Brainstorming for future programs

The October guild meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild was filled with textile examples that stimulated and inspired ideas and suggestions for the upcoming year.

About three years ago, the guild began scheduling time during one of the guild meetings—usually a meeting near the end of the year— to hold an open brainstorming session for all guild members to share their "wish list" or "bucket list" of topics for future programs and workshops.

"This is your guild and we need [everyone's] input," said Guild President, Pat Keran, about generating ideas for programs and workshops for the upcoming 2013 year. "There are no right or wrong ideas in a brainstorming session," said Veronica Hofman-Ortega, who facilitated the session. "Oftentimes, someone else's suggestion will prompt an idea in your mind—something you might not have thought of on your own," she added. "It's all about generating ideas." A whiteboard, set up for capturing suggestions on-the-fly, was filled with over 25 topics by the end of the session. A few more topics were even added after Show and Tell.

Show and Tell provided additional inspiration.

Left: Vicki's woven paper basket with embellishment.
Right: Holly shows her mug wrap, knit in moss stitch. She used a pattern from
the book she won as a door prize at the 2011 Challenge presentation.

This shawl, woven on a triangle loom, will be over dyed in a walnut dye bath.

Triangle loom shawl (left) with edging detail.

A study in weaving huck lace patterns.

A first-time weaver relays her experience with a practice sampler.

Left: A woven scarf using spacers.
Right: A mola sewn to a plain T-shirt makes it quite unique.

Left: Faux batik with crayons. Right: Lace knitting a "Pi" shawl.

Woven scarves: what a difference a technique makes!

Crocheted scarves using interesting trims.

The outcome of this meeting's productive brainstorming session will provide a basis for future guild programs. Summaries and photos of previous year's programs can be found in the Archives: See what we've been doing! section of this web site. You might also enjoy recaps of our Wearable Art Challenge and Fiber Art Tote Bag Challenge. Items that appear at the guild Show and Tell are often the result of a guild program that inspired someone to further study or experiment with a technique or concept. 

Take a look at what the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild has been up to and let us know what's on your fiber art bucket list. Come out and join us at a meeting. New members are always welcome and bring along your Show and Tell.

Paper Basketry

Paper strips were cut using a
pasta cutting machine.

Baskets, boxes, and bowls, whether functional or decorative, can be constructed with a variety of materials. At the September guild meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild, paper—a flexible, versatile and readily available material—was the medium of choice for a program on how to make small woven baskets.

Painted paste paper is first cut into strips. A pasta cutting machine, scissors or a rotary cutter and mat can be used for this step. Starting at the bottom of the basket or container, strips are laid out and woven using a basic, plain weave pattern [over-one and under-one]. This weaving pattern is easy enough for beginners yet interesting patterns can be achieved by varying the placement and sequence of the colored strips.

To form the sides of the basket, the paper is slightly folded or crimped and the weaving continues.

Starting with 8 strips, the bottom of the basket is formed.

At the basket's opening, there is a variety of options for finishing: trimming the paper ends with a diagonal cut, curling the ends, and weaving the ends back into the sides of the container, to name a few. A small dot of glue can be used to hold the ends in place, if necessary.

Woven paper baskets.

This is a fun project for novice weavers, children of all ages, and anyone interested in 3-dimensional weaving. Resources such as Making Creative Baskets: Alternative Materials, Simple Techniques, are available for inspiration, instructions and further exploration.