Contemporary Handweavers of Houston

Contemporary Handweavers of Houston (CHH) is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting interest in handweaving, spinning and related textile arts through teaching, hosting workshops, demonstrations and study groups.

Located in Houston, Texas, CHH usually meets at 7:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month August through November and January through May at Bayou Manor.

NEWS

We are on our Summer Break until August. It is time to renew your membership for the new year (Our year runs June - May) . Fill our your Membership Form and mail it in.

Nikos Floros

DeeDee shares these websites:

Watch the Video on this site. And then go to this blog for more information on the exhibition.

Save those pull tabs!

Yards, Pounds, Sett ... and Match!

Just got the Handwoven Weaving Weekly in my email and they refer to a couple of handy web links. They are addressing yarns (including a little article on Where do Shops Shop) and the relationship between yards per pound and sett. Two links they cited were Interweave's Master Yarn Chart which charts all the yarns used in Handwoven since 2000!!! and Spin-Off's Yarn Chart that gives approximate yards per pound for usual knitting weight yarns. Here's the current Handwoven Weaving Weekly - (look in the right column to see how to subscribe to it.)

If you haven't visited the Interweave site lately, maybe this summer is a good time to check out all the goodies there. I'm a fan of their Weaving Resources page among others.

Minutes from June 14 Board Meeting:

The June Board Meeting Minutes are now available on the Member section of the website. The website also has an archive of Minutes from previous Board and General meetings. Remember you must use the Members Only password to access the Member section of the website. You can find it on Page 4 of your handbook if you are a member.

HCCC AIR Fair

Laura Viada sends us this news: Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 25, when the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft will hold its annual AIR Fair Summer Celebration. This event honors the center’s 2008-2009 Artists-In-Residence and is also the opening of the In Residence: 2008 show in the Artists Hall. Laura will have several new pieces in this show.

The event runs from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. The current Artists-In-Residence will be in their studios; the main exhibition gallery and retail gallery will also be open. The current exhibition, Literally Figurative, is well worth seeing.

The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is located at 4848 Main Street, just south of Hwy. 59 near the corner of Main and Rosedale. The main entrance is actually in the back of the building on Travis Street. You may park either in HCCC’s parking lot, on the street, or in the parking lot for the Lawndale Art Center at the corner of Rosedale and Travis.

Just in from Gerald Tobola of Copper Shade Tree:

Copper Shade Tree, a fine craft gallery in Round Top, is looking for outstanding fiber artists to participate in the the annual fiber show in February, 2010. For more information, please visit: Copper Shade Tree.

Sale Information Update:

The new sale forms have been uploaded to the website. To see them go to the Sale page or on the Member section of the website on the Sale page or the Handbook/Forms page. Some changes include the new fillable pdf form for the inventory sheet. Keep checking because the entry form may become a fillable form as well.

Minutes from May 21st Meeting:

The May General Meeting Minutes are now available on the Member section of the website. [Webweaver's Note: This meeting was Outstanding. The President took photos of the Fashion Show. We really have some talented members!] The website also has an archive of Minutes from previous meetings. Remember you must use the Members Only password to access the Member section of the website. You can find it on Page 4 of your handbook if you are a member.

Upcoming Events - Reminders:

Look below for information on the Sarah Fortin Workshop, the Celebrating the Creative Spirit Exhibition Call for Entries, and the I Made it on My Schacht Contest.

Register Now for Weaving in Three Dimensions workshop:

You can now register for the Sarah Fortin workshop, Weaving in Three Dimensions. Contact Charlene to sign up. The workshop will be Friday, October 16 - October 18, 2009. See more details on our Workshops page.

Celebrating Our Creative Spirit

The Texas Federation of Fiber Artists celebrates the creative spirit with a juried exhibition. All fiber artists living in the state of Texas are invited to apply. The exhibition Celebrating Our Creative Spirit will be held at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft from October 3 - December 24, 2009. For more information see the Call for Artists.

I Made it on My Schacht

Schacht says. Join us for our Fab 40 Anniversary celebration by entering our super-duper, get weaving and spinning contest. There are categories for beginners and experienced alike, so don’t be shy. All you have to do is either weave a project on your Schacht Loom or spin a skein of yarn on your Schacht Wheel. Enter through your favorite participating Schacht dealer or online (www.schachtspindle.com). Here's the Entry Form with a lot of information.

