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!

Try your hand at throwing the shuttle

Visit the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild meeting this Saturday, August 6, and give throwing a try—"throwing a shuttle," that is.

Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild August program:
"An Introduction to Weaving."

The program, "An Introduction to Weaving," will be presented by guild members and will provide a brief overview of several types of looms. The looms will be warped and ready for anyone interested in throwing the shuttle. Several different weaving patterns will be threaded on the looms so members and visitors can see and experience weaving different structures. There will even be an 8-harness loom warped for the more adventuresome person to try! No experience is necessary.

The guild meeting starts at 11 a.m. with a Show and Tell by guild members, followed by the weaving program.

A whole lot about buttons

Linda Rhodes, button collector

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild had the pleasure of hearing button collector, Linda Rhodes, talk about buttons and her extensive collection at the July guild meeting.

In her presentation, Linda provided information about the history of buttons, the various materials from which buttons are made and the categories that collectors use to define their buttons— linear, contour and realistic.

Interesting button history:

• While women were still lacing up their garments in the 18th century (hold it in, ladies, while we lace you up), buttons were being used on men's suits, shirts, cuffs and knee pants. 
• Did you know that in the Victorian era, the buttons on women's mourning dresses were matte black? Only after an appropriate mourning period could shiney black buttons be used.
• Before garments were discarded, the buttons—considered too valuable to discard—were clipped off and saved in the "button box." 
• In the late 1950s, "studio buttons" were made by artists and specifically sold to collectors.

Vases of button flowers and button cookies.

Show and Tell

Veronica Hofman Ortega is published in Summer Belle Armoire magazine. (left)
Kathy Swift-Lawson shows her alpaca yarn. (right)

Pat shows a lace shrug she made from just two knitted rectangles!

Needle felting and hand spun alpaca yarn.

A hand woven shawl. (left)
Hand spun art yarns. (right)

Guild members attended a workshop on the magic loop
technique and learned how to add beads to knit fingerless gloves.

Crocheted kitchen scrubbies.

A shrug made from hand-dyed yarn combines knitting and crochet.

Woven Braided Trim—the perfect complement to your fiber art project

Do you want to finish a garment with a coordinating trim? Do you ever need that extra decorative touch to make a project "complete"? The program on Woven Braided Trims at the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild November meeting provided solutions to these dilemmas. 

Inspired by Jacqui Carey's book, 200 Braids to Twist, Knot, Loop, or Weave, a demonstration on woven trims provided numerous possibilities for making trims and braids. Starting with as few as three cords or yarns, simple to elaborate trims can be created. By adding additional strands, beads or colors, the trims can become ornate, intricate or more robust.  

To make it easier to thread beads onto the cord or yarn, use a small piece of transparent tape or a dab of Fray-Check seam sealant. Choosing a tight or looser weave will determine a warp- or weft-faced design.

C-clamps mounted on a table edge help to keep even tension while working on multi-thread braids.

By using the same yarn, thread or cord that was used in your knitted, crocheted or woven project, the trim will be a perfect match. Once you get started, you won't want to stop.

The program was accompanied by Show and Tell from guild members and guests.

Left: woven jacket from "stash" yarns. Right: quilt combining vintage Dresden plate pieces and contemporary fabrics.

Left: knitted "Stay on" baby booties. Right: a first-time weaving class project.

Left: hand knit sweater from sugar cane yarn. Right: hand woven shawl.

Knitted sampler afghan using various cable motifs.

Side-to-side knitted baby sweater.

Join us at an upcoming Riverbend Fiber Arts guild meeting and learn some fun and interesting fiber art techniques! New members and visitors are always welcome.

Guild Challenge Artwear Exhibit

Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild President, Veronica Hofman Ortega, emceed the guild's wearable art Challenge exhibit and awards ceremony on Saturday, September 11. This event, called "The Power of the Pocket," was a celebration of the beauty and excellence in fiber arts. The collection of wearable art garments was created by guild members in response to a Guild Challenge.

Ten entries represented a diversity of fiber art techniques, including knitting, crochet, fabric dying, weaving and patchwork and showcased the creativity, craftsmanship and ingenuity of the artists that created them.

Show attendees voted for the Viewers' Choice award and had an opportunity to meet and talk with the artists after the awards presentation. Top awards went to:

Viewers' Choice to Brenda Park
for "Linked Weft Woven Jacket with Purse"

Best of Show to Veronica Hofman Ortega
for "The Power of Panthera Leo"

Best Workmanship to Phyllis Narus
for Chenille Tunic

Best Use of Embellishment to Patricia Keran
for "In Memory of Cookie"

Most Innovative Pocket to Kay Pickrell
for "Plum Happy"

For more photos of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild Challenge event, click here.

