Photo Gallery

The Central Pennsylvania Guild of Handweavers Photo gallery

The Charm and Versatility of Point Twills
by Barbara Diefenderfer

As part of the February 2020 meeting, CPGH member Barbara Diefenderfer gave an informative presentation on Point Twill Weaves and how to create patterns using various tie-ups and treadlings.
She displayed and discussed a number of examples and gamps showing just some of the numerous possibilities.
Thank you Barbara, for your continued generosity and dedication to The Central PA Guild of Handweavers!
FYI:The Weavers’ Roundtable, a "sister" weavers guild located in Hagerstown MD
will be offering a Point Twill Workshop, taught by Barbara Diefenderfer, at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD on March 26, 2020.The cost is $25 donation to the museum and $15 for the workbook. See registration details at the CPGH blog or online at Washington County Fine Arts.

2020 CPGH Handwoven Towel Exchange

This past October CPGH members Robin Leidner and Rose Meagher suggested having a membership towel exchange.
Robin and Rose collected hand woven towels from 20 participants before the February 2020 meeting started. They photographed the towels and then concealed them in bags for random distribution.
Much to everyone's delight, there were 29 towels exchanged!
Rose and Robin then produced a booklet in pdf format for distribution to the participants. The booklet contains photos of each towel along with the towel's documentation.
Thank you Robin and Rose!

Weaving Wabi Sabi

The 2020 Pennsylvania Farm Show's Sheep to Shawl Competition was especially entertaining this year because CPGH had members on each of the three Lancaster Spinners and Weavers Guild teams! Team Weaving Wabi Sabi featured CPGH member Tara Kiley-Rothwell (Weaver).

Theme: “That 70s Shawl”
Shearer: Chris Stitzel
Weaver: Tara Kiley-Rothwell
Spinners: Donna Walton-Gibbs, Dayna Reidenouer, & Jen Maurer
Carder: Jill Wilson
This year our theme was "THAT 70's SHAWL".
Early in the design/ planning process we decided to go with all natural/un-dyed fiber.
As the design came together, it was remarked that it looked like... a 70's shawl. Voila- a theme was born! Once we had the theme it was fun to put together the 70's goodies for our display and costumes.
Our warp was entirely handspun by the team in several shades of Romney provided by
Samantha J's Fiber Farm.
*See March 2020 edition of CPGH Newsletter, The Weaver's Knot, for more details.

The Fidget Spinners

The 2020 Pennsylvania Farm Show's Sheep to Shawl Competition was especially entertaining this year because CPGH had members on each of the three Lancaster Spinners and Weavers Guild teams! The Fidget Spinners, featuring CPGH members Kelly Czyzewski (Weaver) and Tina Mickley (Spinner), both seated in the picture. The team placed 3rd in the competition.
Theme: “Looking Through the Window at Christmas”
Shearer: Dale Mylin
Weaver: Kelly Czyzewski
Spinners: Tina Mickley, Emily Ellen, Tracy Beck
Carder: Kati Green
Our team began working on our Sheep to Shawl project in early 2019. We collectively decided on a Christmas theme around the month of July. Hmmmmm......Christmas in July! The official theme became: “Looking Through the Window at Christmas”. We worked together to plan a display and the shawl design. Our motto is: “Go Big or Go Home” therefore, we make our displays as large as possible. This year we featured a window, Christmas tree, and a fake fireplace with stockings.
We purchased most of the dyed warp fiber from Samantha J’s Fiber Farm. The warp fiber is 100% Corriedale wool. Tina and Kelly hand dyed the lighter green and red warp yarns.
The team worked together to spin & ply every warp thread used, for both the practice shawl and the competition shawl. We chose a Coopworth sheep named Mazal for her fleece to be used for our weft yarns.
*See the February 2020 edition of the CPGH Newsletter, The Weaver's Knot, for more details

Thanks to Tina Mickley!

CPGH member Tina Mickley applied for and was awarded an opportunity to participate in a class by the scholarship committee for MAFA 2019 held at Millersville University this past July. One of the requirements for the scholarship is that the participant share what they experienced and learned in the form of a presentation for the Weaver's Guild who sponsored them.
Tina attended the MAFA workshop: "2, 3, 4: A Lot of Interesting Older Weave Structures on Less Shafts" instructed by Marjie Thompson.