May CHHit CHHat:

The May CHHit CHHat is now available on the Member section of the website. It includes several attachments that are listed on the Newsletters Page. An archive of the Previous Newsletters is also available.

Hey swatch swappers!

Nancy W sends this information: The date for the swatch swap will be in mid- to late August so we do not interfere with the Annual sale. I do not have an exact count as the the number of swatches needed. You will see it here when I get a final count. I will send you the paperwork, and how-to-sheets, and they are available on the members section of the website. We have our own Swatch Swap 2009 Web Page on the Member section of the website where you can find all the forms and updates as they come in for the Swatch Swap.

The Swatch Swap 2009 packet includes:

• Swatch Swap 2009 First Letter PDF or DOC
• CHH Swatch Swap 2009 Data Sheet PDF or DOC
• CHH Swatch Swap 2009 Draft Sheet PDF or DOC
• Directions to Nancy W's House

Happy Weaving,

Nancy Warren, Swatch Swap Coordinator

Rodeo Tapestry:

Demonstrators and members of the public added touches to a handwoven tapestry set up on the Guild's Tapestry Loom at the Houston Livestock Show. Many hands worked on this, with each one adding bits that morphed into something totally different when the next weaver took over.

And Speaking of Tapestry....

Eight students attended a Beginning Tapestry Workshop hosted by Barbara B. and taught by Gerry Woodhouse on February 21 and 22. Three students brought pre-warped frame looms, and five warped 10 x 12 inch stretcher frames with cotton warp in class to create small samplers. Using wool needlepoint and tapestry yarns, each student chose her favorite techniques to sample. On the second day tapestries were removed from looms and mounted on their stretcher frames which were covered with quilt batting and linen fabric, or they were attached to rods for hanging. Check out the Tapestry Class Mini-Album!

Fashioning Felt:

Lynn from Lynn's Texas Fiber alerts us to the Fashioning Felt exhibit at The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum from March 6 – September 7, 2009. And if you visit the exhibit be sure to tell us about it at a meeting!

The Exhibit Information online is rich with content too. Be sure to click on the photos for more information one each item. You will notice that have a page that describes the Felting Process as well as a Blog.

Continuity:

Kaye E. sent this: On a genealogy website I belong to, I came across a picture of a 200 years old bedspread that is beautiful. It looks like an overshot pattern to me. It was woven by ancestors in my father's family tree from wool sheared from sheep on a neighboring farm with links to my family also. The bedspread is still in the family; still in good shape. Origin: Washington County Virginia.

Wedding Dress Diaries

"When I became the mother of a little baby girl, I began to daydream about weaving the fabric for her wedding gown some day. Well the day is here...." So begins a new kind of entry into our Gallery of Members' works. This one is a blog chronicling the weaving of fabric for Dee Dee's Daughter's Wedding Dress. Follow the progress at DeeDee’s Daughter’s Wedding Dress Diaries. Bookmark it and visit it frequently or follow the RSS feed to keep up with the progress. The "wedding dress diary" blog also links to a public gallery of the photos on Facebook (no need to sign up to Facebook to view).

Sale Photo Album:

Sale Photo Album - Photos courtesy of Kaye.

Webweaver's Blog:

Updates to the CHH Website are now available on one page! Your Webweaver has created a blog to keep track of the work she does on the web. But for you the Viewer, the blog can serve as a one-stop page to keep up with what is happening with the guild web site without having to look at several pages. Visit the blog at weavehouston.org/blog to see if it is useful to you. The Blog has been added to the menu on the website.

Houston Skyline Tapestry:

Have you ever wondered about the photo of the Houston Skyline Tapestry that we have used on the CHH website? Well, now you can see more detail and learn more about Gerry Woodhouse, the talented weaver who so generously allows us to use the photo on the Houston Skyline Tapestry page. You can also reach the page by clicking on the image at the top of the left column.

Miscellany

Members Only:

It's all about you! Weavehouston reminds members of the Members Only corner of our website. If you are a member and do not know the login and password, email us. If you have your handbook, you will find the information on page 4 for the 2008/2009 membership year.

Amazon:

We are an Amazon.com affiliate. As you look at our website, if you take one of our links to Amazon.com and buy an item during that visit, a percentage of the purchase price (most items) will go to the guild!

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