Many of these garments will be included in the upcoming Tennessee Presents Textiles special exhibit, "The Power of the Pocket." Tennessee Presents Textiles is a wearable art runway show and sale to be held on November 13, 2010. The guest speaker will be contemporary folk artist, Rachel Clark. You won't want to miss this event! It's contemporary fashion entertainment paired with a unique fiber art shopping opportunity for the upcoming holiday season.

"The Power of the Pocket" Guild Challenge exhibit scheduled

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild will host a wearable art exhibit on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 10:30 am. to 1:30 pm. The exhibit, entitled "The Power of the Pocket," is a collection of fiber art garments created by guild members in response to their 2010 Guild Challenge.

Inspired by the theme for Tennessee Presents Textiles, a biennial textile art event, the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild Challenge was issued to guild members in January of this year. Throughout the year, Challenge participants have tested their fiber arts mettle to design and construct a garment which meets the Challenge requirements and expresses their personal aesthetic.

The exhibit and awards ceremony will be held at Senior Neighbors, 250 E. 10th Street, downtown Chattanooga. The public is invited and light refreshments will be available.

Join us on September 11 and celebrate the diversity, inventiveness and beauty of fiber arts!

EarthLoom symbolizes life's journey

The EarthLoom—a metaphor for life and community—provided an apropos setting for the annual picnic of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild.

Guild members shared an afternoon of fellowship and a pot luck picnic lunch while learning about the Zati approach to the Art of Weaving a Life through a presentation about the EarthLoom and Journey loom.

Zati is a word in the Urdu language that means "from an inner or sacred place." Following the presentation was an opportunity for guild members to weave on the EarthLoom.

Using the smaller, portable, 7-piece "Journey loom" for illustration, the meaning of the loom's structure was described: being, doing, feeling, thinking, creating, and teacher [the batten]. The red warp thread at the center of the loom symbolizes life's core. Surrounding the core are the warp threads which symbolize human values.

Members tagged each part of the Journey loom with a label to document the symbolism.

Traditional weaving materials such as yarn and thread, as well as organic materials such as flowers, plants and twigs were woven into the warp. Guild members could simultaneously interlace various findings into different areas of the weaving. With its symbolic references to various aspects of the human spirit and our daily journey through life, the EarthLoom serves as an artistic illustration in which each one's contribution is vital to the design as a whole.
A colored stick, marked with an individual's name, was inserted beside each person's contribution. The connections to our craft, to art, and to each other is what weaves the fabrics of our lives.

Pin Weaving Fiber Jewelry

What's more appealing than a beaded tapestry necklace that can be made with a few simple tools and threads and yarns from your stash?

At the March meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild, members and guests were treated to a program that showed how the simplest of weave structures, the plain weave (over one, under one), could be used to elevate coordinating yarns into an opulent piece of jewelry when combined with a few select beads.

The process started with a design drawn on gridded paper which was then attached to a foam core board. The placement of beads, pins and any color changes were mapped out on the design.

Pins held the warp threads in place and beads were added on the warp as prescribed by the design diagram. The weft yarns were threaded through tapestry or long yarn needles to facilitate the weaving process. Joining and changing colors of weft threads, and options for adding beaded fringe were discussed.Pin weaving requires minimal equipment and is very portable. Supplies are both economical and readily available. For this necklace, the design, shape, size and color possibilities are wide open. Small amounts of yarn left from other projects can be used to create a coordinating piece of jewelry. Beads, a unique pin, bauble or other embellishments can be attached during or after the weaving to create a striking piece of wearable art.

Finished tapestry woven necklace.

Fiber Fun at Yarn Fabrication workshop

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild hosted a wearable art Vest Workshop with Veronica Hofman Ortega this past weekend. Several guild members spent the day creating a one-of-a-kind vest using Veronica's "yarn fabrication" technique.A base layer of yarns served as a background for additional color or yarn embellishments. Machine stitching in blending or contrasting threads added another layer to create visual interest, depth and color to the piece.
Demonstrations and discussions on garment construction, adding buttons, buttonholes, and shaping were covered in the workshop. Ideas for combining yarn fabrication with other textiles opened the doors for many creative garment possibilities. We hope to see these wonderful pieces at future guild meetings and Show and Tell.

