We usually meet on the third Friday of the month from 10:00 AM-12:00 noon. In July and August we break for the summer. During the coming year we are going to resume meeting in person at the Walnut Creek library, Ygnacio Valley branch, with a zoom connection for those who cannot attend in person.
March 2023
March 24, 2023, fourth Friday of the month for a meeting at the library. Our presenter will be Karen Donde.
https://karendondehandwovens.com/
This meeting will be both in person and over Zoom. Karen’s talk will be about the life of Mary Meigs Atwater. Please join us at the library, or if you are unable to attend look for the link to the presentation a day or so before the March meeting.
Again, note that this is the fourth Friday in March.
Looking Ahead
April 11-12, 2023, workshop with Deb Essen on Weaving with a Supplemental Warp.
See April Workshop for more details.
April 21, 2023, third Friday of the month for a meeting at the library.
In April Linda Cortright of Wild Fibers will be our presenter.
Linda has done presentations to Treadles to Threads and Spindles and Flyers in the past. Will and Kate joined her on a trip to India. We welcome her to visit us at Diablo Weavers as well, to hear more about her current travels.
Saturday, 10:00 – 12:00, at a date to be announced: Study Group will meet at Maureen’s home in Walnut Creek. See: https://diabloweavers.org/study-group/
May 19, 2023, the third Friday of the month we will have a meeting at the library. Carol C. has a program for us, a video about weaving rag rugs and the Finnish American community in Michigan.
June 2023 – our “Picnic pot luck luncheon”, date and time TBD
Previous Meetings
February 2023
February 17, 2023, Lilly Marsh will give a Zoom presentation. We will meet at the library for the presentation for those that can come in person. She previously gave a presentation to the Valley Stitchers and Fiber Arts Guild that was very well received.
https://lillymarshstudios.com/
January 2023
January 2o, 2023 we will meet at the library, most likely with a zoom session included. Our speaker will be Robin Lynde of Meridian Jacobs.
Robin has spoken to our guild before, however, this presentation is a new one she has put together. See the description from her below.
Meridian Jacobs – Its about the wool!
I was asked by another group to give a talk that covers “fiber farm sustainability, Jacob fleece quality, and weaving the final product”. That combines elements from three different presentations, but I have included all in this one. I will touch on the beginnings of Fibershed, and share a lot of photos of sheep and woven pieces. I will have plenty of woven items to show and am glad to answer questions about all of it.
See her website:
https://www.meridianjacobs.com/
January 14, 2023 Study Group meeting
We will meet at Marueen’s home Saturday morning, Jan. 14, from 10:00 – 12:00. We are meeting on Saturdays so that members who work during the week can join us. See: https://diabloweavers.org/study-group/
December 2022
December will be our annual holiday gathering, a potluck luncheon and small gift exchange. This year we will meet at Ingrid’s home in Pleasonton. Please let Ingrid know if you are able to come, current members should have her home address and email. Guests are welcome, but let Ingrid know if you are bringing someone.
Also bring program ideas about what you would like to see during the coming year. And a reminder that our study group is meeting in January at Maureen’s home in Walnut Creek.
November 18, 2022
November 18, 2022, the third Friday, of the month we will meet at the library with a zoom connection for those unable to attend in person. Our program, which will start at 10:00, will be with Vickie Marchand from Treadles to Threads talking about her recent trip to the Shetland Islands.
Her presentation will include Edinburgh’s Dovecot Tapestry Studio, Shetland Island’s Knitting Tour and the Jonstons of Elgin’s Cashmere Mill in the Scottish Highlands.
Come join us, either in person or via zoom, and hear about her travels. Also bring items you would like to share as well as ideas about what you would like to see in the future.
October 21, 2022
10:00 am – noon
In October we will meet at the Walnut Creek library on Oak Grove with a Zoom connection for those who cannot attend in person. We don’t have a formal presentation for October, but will have a brainstorming session about what you would like to see in the way of programs for the coming year.
We will also have sharing of both finished and ongoing projects. If you can send a photo of your current project to Carol, we will add it to the website and perhaps to a slide show to add to the zoom session.
September 16, 2022
10:00 am – noon
In September we will meet at Carol C.s home in Walnut Creek. This will be our annual informal gathering, sharing summer adventures and projects. We will also have our annual “stash sale” of fiber related items. Bring yarns, books, equipment of anything else you would like to sell, with a portion of the sale going to the guild.
Please bring dues to the September meeting. If you are unable to attend the meeting in September, plan on mailing your dues to our treasurer, so that she can compile the list of members, which is due to CNCH in October.
We looking forward to seeing everyone and also welcoming new members.
September 17, 2022 10:00 am – noon
Diablo Weaver’s Study Group will meet at Maureen’s home in Walnut Creek. Our current topic is crackle weave. See the study group web page for details at: https://diabloweavers.org/study-group/
Who ever said “less is more” never had dessert, and certainly, was never a weaver
June 17, 2022
We are going to have our June meeting, a picnic potluck gathering, this coming Friday, June 17. This is our usual third Friday of the month. However, we won’t start until 11:00. No formal program, just a nice time visiting, sharing projects and adventures.
