During COVID, we have faithfully met monthly via Zoom, and shared about our textile and other adventures. workshops, and online exhibits.  As things open up, we will continue to meet on Zoom most months, and then occasionally in someone’s home.  You can join our mailing list to find out about our meetings by clicking here.

It’s the beginning of our TTAG year, and time to pay dues! Dues for the 2020/2021 year are $40. To learn where to send dues, please email judithcalder@comcast.net.

Please email johare12@hotmail.com if you’d like to be added to our Newsletter list.

All are welcome!

Please note, during this Shelter in Place time we are not meeting physically, but are meeting online.  If you are not on our mailing list and would like to participate in the online meetings, please email johare12@hotmail.com.

Judy Calder, Transparencies

Judy will teach a technique called “transparency“ that originated in Finland. The result is a piece that has areas of open weave that become “transparent”. The pieces are hung in windows and change when backlit versus front lighting.

Judy will bring examples and a warped loom so everyone can try the technique.

Sonya Hammons, Felting

Sonya Hammons is a practicing artist with a focus on textiles, found objects, and the intersection of color and texture to evoke meaning. When possible Sonya links her art practice with her sustainability background, using materials whose production provides ecological benefits. Sonya has shown internationally in galleries and as site-specific installations. She is on the exhibition team of a contemporary art museum, and is testing the waters on Instagram as @totallyfabricated.

Stacy Speyer MFA, Textile Artist

Stacy Speyer MFA, California College of the Arts; BFA, Kansas City Art Institute. Stacy is a textile artist whose work challenges the traditional rules of weaving. She exhibits nationally and is represented in private collections, including Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco. Visit her website at stacyspeyer.net.

Sashiko, with Joanne Salz

Joanne has been doing sashiko for about 4 years, expanding her interest in all things Japanese. Besides being lovely to look at, sashiko is a great small and portable addition to the needlework we all love to do.

Joanne will present a hands-on meeting with information about sashiko, a bit of history and examples in books, and the sashiko she has made for everyone to look at again. We will then work on a small sashiko piece at the meeting to take home. 

There will be a preprinted coaster for each person, threads, needle, backing and written instructions.

Echo and Iris weaving, with Joan Pont

From Joan – 

I learned to weave when I was twelve. I had an extremely patient and wonderful neighbor, Irene Sherwin. I would walk down to her house and weave on her 8 harness Gilmore loom. I also made a thousand (by my inaccurate memory) hippy-type belts with card weaving during the 60’s. Then college, medical school, work and family occupied 24 of my 24 daily hours and I did not weave until 1996. Pam McCosker said, “Mill Valley Weaving and Yarn shop was closing because of retirement, swing by and get the loom and some yarn, because you told me you used to weave.”

Since Pam always had the best suggestions, I did what I was told and bought the loom, random leftover single skeins of yarn and the book, Warping All By Yourself, by Cay Garrett, because I did not have my mentor Irene by my side. The next day, I trundled off to work, with everything still in the back of my car. I met a new patient who was a master weaver and longtime TWG member, Yvonne Beller. Instead of asking her if she worked or was retired, I asked her a new question that I had never asked before (I am a slow learner). I asked, “What do you do for fun?”

She explained cautiously and slowly, as if speaking to someone with poor understanding of English, that she was a handweaver. I interrupted her immediately, “I just bought a loom yesterday and haven’t touched one in 24 years. She replied, “Then you must come to the Tamalpais Weavers Guild. We meet the third Monday of the month at 7 pm.” I showed up and restarted my weaving hobby then and there. I think if I hadn’t met Yvonne that day, the loom would still be in the back of my car to this day!

I alternate between trying something new with each project, and ironing out the details with a new technique. Full disclosure: I did not manage to get to the Echo and Iris workshop and so everything discussed at this workshop will be my struggling for understanding of this fun new world by book learning, Pinterest envy, and trial and error. Here we go!