Community Guild Studios at Slater Mill

Upcoming Events and Various Goings-On

We have so many things to discuss!  Where to start?  Well, first of all, if you haven't had a chance to go see it, the Rowan 30th Anniversary Exhibit is going away on June 25th, so you'd better go asap! 

Don't forget there are 2 fabulous classes going on this Saturday on Workshop Day!  Embroidery with Brenda Devine will be from 11-2.  I've got a couple project pics from this class to share with you all.  Here's the beginning of the project -

And here's where it will end up -

I'm told this is a completely addictive process. 

Also this Saturday is Journal Quilting with Pat St. Germain, offered from 2-5.  No quilting experience required!  Here's an excuse for those non-quilters to play with some cloth!    

Weavers - as always, feel free to come in and work on your projects from 10-5. 

And Hey!  Calling all Knitting Guild Members!  Margery Winter, Editor-in-Chief of Verena Knitting Magazine will be our special guest for our Wednesday, June 30th meeting, so please come and bring a friend!

Want even more up-to-date info about Slater Mill?  You can see the Mill's new twitter page at http://twitter.com/TheSlaterMill, or, if you have a twitter account, you can simply follow TheSlaterMill.   

Journal Quilting at Workshop Day

If you have been wanting to try quilting, but feel like you just don't know your way around a sewing machine well enough to tackle it just yet, or you like scrapbooking but want to try something new, then may I suggest Journal Quilting?  No quilting, or even sewing, experience required.

  

Here is an example - the class instructor, Pat St. Germaine, was inspired by these two images to create the Spring Journal page below:

        

                    
  

Here's info from Bernadette about the class, as well as a description of the original inspiration behind Journal Quilting.  

 

Intro to Journal Quilting

Instructor: Patricia St.Germain

Saturday, June 26th

Workshop meets 2-5PM

Fee: $25

 

Diaries in cloth! Students will discover the creative freedom of design and self expression of journal quilting by making their first  8x10” journal page from an assortment of fabrics and embellishments of their choice. They are a great way to try new techniques in fiber and art without a large commitment of time and materials. That are small scale art quilts that can tell the story of your life, a memorable experience or capture elements of your spiritual journey. No sewing or quilting experience needed.

Inspiration for the class:

Artist Jeanne Williamson-From January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2005, Jeanne made one small quilt a week, completing a total of 365 quilts. The purpose of this project was to play and experiment, and to give herself the time to create at least one quilt each week, no matter what else was going on in her life. The rules were: Each year she changed sizes, as a new challenge. The quilts ranged in size from as large as 8"x10" one year to as small as 4"x6" another year, and they would always be whole cloth. Each quilt could be made any time during the week, from Sunday through Saturday, and as she worked each week, she could not throw out the orginal piece and start over with a new one, even if she didn't like the result. There were no limits on what techniques or materials she could use.

In 2003 Karey Bresenhan, president of Quilts Inc., organized the first ever Journal Quilt Project one of the most popular exhibits ever shown at the International Quilt Festivals. Since then, hundreds of artists from around the world have participated in the Journal Quilt Project every year, making small, 8" x 11.5" quilts every month to explore new techniques, express fresh ideas, and experiment with the myriad of resources available to quilters today. Whether quilters officially participated in the Journal Quilt Project or not, thousands of quilters new and seasoned have been inspired by the Project and are using page-sized quilts as visual journals for self-expression and discovery.

April/May Classes and Workshops

I'm very excited today, because there are so many great things to do at Slater Mill this spring, and I want to be at all of them! 

First of all, there's Free for All Sunday, sponsored by Amica Insurance - read more about that here. Folks at the mill are looking for volunteers to come knit at the Brown House (next to the big yellow building!) from 11am-3pm.  I know some folks are planning on coming - you can talk about it here on Ravelry.

I will be adding the updated class schedule to the Classes/Events page, but it's going to take me a little bit (this whole job thing is really cramping my style today!) so I'm going to give you the brochure to download in the meantime, until I can get everything all tidy and in the correct place.

Download Cgs_class schedule brochure_aprilmay content 2010_page1

Download Cgs_class schedule brochure_aprilmay2010_page2

If you open those files, you will see that April's Workshop Day includes a Beaded Bracelet class (more info to follow!) and and Indigo Dyeing Workshop!  Unfortunately, Brenda Devine will not be teaching an embroidery class in April, but she will be back for the May Workshop Day, so don't worry! 

Also new for Spring are some more of our popular Quilting classes.  Please check the Quilting page to see some photos and descriptions. 

As always, contact Bernadette Vaughn at bernadette@slatermill.org with any questions, or leave a comment here. 

Coming up soon - some information on a couple Gallery Exhibits - one I know all the knitters out there are going to be VERY excited about!

Workshop Day Round-up

Before I tell you about the first Workshop Day at the Community Guild Studios, take a look at these shots of the river - all the rain has led to high water levels and rough water. 

 

I think the water looks even higher here!
 

 

Anyway, I'm really sad I missed the first Workshop Day, because it really looks like it was a lot of fun. Happily, a lot of folks were able to make it, and I heard that the classes were great from many attendees.  

Luckily for those of us that weren't there, this is going to be a regular event, so we haven't missed out for good.  

Some of my fellow weaving class people were there to hear Jan Doyle's Tips for Weavers, which apparently included turning a rigid heddle into a multi-heddle loom.  

 

Yes, that makes my head hurt, too, because it is that awesome.  Non-weavers - don't worry.  Come take a class, and it will all make sense.  

There were drop spindles - here you can see Dave Westcott demonstrating a technique to his students.

 

You can see that they were using drop spindles made of CDs and wooden dowels - how clever!  Especially considering people will spend HUNDREDS on certain spindles! 

 

Brenda Devine can be seen here showing some of her work, and the different applications for embroidery. 

 

And just look at THIS.

 

Some students in the class, learning some new techniques. 

 

  

   
Cirilia Rose was there to teach her very popular Finishing Techniques class

 

I wasn't going to include this photo of the finishing class students, because it's over exposed, but we always like to blame that sort of thing on the Slater Mill ghost, so I'll leave it in for the ghost fans.  

 

As you can see, there was a lot going on.  There's no way I'm going to miss the next one, for sure!  I hope you won't be, either.  

Let us know what sort of workshops you would like to see offered in the future! 

 
  

Another Great Reason to Go to Workshop Day

Jan Doyle, who is currently teaching a motley crew how to weave on Tuesday nights at the mill (myself included) will be offering a workshop called Tips for Weavers.  Jan showed us some of the material she will cover, and I can tell you, based on that, and her MacGuyver-esque problem solving in class, you will learn A LOT of useful info in this workshop.  It's like Jan says, she's been weaving for so long, she's made every mistake there is, so now she can tell us how to fix them.  

Remember, even if you're not taking a workshop, feel free to come in and work on your weaving project, your knitting or spinning, your quilting or whatever fiber projects your have going.  I hear there is even a Ravelympics meet-up!  The Jencks Education Center (the big yellow building) will be open from 10-5, and there's plenty of parking available.  Come in for part or all of the day!