All study groups are open to any Guild members who wish to attend. Come join the fun and education these groups provide. For all groups, please read the Newsletters or contact the people listed for up-to-date times and locations of meetings.
Spinning Study Group
The Spinning Study Group meets once a month on the first Wednesday of the month. This is an informal group with an informal agenda – we share information on fibers, fiber processing, fiber events, spinning techniques and finishing of yarns. Spinners of any level are welcome. Bring a wheel or spindle, and fiber to spin. If you need assistance in improving your spinning, we have members who will help you. This is not a beginning spinning class: if you would like to learn to spin, one of the members can meet with you privately to get you started.
Look for an announcment about times and location through the group.io emailing system or in the Newsletter.
Contact – Jeannie Phillips
Certificate of Excellence (COE) Study Group
The Handweaver’s Guild of America (HGA) sponsors many educational programs. One of them is called the Certificate of Excellence in Handweaving. Participants in the HGA COE program complete woven and basic design work prescribed by the program. If the work is judged to be of excellent quality, the participant is awarded the Certificate of Excellence. You may find more information about the COE program on the HGA website www.weavespindye.org
Our COE Study Group offers support and encouragement for anyone pursuing this lofty goal. We offer critique of the work, but honor the fact that part of the HGA philosophy for the COE is the participant completes the work on their own. We may call the group a study group, but in reality it is more of a support group.
Our group meets generally every other month. All are welcome to join the study.
Contact – Mary Berent or Vila Cox
Bobbin Lace Study Group
The Bobbin Lace Study Group was started in the Spring of 2011. New lace makers were guided through a series of 6 lessons to learn the basics of making Torchon Bobbin Lace. The group meets at 10:00AM on the second Tuesday of each month. New members are welcome and the 6 beginning lessons can be started at any time for the new members and as a refresher for those who would like to go through them again.
Contact – Vila Cox
Day Weaving Study Group
The Day Weaving Study Group meets on the third Tuesday of every month throughout the year. We meet at members homes at 10:30 AM. Check the Newsletter for locations. Our focus of study is whatever each individual is interested in working on or sharing. The members offer critique or answer questions. Bring your projects, come for the camaraderie, and be inspired.
Contact – Jenni Jimmerson
Weaving Intensive
Since 2005 the Handweaver’s Guild of Boise Valley has offered a “Weaving Intensive” to its membership. These are very similar to weaving workshops, only there is no teacher hired to offer their expertise. Instead, each member who participates studies the topic and shares what they have learned. There is a Study Group Chair who merely assures all the organizational details are accomplished, such as having a variety of weaves or having the coffee pot on.
For the “Weaving Intensive” we gather for a three day weekend, lately over the Martin Luther King holiday, Saturday through Monday. We chose and agree upon a topic of study, and participants choose one aspect of the topic for their draft. Then we each bring a loom warped with our draft and others may weave a sample on our loom in a round robin fashion. There is also a time when each participant tells the group about the project they choose. They may include aspects of the draft, yarn, sett, what they learned about the draft, etc.
We call this weekend an intensive, because it is an opportunity to do a lot of weaving and talking about weaving in a short period of time. Fees are small and cover the estimated cost of the intensive.
Contact – Christie Farrin & Kelly Sandusky