All of us carried food to share and a gift to exchange.  Excuse all the photos of food in the slide show, but really–isn’t food always crucial to any celebration?  Carl provided a wonderful pork roast, wrapped in rosemary and bacon.

Those who had completed blocks for the French Art Colony wall hanging project lay them out on the coffee table–12 blocks so far.  We have wonderful examples of knitting, felting and quilting.

After signing a get well card to Mary, unable to attend because of foot surgery, we began the gift exchange, with some offerings being “stolen” repeatedly!  These included: a knitting book to make various critters, knit and felted scarves, lacy scarf kit, felted pins (picture coming), fingerless hand mitts, a pottery lamb, yarn and other fiber-oriented gifts–such a wide assortment of lovely items changed hands! Thank you everyone for bringing these heartwarming gifts.

While the others were chatting, I took a tour of Marlene’s fence line and snapped lots of animal pictures–they are not camera shy!  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Our Show N Tell included a lacy white shawl featuring yarn from Nancy C’s trip to Canada.  So soft!

Carol is fascinated by the effect given by Angelina fiber butterflies.

Mary brought two small “journal quilts,” experiments with reflective fiber and using beads on sunflowers. The latter featured Mary’s hand-dyed fabric. She also brought a silk dye transfer scarf purchased at the international quilt show in Houston, made from laying sections of men’s silk ties on sheer white silk fabric, rolling it up, and soaking it in hot water.

Cathy brought a colorful minature pinwheel quilt and a mesh tote bag that featured a daisy border print and flap embellished with a faux daisy.

We were eager to see Beverly’s handwoven inkle straps, laying them out on various fabric fat quarters to see what combination we liked best for our mesh tote bags.

The Guild is planning to meet in December to discuss the sampler quilt we are planning to donate to the French Art Colony’s Silent Auction in March 2012.  Each member who participates will make three blocks in their choice of medium (yarn, felt, fabric, etc).  The only restriction is color (any combo of black, white, gray) and size (probably 9 or 9-1/2 ” blocks.)

The Feast! Jan 2011

We are anticipating our annual AOFG Winter Celebration, to be held at Marlene’s farm on January 7, 2012.  We will share a feast–Carl has promised roast pork, and the rest of us will bring our own specialties.  Although Santa is not expected to visit, there will be a fiber gift exchange–last year’s was a great success!

Carl's Pride and Joy! Jan 2011

Can we hope for scenic snow AND clear roads?  Luckily, Carl has offered shuttle service in his ATV for those who park on the road!

Heading Home, Jan 2011

Yummy yarns from Nancy's trip to Nova Scotia

What is it about fall weather that makes us long for soft, colorful sweaters to hug us, making us feel like we are standing in a patch of sunlight?  Just to look at skeins of glowing wool gets our fingers itching to do something with them!

Be sure to note the pictures of Nancy’s “souvenirs” of her trip to Nova Scotia, a beaded bracelet, a rainbow of yarns, plus a turquoise shawl and a white ruffled scarf that she completed since her trip.

Marlene displayed a seamless jacket, using a technique she developed, dubbed as  “Shambolic” felting.  It uses irregular pieces of repurposed silk fabric from several blouses, felted together. Roving is laid across the overlapped, color-cordinated silk remnants. Felting draws up the silk, giving it a ruched effect, reducing the size of the project by half. Several members couldn’t help but examine the beautiful, seamless garmet at close hand. Marlene was asked to teach a class on the technique next summer, and has several other projects planned.

Carol, known for her love of shawls and scarves, modeled a knitted shawl in varigated apricot cotton yarn.

Susan let us try on her wool mits and admire the matching socks on her feet. She also had several skeins of handwoven Pybora yarn  and a lovely pair of brown knit socks embellished with beads.

Cathy and Mary showed mesh tote bags as a preview for the November meeting.  They also displayed “round robin” quilt tops that might serve as table toppers, once quilted. These started as a single central block, with successive borders added by other quilters.

Bev's row counter

Bev was working on navy blue socks, keeping track of her rows with a clever row counter.  She explained that the even numbers on the wooden board represent knit rows, with purls being the odd numbers. She moves the pin to the next numbered hole when she finished a row of stitches.  The board is cherry, sawn at the local saw mill where John works.

Mary showed two art quilts, one that featured precisely joined points to form a  star, narrow wedges and a curve of flying geese triangles. The other featured two red roses with a remarkable quilted background.  She felt that something was “missing” in the reverse applique rose wall hanging and asked for suggestions from the group.

The fiber guild is a great place to come for feedback on our projects, and to find a helping hand.

Show and Tell Summary

• Marlene – Shambolic felt seamless jacket
• Mary – round robin table topper, reverse applique rose quilt, paper pieced art quilt, mesh tote bag
• Susan – Pygora yarn – hand spun, fingerless mitts and matching socks, beaded socks
• Carol – Beautiful cotton shawl (summer weight) that she completed after much frustration
• Cathy – Round robin table topper, mesh tote bag
• Bev – Row counter, house pictures, cherry cupboards on camera – beautiful
• Nancy -yummy yarns from Cape Breton, Prince Edwards Island
  & Nova Scotia

Shearing time at Adell's farm, Meigs County, OH, March 2011

Last year, when I accepted the invitation of a friend to attend her fiber guild meeting in Gallipolis, Ohio, never did I imagine the way it would broaden my experience as an art quilter.  I knew that some art quilters described themselves as fiber artists so I figured this would be a good place to meet others with similar interests.  What I didn’t expect was the range of interests and activities of the fiber guild members.

The first thing I discovered was that the “fur farmers” in the group raised, not corn, but sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas and other furries. I was delighted to learn that the group represented interests ranging from caring for the creatures, dyeing fiber, felting wool, spinning, knitting and crocheting yarns, to using woven fabrics and fibers in decorative art quilts. Members come from a wide geographic area, but primarily from hilly Appalachian Ohio and nearby areas.

Marbling workshop at the French Art Colony

Guild activities include monthly meetings that feature some type of hands-on workshop as well as a time to admire current projects and share life’s adventures.  Outings include visits to members’ farms and studios, fiber-related exhibitions, shows and shops and even overnight retreats to learn a new skill or work on our own projects without distractions.

The following slide show has lots of pictures from our Fall 2010 dye workshop at Marlene’s farm, a visit to Adell’s farm in March 2011 to see sheep shearing and fleece preparation, as well as photos of other fiber guild activities.

If your interest is aroused by the thought of learning more about fur farming, you long to transform dull-hued yarn or fabric into glowing creations, if creating felted accessories and decorative items sounds fascinating, you love knitting or crocheting, or want to go beyond traditional quilting to creative wall art, contact us about the Appalachian Ohio Fiber Guild.

We generally meet the second Sunday of each month, most frequently at the French Art Colony in Gallipolis.  There are no dues and we welcome visitors and new members.