year focused on leaves and am finding delight in seeing the flowers on the trees as well as the delicacy of the new leaves. You have heard me muse before about the seasons and how I see them reflected in the natural cycles of groups over time. This time of the year I am thinking of the seeds we plant, specifically the seeds we sow as a guild to provide for the continuing growth and nourishment we need to sustain our group. We have members with deep roots in the group that have created a strong network that will continue to support the group for years to come. And like any healthy ecosystem, we have saplings coming along with our encouragement and growing stronger, both as weavers and as active members. Planting seeds is another piece of keeping our guild strong long-term and community outreach is one of the best ways for us to sow those seeds. Our Education and Outreach Coordinator, Sheila Atwater, has established a very successful monthly Small Looms program at the Bellingham Library. Guild members volunteer to demonstrate and teach weaving to library visitors and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We have been able to share our joy in weaving with others and let them know that our guild is right here in their community. We've gained new members as a result and educated many more about weaving and hopefully sparked some interest that will manifest later for some. Fairs and events are another great place for outreach, and we will have an opportunity for that this summer (stay tuned for details from Sheila). This is about planting those seeds and we are looking for more places to let people know we are here and invite them to join us so that they can learn to weave/learn more about weaving and become a part of the community that is our guild. To that end, we have begun doing outreach in a new space and just like at the library, the response has been great. We are partnering with the Bellingham Queer Center to start an ongoing textile group in their new center in downtown Bellingham. The Q Center will be opening in June, and we are pretty excited that they chose textiles as the focus for their first project because it furthers our own goals of creating new weavers, and introducing ourselves to another segment of our local community. There will be work parties throughout May with Guild volunteers on hand to teach and mentor. Within the first week we had taught 4 new inkle weavers and another 4 were working on tapestry looms. The seeds are sprouting already. It gives me great joy to see new weavers! To move beyond the seed metaphor, I'll just say that new weavers are the new wefts that allow us to continue to weave the cloth of our guild community. We need those new threads so the web is strong and the cloth will continue to carry us for a long way. I am grateful for the opportunities to enrich our guild with more people who are passionate about textiles, so I'll be down at the Q Center often during May and I invite you to join us and spread the weaving joy! Contact me if you're interested in coming by the center to volunteer. I am also appreciative of the continuing efforts of our WWG Board members and others who show up to help at meetings and events. Your ongoing participation is also an important part of strength - thank you! LeslieAnn Bestor WWG President, 2023-2024 To read the entire newsletter please click here. To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here. To see who our board members are please click here. To browse through our "Resources" page please click here. |
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