2019 Swatches

Greater Lansing Weaver's Guild

If four shafts is good for weaving, then three must be better.  Right? It sure is for the samples provided by the Greater Lansing Weaver's Guild. The sample draft is a fascinating combination of Honeycomb and Bronson.  Their sample and draft should get us all looking at how to combine weaves in different ways.  And if any of our weavers hasn't tried using a supplementary warp, this would get you off to a great start.

Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild

The Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild turned into a dye house.  We love the cottons they transform with creative methods of manipulating the fabric with Mokume Shibori.  You can lose yourself in the patterns that emerge. They rounded up 60% of their guild members to help sew and dye the fabric.  And then provided detailed instructions on how to do this technique. 

Linda Ritz

Linda Ritz, from the Midland Fiber Arts Guild gave us the raw product and the finished handspun yarn.  She introduces 100% acrylic with details for how to best spin it.  For those of you who don't spin, the method of spinning is very important for the end result.  While common in our clothing acrylic isn't a fiber many spinners are familar with.  Linda went the extra mile - first exploring the fiber herself, and then having another spinner sample a different brand of acrylic with an accompanying critique and discussion about usage.

Mary Underwood

Mary Underwood, a member of the Ann Arbor Fiber Arts Guild and Cross Borders, took a stab at subbing for one of the guilds and ended up providing an original sample, using a straight draw and ProWeave a computer design program.