Tina provided an interesting, fact-filled presentation and shared her class notebook and textile samples from her personal collection. Guild members were treated to examining older weave structures like crossbar dimity, and understanding the use of 3 shaft weave structures woven on counterbalance looms!

Jen Weber wins award at Akita National Temari Competition

More details and photos can be found in the CPGH January 2020 newsletter, or here at Jen's blog

Enjoying the Holiday Name Draft Weaving Challenge Runners

The weaving name draft "Happy Holidays and New Year" came from the 2018 CPGH Christmas Card designed by Michael Rupp with the assistance of Jen Weber.
Table runner weavers were: Carol LaPorte, Karel Henneberger, Deb Lawson, Michael Rupp, Susan Kesler-Simpson, Barbara Diefenderfer and Tina Mickley.
Thanks to all for your beautiful contributions to the Holiday lunch!

Many thanks to our special Elves this year for helping ring in the holidays!

Our friends "D" (aka Wayne Lunger) and "E" (aka Robin Lunger) host the gift exchange

Congratulations to Lynne Kellerman and Tina Mickley
for their GAP Achievement

Barbara Diefenderfer presented Tina Mickley and Lynne Kellerman with their Beginner Level GAP certifciates, December 4, 2019.

Margery Erickson wins PA Guild of Craftsmen Fine Craft Fair Award

Master Artisan Margery Erickson won the award for "Resolved Design"

Resolved Design shows good composition and artistic excellence. Choice of materials and methods shows innovation and mastery. Criteria for reproduction or original interpretation of traditional work include both the use of materials that are appropriate to the period and style and documentation to support the traditional style of the work being interpreted or reproduced.
Check out Margery's websites for some great inspiration:
http://opalessencefiberstudio.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/maverickson

SEPTEMBER 2019 SHOW AND SHARE

AUGUST 2019 SHOW AND SHARE

TOM KNISELY'S AUGUST 2019 PROGRAM: SAME THREADING, MULTIPLE TREADLINGS

JUNE 2019 POT LUCK PICNIC & CAST-OFFS SALE

MAY 2019 SHOW AND SHARE

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MAY 2019 SAMPLE EXCHANGE

Thank you, Tassel team !

We had an initial goal of creating about 80 tassels and this team knocked it out of the park by creating 160! Woo-hoo! Thanks to everyone who helped make tassels, who donated thrums for making tassels, who helped assemble our tassel/clip/card finished product at April's meeting, and to Karel for donating the clips! It was a fantastic success. These gifts from CPGH will be included in MAFA attendees "Goody Bags"

april show and share

tapestry weaving - cherly migliarini

Cheryl shared her vast knowledge of tapestry weaving, her creativity and her artistic skills through a series of her own tapestries and examples of tapestry weaving looms and equipment. She answered numerous questions from a thoroughly engaged, inspired and motivated audience. Cheryl ended her program by explaining why she weaves tapestry.
"It is historical, has color, makes pictures, and offers the weaver an opportunity to ‘weave a diary’
as well as provide a language for their vision".
Thank You Cheryl!

March 2019 show and share

warp painting with nancy farr begnini
March 2019

Nancy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fiber Art from Kent State University (Kent, Ohio). She has been weaving for more than 35 years and has also worked in other media, including silk screen and photo silk screen, paper and cloth batik, and encaustic. She has worked extensively
with dyes, both synthetic and natural, including organic indigo.

Through many years devoted to raising two sets of twins, Nancy continued weaving and other artistic pursuits whenever time and space permitted. With children now grown, she is weaving and dyeing full time in her home studio. She particularly enjoys working in woven shibori using both synthetic and natural dyes. She has also widely researched and experimented with eco-printing techniques.

2018 holiday party!

warped face weaves and their possibilities by Deb Lawson
November 2018

CPGH member, Deb Lawson, shared her experiences with the final level of the GAP program which earned her Master Weaver Status. Deb (with the help of her handsome assistant) shared her process for how she decided on her final topic. She described the wandering and rabbit holes she encountered along the way. Her Power Point presentation with illustrations detailed how she designed, modified and finagled to produce her master woven piece that went with the final paper.