Wearable Art Vest Workshop

A Wearable Art Vest workshop is being sponsored by the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild on Saturday, February 20. The instructor is Veronica Hofman Ortega and she will be teaching her Yarn Fabrication technique. Students will learn this easy, no-knit stitching technique while creating a wearable art vest.
Garment pieces are easily assembled using flat seams and additional texture and color can be achieved with contrasting yarns, trims, threads, embellishments, buttons or beads. This soft-sculpt vest can be customized for any occasion. See Veronica's blog at www.FiberAnticsbyVeronica.com to see other artwear garments that were created using this technique.

The vest workshop will be held on Saturday, February 20, at Alexian Brothers/Senior Neighbors, 10th and Newby Streets, in Chattanooga. It is a full day class from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost of the workshop is $45 per person ($35 for guild members). Make checks payable to "Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild." To sign up for the workshop, send an e-mail to veronicaquilts@gmail.com.

Inspiration to start the New Year

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild [Chattanooga, TN] is the place to be for year-round fiber art inspiration. The guild officers, along with member teams, are planning creative and informative programs and activities to get members and visitors excited about working with interesting fibers, discovering new techniques or shining a new light on classic needle and fiber arts.

If you’ve been away from your needles, hooks, looms, hoops, sewing space or studio, join the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild for renewed interest, encouragement and inspiration in fiber, fabric and the needle arts. Drop in at a guild meeting and see what we're all about. New members are always welcome.

Start 2010 with a new outlook and zeal for the fiber arts!

[photo: detail of free-motion machine quilting by guild member, Veronica Hofman Ortega]

Chilly weather at Ketner's Mill fair

Riverbend Fiber Arts guild members braved overcast skies and the 40-degree temperatures this weekend to demonstrate and promote spinning, weaving and other fiber art techniques at the Ketner's Mill Country Arts Fair.

Spinning, weaving and carding demonstrations on the porch of the old Mill and at the vibrantly color clad Riverbend Fiber Arts tent generated lots of interest in the fiber arts, the unique and beautiful hats, scarves, gloves, children's items, Christmas ornaments, quilted journals, yarns and rovings as well as upcoming guild activities (see Inkle Loom workshop). Shown here is guild member, Josie, who is spinning bluefaced Leicester wool roving on an Irish Castle spinning wheel.

Hot chocolate, hot fried apple pies, soup and other country fair cookery helped to keep fingers warm enough to work the wheels, loom and fibers.

Riverbend Fiber Arts tent at the Ketner's Mill Fair.

Mary Lou weaves on a table-top Inkle Loom (left). Star spins alpaca fiber into yarn while Susan cards the fibers.

Pat begins the drafting and spinning process with multi-colored roving.

Teamwork makes charity work light

The axiom, "Many hands make light work," held true at the September meeting of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild. Between giggles, grins and lively conversation, guild members made the work of creating lap blankets for charity a light—and enjoyable—guild project.

For 2009, the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild chose Partnership for Families, Children and Adults—Chattanooga as a local organization to support as a guild community service project. At the September guild meeting, lap blankets were assembled from fleece and flannel fabrics that were donated by the guild and guild members.

"The lap blankets were quick and easy to make. It was a great project for the guild to do as a group," said Sheri S., Guild Vice President. Within an hour, six blankets were cut and completed. "It's one way we can give back to the community," added Veronica O., Guild President, "and it's heartwarming to do something good for someone else." Instructions for making these lap blankets are below.

Brenda R. and Kay P. "Measure twice and cut once."

Ginny S. (above), Susan D. and Sheri S. (below) measure and cut fringe.

Instructions for Lap Blankets:
Cut two coordinating pieces of fabric (we used fleece and flannel) to the same size. Layer the two pieces on top of each other with the right sides facing out. Cut a 4" x 4" square from each corner, cutting through both layers of fabric. Then, using scissors, a craft knife or rotary cutter, create fringe on all four sides of the blanket. (Be sure to use a cutting mat when using a craft knife or rotary cutter.) Cut fringe between 1" to 1.5" wide by approximately 4" deep. Pairing one "fringe strip" from the top fabric and one "fringe strip" from bottom fabric, tie square knots around the perimeter of the blanket to secure the front and back pieces together. Recommended sizes for the blankets are: 36" x 42" (small) , 42" x 42" (medium), 42" x 48" (large).

Note: this project is more fun to do with a friend!

Mary Lou S. and Leanne D. work together (above) and MJ L. (below) shows a finished lap blanket.