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 Arts for Earth Day 2010

The Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild will be celebrating Earth Day on Thursday, April 22 at the Memorial Hospital Earth Day Celebration. Demonstrations on spinning, weaving and free-motion machine quilting will be given from 11 am. to 1 pm. in the community rooms at Memorial Hospital's main campus, 2525 de Sales Avenue in Chattanooga, TN.Other companies, organizations and hospital employees will also be showcasing ecological, recycling and environmentally-friendly items and projects. The public is invited to this lunch-time event. Come out on April 22 and Go Green with Fiber Arts!

Needle Felting with Alpaca

What do cookie cutters and alpacas have in common? Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild members found the answer to this question at the April program on Needle Felting.
Using the needle felting technique, a variety of items can be created including two-dimensional appliqués and surface design elements to 3-dimensional pins, buttons, beads, refrigerator magnets and figurines. You could even create a whole farmyard of needle-felted critters and pets!The guild program started with a discussion on safety precautions regarding the barbed needles that are used for needle felting. Cookie cutters served as the molds for creating the initial shape.
A demonstration was given on how the cutters were layered with alpaca fibers over a foam base. Using the barbed needles, the fibers were punched and felted together. Additional layers of fibers were added and needled to build and strengthen the base figure. Smaller wisps of fibers in contrasting colored were added to create the details.

These colorful needle-felted pieces using alpaca fibers were fun and easy to make. Oooh, the felting, sculpting and embellishing possibilities!Doggies, and kitties, and alpacas... oh my!

Preschoolers learn about Fiber Arts

Children at the Little Miss Mag Child Care Center in Chattanooga were photographed with members of the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild at a spinning and weaving demonstration in February. More than thirty-five preschool children got "up close and personal" with a loom and spinning wheel to see how cloth is made.

Photographer, Danielle Moore, of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, was on site to cover the story. The article appeared in the March 13, 2010 issue in the Life [Home] section.

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.

Pick your Pocket

Pockets in Knitwear was the program at the February Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild meeting. Dora Sowell, an accomplished knitter, knitting instructor, and a long-time member of the Chattanooga area TogetherKnits knitting guild, presented various pocket treatments for knitted garments. Guild members were taught the steps for an inset pocket and created a knitted pocket sample using the technique.

In keeping with the topic of "pockets," guest speaker, Diana Ferguson, provided information about the 2010 Tennessee Does Textiles show and event. To be held November 13, 2010, the event will feature contemporary folk artist, Rachel Clark, along with a wearable art runway show, an artists' showcase, lunch and a mercantile of fiber art vendors. Wearables from previous years' shows were on hand at the meeting to illustrate the variety of one-of-a-kind artwear pieces that will be seen at the show.

In conjunction with the theme of Tennessee Presents Textiles, "The Power of the Pocket," the Riverbend Fiber Arts Guild has issued a Guild Challenge to its members. The entries from the guild Challenge are scheduled to be unveiled in September.

How do your pockets empower you? Stay tuned ...






A woven shawl (below), made from Japanese paper, is one of the unique textile pieces from Tennessee Presents Textiles that was on display.