Due to Covid 19

We will be doing a Hybrid of meetings using Zoom & in person meetings At the Leesburg Art Center in deffinately

Weavers of Orlando (WoO), an active non-profit organization, promotes and encourages interest in the fiber arts such as weaving, spinning, basketry, dyeing, felting, and beading through monthly programs.
When:  The 3rd Saturday of each month (see monthly schedule below)

• 9:30  – 10:30 Social Hour

• 10:30 – 11:00 Meeting

• 11:00 – 11:45ish  Show and Tell

• 11:45 – 12:00 Break

• 12:00 – 1:00ish Program

• 1:00 – 2:00 Project Hour

Please Note : Starting in April enjoy fellowship with other members as you work on that project, get questions answered, or design your next weaving piece.

Where:  We will be meeting at:

LEESBURG CENTER OF THE ARTS

429 West Magnolia Street

Leesburg, FL 34748

Program schedule for the first half of 2021

January 16, 2021

Ellen Turner will be presenting a program called Game of Bands, in which she will explore the many ways of producing narrow bands, tapes, ribbons and braids. We will take a look at historical methods as well as contemporary examples of inkle weaving, tablet weaving and braiding.

February 20, 2021

Constance Blackmon Lee, Costume Designer, Fiber Artist, Certified in Permaculture Design, PH.D. in Psychology.

This presentation will focus primarily on the freedom quilt blocks and the hidden messages they hold. This subject has generated much controversy among scholars. The question is, “did slaves seeking freedom in the North use blocks of a traditional sampler quilt as a roadmap to freedom”. This discussion will present the facts and examples of the hidden codes buried in the quilt blocks. It remains up to the listener to decide whether the “oral” stories presented are factor just fabrication.

Bio:
Born and raised in Orlando, Florida attending Rollins College, undergraduate studies Winter Park, Fl. and graduate work at UCLA, Los Angeles, Ca. After living and working in California for several decades, I retired from the IBM Corporation and moved back to Orlando. Retirement allowed me to pursue my passion for all things fiber, particularly the whole cloth. I am an art quilter, weaver, and most recently learning to spin fiber.  As a costumer, I have worked in film, network television, commercials, theater and for Disney World Creative Costumes. And of course alongside my many activities, I have grown food and raised chickens in the City. Now, my earnest desire is to purchase rural property, to finally “Escape to the Country”.

March 20, 2021 TBD

April 17, 2021

Kumihimo is the ancient Japanese art of braided cord making. Historically, the beautiful braids produced by skilled artisans were utilized by samurai, for temple adornment, and important to tea ceremonies, and more. Once prevalently used in everyday life, kumihimo has experienced fluctuations in use over the centuries. The art has gained a renewed popularity today, which extends around the world. Jennifer Williams will present an overview of kumihimo history and discusses the traditional ways kumihimo are created and used.

Bio:
Jennifer Williams is a passionate band weaver. Her favorite loom is an inkle loom, but she has spent many years exploring band weaving techniques practiced around the world. Jennifer teaches inkle loom band weaving and basket weaving to guilds and privately. Her work has been published in Handwoven Magazine’s Easy Weaving with Little Looms. Additionally, on her blog InkledPink.com, she shares creative step-by-step project tutorials designed for woven bands. 

May 15, 2021
Meeting presentation by Karen Donde, who will be doing a virtual workshop on Turned Biederwand during the month of May. More information about this will be provided separately.
Bio and artist statement taken from https://karendondehandwovens.com/home.html
Karen Donde weaves garments, fashion accessories and home textiles for sale and teaches beginning-advanced weaving classes and assorted workshops for guilds and conferences. Teaching credits include HGA’s Convergence 2012, 2014 and 2016 and 2022 (postponed from 2020), Southeast Fiber Forum, the Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association’s Workshop Weekend, Midwest Weavers Conference, Intermountain Weavers Guild Conference and Florida Tropical Weavers Conference. In Asheville, NC, she has taught at Sutherland Handweaving Studio, Friends & Fiberworks, Local Cloth and her own studio.
Karen is a juried member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and graduated in May 2013 from Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts-Fiber program. An experienced and award-winning writer with a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Donde now writes for and about weavers. She is a contributor to Handwoven magazine and other allied publications.
Artist’s Statement:
“Exploring infinite ways to create patterned textiles at the loom drives my fascination with weaving. I am drawn to intricate structural interlacements, but am thrilled when simple combinations of structure, color and texture yield beautiful, complex-looking woven designs. I insist my garments and accessories feel as luxurious as they look and am on a continuing quest for fibers and techniques to achieve that result. For me, learning is as exciting as creating, and my desire to share that learning through instruction and writing will be a primary focus of my continued development.”

