Contemporary Handweavers of Houston

Frequently Asked Questions

http://weavehouston.org/

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Join the guild: The 2007-2008 membership form is NOW available. The new form is also in the current newsletter. Our address is to P.O. Box 270933, Houston, Texas 77277-0933. You can mail the form or bring it to the next meeting. Feel free to come to one of our meetings as our guest to see if the guild is right for you. The membership year runs from July to June.

Attend the Annual Sale: CHH Guild Members offer unique items at the Annual Sale. All items are made by guld members - many of whom are nationally and internationally recognized artists and teachers. For this year's information, go to our Sale page.

Take a class: Guild Workshops are listed on the Workshops page. Tracy Kaestner at the Lone Star Loom Room and Nordic Studio in Katy and Clarice Shanks at the Upstairs Studio in LaPorte offer weaving classes. Tall Pines Weavers and Spinners also has workshops.

Buy or sell equipment (or anything else guild-related):

Online - CHH Website: CHH Classified Ads on the main web site are available at no cost [free!] to CHH Members and others advertising materials that the webmaster deems to be in keeping with the CHH mission. Email information@weavehouston.org with full information as you want it to appear and subject line "CHH Classified Ad." CHH makes no guarantees about the content of the ads.

Online - Other than CHH:There are two websites that reach a much wider audience that may be very helpful to you if you are selling equipment. They are:

Newsletter Classifieds:To reach all CHH members, you may want to advertise in the CHH newsletter. Contemporary Handweavers of Houston's CHHit CHHat Newsletter is published monthly, August through June, and is sent to all paid members. DEADLINE for stories and advertising is the 3rd Thursday of the month for subsequent month's issue. Send ad copy and check in advance to Therese Coucher, Editor, (cabincrk@mac.com). Email for mailing address for check. Electronic copy and artwork is preferred. Make checks payable to CHH.

Newsletter Advertising Rates:

  • Full page $12.00
  • ½ page 7.00
  • ¼ page 5.00
  • Business card 3.00

Discount rate of 20% applies to advertisers who pay for one year in advance (10 issues). Classifieds: $.10/word, $3.00 minimum (30 words or less).

Find the meeting location: The Contemporary Handweavers of Houston meet in the months of August through June on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm at Bayou Manor at 4141 S. Braeswood, Houston, Texas. Exceptions to the meeting date/location are noted on the web site. Braeswood is a confusing street to many so be sure to check out the map if you are unfamiliar with the area.

Request a speaker: CHH is an all-volunteer organization. We strive to find a member to speak or demonstrate spinning or weaving and related crafts on request. Here's the fine print: We are not able to fulfill all requests.

  1. Send an email to information@weavehouston.org
  2. Put "Volunteer Needed" in Subject Line
  3. Include your request:
    • name of your group
    • type of speaker/demonstrator
    • date/time/duration
    • location of presentation (address and area of town)
    • goal of presentation (Colonial Days, Re-enactment, etc)
  4. Give as much lead time as possible.
  5. Your request is distributed:
    • Volunteer coordinator
    • Announced at Monthly Meeting
    • CHH newsletter
    • CHH website
  6. You will be notified by the Volunteer Coordinator or the Volunteer presenter if we are able to find a volunteer.

Listed below are some field trip possibilities for you to consider if you want to expose your group to weaving and related crafts:

During the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at Reliant Arena every year, the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston have a demonstration set up in the AgVenture Area daily. Education field trips for all manner of childrens' groups are a large part of the daily activities of AgVenture. CHH is usually set up close to the Cotton Gin an/or Goat Mountain. Generally we have at least 2 looms set up for ongoing "live" weaving demonstrations and anywhere from 4 - 8 hand and wheel spinners at work. The 2008 Show is scheduled March 3 - 22.

The George Ranch located in Richmond TX (not far from Sugar Land) offers educational field trips.

Another good location is the Liendo Plantation. Built in 1853, it offers a wealth of history lessons to visitors. Spinning and weaving and related crafts are demonstrated during their Civil War Weekend. The dates for 2007 are November 16-18. For more information on the Civil War Weekend, see the Liendo site and the Texas Cavalry site.

The Contemporary Handweavers of Houston also has weaving and spinning demonstrations during the annual sale. Be aware that these demonstrations are just events at the sale, not intended as full-scale demonstrations for large or young groups. Please contact us in advance if you wish to bring a group as our accommodations for the sale may vary from year to year.

Check out a book from the library: All CHH members in good standing may use the library. The loan period is one month from meeting to meeting. Please contact the librarian to have a particular book brought to the meeting or to visit the library. The library is located in the librarian's home. View the Library Catalog to select your books. If you have recommendations for the librarian, be sure to share them.

Buy from Amazon: CHH is an Amazon affiliate and we get a small percentage of each purchase from Amazon that originates from our website. This revenue supports our costs of web hosting and is much needed. So if you usually buy from Amazon, feel free to take one of the many links from our web site including this one to Amazon.