November 2018 - show and share

gap certificates for Pat Flynn and carrie varner - congrats!

May 2018 Guild meeting - Show and share

jacquard weaving - from concept to finished fabric
april 2018

Carrie Varner graduated from the Philadelphia Textile College and worked for ten years at Hoffman Mill in Shippensburg PA, as a Jacquard textile designer in their art department. Carrie presented how a Jacquard loom works and described how to design weave structures for a Jacquard fabric. She provided many samples, pictures and descriptions of the design process and how it is staged at a textile manufacturing mill.

Thank you, Carrie!

show and share
april 2018

unusual fibers for handwoven textiles
January 2018

Sarah Bixler, owner and resident instructor at Red Stone Glen Fiber Arts Center, generously gave of her time and talents to inspire fellow Guild members to "think outside of the yarn box" when designing and weaving textiles.

Members were treated to numerous examples of what happens when you experiment with non-traditional fibers in hand weaving.

Thank you, Sarah!

Canadian, eh?
November 2017

At our November 2017 meeting, Kathy King (left) shared one of her many weaving contacts and friends with us. Her good friend Jette Vandermeiden, is a widely respected weaving teacher from Canada, who gave us a tour of various Canadian weaving traditions in a delightful presentation entitled “Canadian, Eh?” Canada has its own unique weaving traditions adapted to its people and geography. Acadians, French-Canadian community weaving centers, overshot coverlets, immigrant traditions, Chilkat Dancing blankets, Hudson Bay Blankets, as well as old and contemporary functioning Jacquard looms were showcased.

Jette also shares a series of YouTube videos to help weavers solve basic weaving problems.
Be sure to check them out at youtube.com/weavingwithjette

November 2017 show and share

one weaver's journey
october 2017

Margery Erickson's personal story of how weaving as a hobby developed into her 25 year old successful part time business, "Opalessence", was detailed in this delightful, interactive and fun presentation.

October 2017 show and share

handwoven tape - the ties that bind
September 2017

Before zippers, snaps and Velcro were available in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, early American colonists depended on narrow bands of woven tape as an inexpensive way to close everything from their clothing to sacks. Many households had a tape loom for the making of the family tape. Because of their strength and versatility, these narrow bands of cloth were a family necessity and used for a variety of tying needs. September's Guild Presenter (and member), Susan Weaver - author of the recently published Handwoven Tape - described this weaving history and the techniques used to create handwoven tape. She also recruited Guild member, Denny Sirotta, to be a model to demonstrate how handwoven tape was an essential part of one's wardrobe.

september 2017 show and share

Summertime 2017

MAFA Conference 2017 - CPGH members at fashion show

Backstrap Weaving with Laverne Waddington
April 2017

Anatomy of a Bag
Spring 2017 Workshop

CPGH contribution for 2017 MAFA Conference
Geode Pincushions

Special thanks to members of the CPGH /MAFA Gift Committee who donated over 1 lb. of hand dyed merino fleece, made a total of 40 fleece balls, hand felted the balls, cut them into "Geodes", and designed, printed, cut and attached the labels. Without your assistance, this could not have been achieved!

Glatfelter Memorial Library, York PA
CPGH Display
Spring 2017

CPGH member, Michael Rupp, arranged to have our members weavings and fiber arts showcased in the Glatfelter Memorial Library, display cases during the month of April 2017. http://www.yorklibraries.org/glatfelter

The display consists of 4 coordinated cases featuring CPGH Member's Woven Wall Art (Shibori), Thread Art (Temari), Bobbin Lace Making, Hand Spun Yarns, hand dyed roving, Hand Woven Baskets, Coverlets, Lap Robes, Rugs, Table Runners, Art to Wear, (both woven and knitted), Shawls, Scarves and Bags. Mike even managed to include an Inkle Loom with woven belts, a Charka with cotton bolls, a warped 2 Harness "Peacock Loom" and his own Vintage Weaving Books signed by the Authors. AND...... his own handwoven Bird House!
Take Away Guild Membership Information is provided for the public next to the locked display cases.

Kudos to Michael Rupp for coordinating and executing this impressive display of our Guild Member's work.

March 2017 Show and Share