Bring your own chair and a dish to share. We will provide plates, utensils, napkins and water.
And, of course, bring Show and Tell, and ideas for the fall.
The location: Larkey Park in Walnut Creek, on Buena Vista and First Street, just south of Treat/Geary Blvd.
Since we don’t have reservations, we don’t know the exact spot we will be meeting. See the link below for a map of the park. Download the map for detailed directions to the park.
There will be no meeting in May, due to CNCH, the Conference of Northern California Handweavers, happening May 19 – 22 in San Mateo.
http://cnch2022.com/
April 22, 2022
Our April program will be a ZOOM presentation from Liz Moncrief on “Weaving Loom Compendium”. http://www.aweaversway.com
The program will be two hours, so most likely no business or show and tell that month, unless there will be something important about conference the following month. Note that this is the 4th Friday of the month.
Saturday April 9, 2022 at noon
Diablo Weavers Study Group will meet at Maureen’s, continuing our exploration of four color echo weave. See the Study Group page for details.
Study Group
March 18, 2022 at 10 am
Weaving before 1900
You can also view a video of Justin weaving on a hundred year old loom:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHk1MkqiLuc&t=440s
Handweaver Justin Squizzero of The Burroughs Garret will give an online presentation about weaving prior to the 1900s. He currently works on hundred year old mechanical Jacquard looms, custom weaving traditional figured patterns for coverlets, blankets, towels and others items as a continuation of the British-American hand weaving tradition.
February 18, 2022
Sprang
Carol James will be giving us a presentation on Sprang. See her website for information about this ancient technique and the many ways sprang can be used.
https://www.spranglady.com/
image from Wikimedia Commons
January 21, 2022
Deborah Silver will present a Zoom lecture explaining the split-shed weaving process, a technique that allows weavers to break out of blocks and create complex curves and color-blending using only 4 shafts.
Deborah will explain how to form a split shed on different loom types, read a split-shed draft, and make a cloth cartoon that stays flat and won’t wrinkle when you beat. She will show examples of the myriad split-shed weave structures that can be created using only 4 shafts. Deborah will also talk about her artwork and creative process.
See her website at:
https://www.deborahsilverstudio.com/
Saturday, January 15, 2022 at noon
We will have our quarterly Study Group meeting at Maureen’s home. See the Study Group page for further details. https://diabloweavers.org/study-group/
Friday, December 17, 2021 11:00 on..
Our December meeting, a gathering in person and also via zoom, will be at Carol Gray’s in Lafayette on December 17, starting at 11:00 am. We will have our annual gift exchange for those who would like to participate, and an exchange of cookies or similar individual snack items rather than our usual potluck luncheon. Feel free to bring your own snack if you prefer. Drinks will be provided.
All members who have been vaccinated are welcome. For those not yet comfortable meeting in person or far away, we will be setting up a zoom session. Although we have quite a bit of parking space, car pooling is encouraged.
Bring a project you are working on and anything you would like to share. For those on Zoom, we can use “share screen” to see a photo of your work. At least we will give it a try!
Would you like to share this year’s projects on our website? If so, send an image file to carol.gray@gmail.com and include information about your project. Feel free to include sharing from September, where we didn’t take photos, or from our weaving study group. Please indicate if you want your name included or not.
It will be fun to see each other after a long time apart! If you need directions please contact me, carol.gray@gmail.com. Use this same email to send photos for our website gallery for this month.
Friday, November 19, 2021 10:00 – noon
A presentation by Robyn Spady
Our meeting will begin with Robyn’s presentation, followed by the business meeting and sharing. If you can’t make the November meeting, Robyn is allowing recording of her presentation and sharing as view only by current members of the guild.
Weaving TnT: Dynamite Tips ‘n Techniques for Every Weaver
Would you like to learn a great method for repairing a broken warp end, tracking your treadling while you weave, making your own repair heddles, or just make weaving easier and more pleasurable? This gizmo-and-gadget centric presentation looks and feels like an interactive show-and-tell and will introduce over 36 offbeat tools, techniques, or tricks to assist weavers in all phases of weaving.
See Robyn’s website at: https://www.spadystudios.co
Friday, October 15, 2021 10:00 am – noon
Deborah Corsini – Wedge Weave / Eccentric Weave
Bold graphic line, zigzag stripes and scalloped selvedges are striking characteristics of wedge weave. Instead of weaving perpendicular to the warp, as is usual for tapestry, wedge weave is an eccentric weaving technique where the wefts are woven at an angle to the warp. In this presentation, Deborah will look at the brief history of Navajo wedge weave, her own development and exploration of the technique as well as images from the current renaissance by many contemporary weavers.
Deborah Corsini has pursued a lifelong passion for weaving. Known for her wedge weave tapestries, her work is exhibited internationally and is included in U.S. Embassies and in private and corporate collections. She teaches workshops in wedge weave and is an advocate of contemporary fiber art. She is offering a wedge weave workshop at the Conference of Northern California Handweavers in 2022.
See her work at: http://deborahcorsini.com
Diablo Weavers 