Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild featured on Crochet News Today blog

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild was featured in Crochet News Today in its November 13, 2012 blog post. Not a crocheter? Well, don't let the Crochet News Today name fool you as blog editor, Melinda Gorley, offers information and articles about various fiber art disciplines and has included a calendar of events, links to podcasts, guild and club listings, charity organizations, and upcoming fiber and textile art exhibits at museums and galleries on this web site.

Color and texture with knitting.

If you live in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, and are interested in needle and fiber arts, check out an overview of the activities of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild on the About Us page.

Join us in 2013. Enjoy the benefits of annual guild membership for only $15 and treat yourself to a year of fiber art!

Bring your Mug; warm up with Fiber Arts

Beat the cold weather and warm up the New Year with the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild!

To kick off 2011, we’ll be serving hot beverages at the January 8 guild meeting. We invite you to bring along your favorite coffee mug and we’ll fill it with something warm and comforting… or maybe something hot and spicy! Either way, bring your mug (and your mug) and join us!

Our guild members enjoy a variety of fiber and needle art disciplines such as knitting, crochet, quilting, weaving, felting, spinning and dyeing.

Guild Membership for a year of creative and interesting fiber art activities includes:
:: monthly meetings and programs
:: inspiring Show and Tell
:: invitations to special guild activities
:: participation in regional fiber art events
:: members-only discounts for workshops, and
:: the camaraderie and support of like-minded fiber arts enthusiasts.

Be inspired... learn a new craft... make cool fiber art... and meet new friends. Our door is always open to new members.

Hairpin Lace: fun and versatile

Using today's novelty yarns and a crochet hook, the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild members learned a Victorian era needleart technique to create fun and frilly neck scarves.

Traditionally, hairpin lace was made using women's hairpins. Today, hairpin lace forks (or looms) are made of various materials and come in a variety of sizes and styles. Or, you can make your own loom using simple, commonplace materials (coat hangers, stitch holders, knitting needles and, yes, even flip-flops).

To begin, the yarn is joined to the loom with a slip knot. The hairpin lace is formed by a series of loops as the yarn or thread is wrapped around the upright prongs of the loom.

A crochet hook is used to connect and secure the loops. The width of the lace strand is determined by the width of the loom. Many hairpin lace looms are adjustable and can accommodate widths from 1/2 inch to 4 inches.

If you can master a single crochet stitch, you are well on your way to a fancy new hairpin lace creation! Give this fun and versatile technique a try. Here are some online patterns and references.

The Guild Show and Tell consisted of hand and machine quilted quilts, knitted garments and scarves, woven towels, and hand-dyed and hand spun yarns.

The friendship quilt, called "Fiber Fiesta," is complete...
including the label.

Earth Day fiber art demonstrations

Members of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild were on hand at Memorial Hospital's Earth Day celebration on April 22 to demonstrate spinning, weaving and machine quilting. Hospital employees and visitors enjoyed the midday demonstrations on these fiber arts techniques and the other displays featuring earth-friendly products and energy conservation. At the Fiber Arts table, people had the opportunity to see samples of alpaca fibers, a present-day spinning wheel, hand-spun alpaca yarn, a table-top inkle loom, inkle woven straps and bands, and free-motion machine quilted quilts up close. Many who stopped at the table shared their personal experiences with knitting, crochet, quilting and other needle arts or reminisced about watching family members—mothers, grandmothers, and aunts—doing needlecrafts. A few visitors were fascinated to see present-day applications of time-honored crafts and how both manual processes (hand spinning and hand weaving) and machine processes (free-motion machine quilting) are used to create contemporary pieces.Many of the visitors expressed appreciation for the skill, talent and time required to create the spun, quilted and woven pieces. Some individuals were even inspired to go home and dust off their needles or sewing machines to get back into yarn and fabric creations.

Fiber Embellishments using soluble Stabilizers

Creating fiber embellishments using soluble stabilizer was the topic for the April meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild. Guild member, Karen W. discussed and demonstrated a technique for creating fiber embellishments that she had used to decorate journal covers for a fund-raising project. Fibers, threads, ribbons, fabrics and other colorful haberdashery are sandwiched and free-motion stitched between pieces of soluble stabilizer. The stabilizer is washed away, resulting in a textured "fabric" that can be further embellished with feathers, beads, charms or stitching. Examples of this free-form textured material and its creative uses were shown during the presentation.

Guild members brought items including woven jackets, quilts, embroidered crazy quilts, woven tapestries and rugs for the monthly show and tell.

Knitting Edges that Don't Roll

Riverbend fiber artists were "on a roll" at the March guild meeting. Guild members MJ L., Josie E. and Paula P. presented "Knitting Edges that Don't Roll," and offered several options for making and finishing edges on knitted items: hems, cuffs, fronts, facings, ruffles, scallops and button holes. The presentation also included the use of circular knitting needles and examples of knitting hats in-the-round. A member Show and Tell preceded the presentation with beautifully hand-crafted woven, silk painted, quilted and knitted pieces.