Congratulations

Our Festival 2012 Committee was judged a joint runner-up in the Trustpower Community Awards announced last night, 30 October.  Here is a photo stolen from the Trustpower Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/trustpower showing Chris accepting the award for the Guild.  (Scroll through to photo 14 if you go there.)

Hats for Hope received an honourable mention in the process and we think that may have been a large factor in the choice.  So well done everyone, and very special thanks to Chris who does all the paperwork and fills out the forms. 

October Meeting

Win Not only did her homework by planning a blanket inspired from delving into the ancient magazines; she actually wove the blanket!  A very generous size, it was woven in two pieces and joined invisibly. It is lighter in weight than it looks and lovely and soft due to lots of mohair boucle. 

 Having to be 'on duty' at various displays and demonstrations has its benefits. Rose found a set of mercerised cotton and linen tablemats that have been 'maturing' for a while. The threads were drawn, the hems pressed and tacked into place so it was easy to sit and hemstitch a couple of them at the big stamp expo where we showed our wares.

And talking of the stamp expo, we just have to show one of the visitors we had. Her name is Fern. Isn't she beautiful? and the New Zealand Falcon had just been voted 'Bird of the Year' so it was quite special to see her up close.

Back to business . . . Rose added two more 'luxury yarn' scarves to her collection.  Here is a really lightweight one with 70% alpaca and 30% silk in white and a soft beige.

And this is 80% merino and 20% cashmere. A lovely handle.

A Visit to The Refinery

Meg peeks out from behind her pillars

Seeing these pieces up close showed there was much more texture in them than the photographs had indicated

Congratulations on your part in a great show Meg

“Big and Small”

 Meg has been not only thinking but also working big . . .   She writes:

For the last six months I locked myself in my basement, figuratively, and worked on one large and one small  project for a joint exhibition in Nelson. The large project was something I saw in my head 30 months ago, a series of large pale pillars. They are in four to five kinds of gray and undyed wool in a swirly twill. 

 . . . and small. . .

The smaller project more or less came to me suddenly; I thought my chin in a self-portrait looked like a profile of a middle-aged body shape, specifically, mine.

“Beginnings” exhibition is held at Refinery ArtSpace Gallery on Halifax St, Nelson, until 26 October.

SO looking forward to seeing this exhibition Meg.

For the Tapestry Weavers

Here is a link to a short video of a recently opened tapestry exhibition in Washington USA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5kAum_CvDM&feature=share

As well as seeing an overview of the tapestries it is interesting to note the way they are displayed and the 'hands on' looms and yarns.  It is just over 3 minutes long so doesn't show many close-ups of the 40 exhibits but I thought it worth a look.

And here, just to make you envious, is a whizz-bang state-of-the-art free-standing tapestry loom imported from USA by Lesley Longhurst.  Watch this space for results from it.