June 19, 2021
Gary Sligh will talk about needlepoint.

August 21, 2021

Berna Lowenstein will talk about the Överhogdal tapestries after our August meeting.  These are one thousand year old tapestries woven in Viking era Sweden.  If you’ve never heard of them before, it’s because they were only discovered 110 years ago.  They were discovered in the most unusual circumstances.  Berna will discuss their finding, their history, their designs, and their meanings.  Since the tapestries were woven on warp weighted looms, Berna will also explain what a warp weighted loom is, and how to weave on one.

Programs 2020

September 19, 2020 – Zoom 

Berna Lowenstein will explain and demonstrate how to use a Schacht warping paddle to warp 4 or more yarns at a time on a warping board.   Since the October workshop requires warping 4 threads at the same time, this program will help demystify using a warping paddle, and give secret tricks to keep the yarns from twisting around each other.  Berna will present a slide show following by a live demonstration showing the warping paddle in action. 

Berna Lowenstein has been knitting since she was five years old, and has been a rabid fiber artist ever since.  She is an award winning spinner and weaver for over 30 years.  She also loves inkle weaving, kumihimo, tablet weaving, dyeing and hoarding books.  

October 17, 2020 – Zoom

Color Fundamentals for Fiber Artists by Linda Hartshorn

Color is enriches our lives and is of primary importance to the fiber art we create. Color is not only fundamental but FUN! A Power Point slideshow will guide us through the basics of color and show inspiring examples in fiber art. Using what we have learned, we will make yarn wraps in a fun, hands-on exercise.

Provided for students: cards for wrapping and some yarns.

Materials for students to bring:  scissors, tape, and a few colorful pictures from a magazine or elsewhere for inspiration. Please also bring bits and balls of yarn leftover from your projects to share with the group.

November 21, 2020 – Zoom

Mercedes DiNatale:  Turning Handwoven Yardage into Tote Bags
Everyone fell in love with the beautiful bags that Mercedes had for sale at last year’s Christmas sale in Mt. Dora. Now she’s going to teach us how to make our own. 

Bio:  Mercedes DiNatale interest in weaving was sparked at a craft fair in North Carolina, where a Weaver let her sit at a loom and weave. Learning plain weave on rigid heddle then joining Weavers of Orlando in 2018 where a Harrisville Loom found a new home. Mercedes enjoys learning weave structures, experimenting with different yarns, color combinations and finding ways to use woven fabrics. 

December 12, 2020 – Zoom

Constance Blackmon Lee:  Traditional Backstrap Weaving by the Boruca Natives of Costa Rica will be presented. We will explore the history of the Borucans as cultural artisans perserving their traditional mask-making and textile techniques for hundreds of years. This presentation will be an up close and personal account of what it is like to eat, sleep and weave with this indigenous people, while expericing village life high up in the Telamanca Mountains of Costa Rica. Textiles will be on display. 

CONSTANCE BLACKMON LEE, Costume Designer, Fiber Artist, Certified in Permaculture Design. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love affair with fiber, particularly the whole cloth. I have been sewing for more than 50 years, and costuming for 22 years. I’ve worked in film, network television, commercials, theater, live entertainment productions and for Disney World Creative Costumes. After living two decades in Los Angeles, and retiring from the IBM Corporation, I returned home to Orlando Florida. Then, I joined a local quilting guild and produced a few award-winning quilts. Mostly, I made quilts to just give them away. So of course, that meant buying more fabric to add to my stash. Presently, my artistic expression encompasses art weaving, quilting and doll making. And most recently, I am learning to spin (stumbling along!).However, my most interesting lesson thus far, was at a recent “fleece washing” i.e., how to remove poop out of sheep’s fleece. I think I went home with more poop on me than the sheep. But most of all, my passions have been fueled and largely supported by like-minded women I have met along this journey. And for that, I am GRATEFUL!