Our speaker for the August meeting was Virginia Postrel the author of The Fabric of Civilization. 

The story of humanity is the story of textiles—as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture.

In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo’s David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code.
 
Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world’s most influential commodity.

The Imiloa Collective, originating in Mauritius, Southern Africa is a dynamic social creative enterprise with a global impact. We connect and support artisans, marginalized communities, women entrepreneurs and refugee women in both the USA and Southern Africa, preserving traditional crafts and empowering women through essential skills training and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Our focus on artisans and creatives aims to foster individual growth and contribute to the thriving resilience of underserved communities in the United States and Africa. Imiloa Collective passionately cultivates cross-cultural creativity, aiming to bridge cultures and build a global community that positively impacts individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Tracy Kaestner published an article in Weavers magazine in the late 1980’s. One article led to another and another.  Now almost 40 years and 80 plus articles later she realized she has documented her weaving life in print.  

Read more about it here and see photos.

Our February speaker was Connie Lippert. Connie weaves tapestries using the wedge weave technique with yarns hand-dyed using natural materials. Her work has been exhibited in 30 states and has been accepted into over 150 juried exhibitions. She has received several artist grants from the South Carolina Arts Commission.

Qiqing (pronounced Chi-Ching) Lin is a textile artist based in New York. She explores feminism, immigration, language, accessibility, and politics through materials and weaving. She graduated with a BA in journalism in 2014 and an MFA in textiles at Parsons School of Design in 2023.

Terumi Saito is a textile artist and designer based in New York. Using traditional and ancient methods of backstrap weaving, which she learned from masters in Peru and Guatemala, Saito creates sculpture that represents a form of protection.

Saito received a BFA in graphic design from Tama Art University in Tokyo, Japan, and an MFA in textiles from Parsons School of Design in New York. 

Our October meeting presentation was given by silk pundit, Michael Cook. .

The unwinding of a silk cocoon is a marvel of both nature and human ingenuity. We leared about how this miraculous Queen of Fibers is cultivated, processed, and utilized in a variety of forms, and see a demonstration of how the cocoons themselves are unwound – each cocoon a single, unbroken fiber up to nine-tenths of a mile long.

Michael Cook has been raising and working with silk since 2001. He learned to sew, crochet, and embroider at the feet of his grandmother when he was probably too short for the sharp scissors with which he was entrusted and went on to learn to weave, spin, and knit.

This talk covered a little bit of sericulture, a significant amount of silk processing, and some discussion of applications and techniques for using silk in handwork. And he brought silk worms!

Our September meeting presentation was given by Karen Selk about the wonders of working with silk.

In Karen’s own words, “Wild silk is much more than the miraculous journey of metamorphosis from caterpillar to silken luxury. It is tightly woven to an ancient living culture raising tasar, muga, and eri silkworms in remote forests of central and eastern India.

Raising wild silkworms, reeling cocoons, spinning fiber and weaving silk cloth provides sustainable work, while protecting the environment, and supporting communities.  Photos and stories captured from weavers, spinners, and silkworm farmers over thirty years of research will transport you into their homes and villages to witness the love and dedication involved in each part of the process from soil to cloth.”  

Mahmoud and Alyssa like to incorporate modern designs with traditional Arabic weaving methods. In this presentation, they will tell their story of their journeys in Syria, UAE, Turkey, and the US, as well as discuss Arabic weaving traditions and history. 

Mahmoud and Alyssa are a Syrian-American handweaving family. They met during a chance encounter in Dubai in 2019 and instantly bonded over their shared love of weaving. Mahmoud’s family in Syria has been weaving for hundreds of years, and he learned the art at a young age. 

In Dubai, they owned a store where they sold handmade kilims, fine antique carpets, and other Arabic and Persian items. They also had a weaving studio where they taught families the art of weft-faced weaving.