5/28/2026

Morning (11AM): “Intro to Supplementary Warps and Wefts”
Afternoon (1PM): “Overshot Overview”

AM: Supplementary warp and weft fabrics are compound structures, which means they have a foundation weave structure (often plain weave) plus additional pattern threads in the warp or weft.

PM: Overshot is a compound weave structure that combines a plain weave background cloth with elaborate, almost brocaded weft patterning. With simple 4 shaft block threadings, a remarkable range of beautiful and intricate geometric and curvilinear designs are possible.

4/23/2026

“Plaid Llama Sale"‍ ‍Afternoon, 1PM

The Plaid Llama is coming! The Guild’s bi-annual swap meet of all things fiber returns as the afternoon program in April. Your opportunity to clear your stash or add to it. Anyone with anything to sell can reserve space by contacting Judith Warren at drjudith@mac.com

4/23/2026

Morning (11AM): “Textural Expression Throughout the Ages”
Afternoon (1PM): “Plaid Llama Sale”

AM: Rya is an ancient technique that has transformed over time from utilitarian warmth to artistic expression. In this presentation, we will follow this evolution, exploring the structural and material makeup of a knotted pile rug in the Swedish tradition and the different types of ryas used.

PM: “Plaid Llama Sale” (click or see below)

3/26/2026

Morning (11AM): “From Virgins to Spaceships: A Visual Voyage through Norwegian Tapestry”
Afternoon (1PM): “Frida Hansen: A Norwegian Art Nouveau Artist in Wool”

AM Norwegian billedvev (picture weaving) from 1180 to today.

PM: The life and work of the innovative Norwegian tapestry artist Frida Hansen (1855-1931).

2/26/2026

Morning (11am): “Preparing for a weekend of weaving pancakes and waffles, or circles and squares, through the structures of both summer & winter and waffle weave”
Afternoon (1PM): “The Stuff the World is Made Of": the Bauhaus Textiles Movement in North Carolina & Its Influence Today”

AM: Hannah Watson will share a presentation, both digital and felt/seen, of her woven samples to the group and talk about her personal experiences with weaving as an art form.

PM: Beginning at the loom in Germany with Gunta Stölzl and progressing to Anni Albers at the Black Mountain College in western North Carolina, the Bauhaus movement sparked and carried joy and innovation across decades that left a profound impact on western North Carolina and its craftspeople. Hannah will present on the profoundly creative and dedicated women who led the textiles movement, how the school evolved from Germany to North Carolina, and how the weaving school Hannah attended in North Carolina remains heavily influenced today.

1/22/2026

Morning (11AM): “Warp and weft color pooling.
Afternoon (1PM): “My Journey to Weaving and Designing”

AM: Dive in and unlock the creative possibilities of color pooling via hand painting and dyeing your warp and weft! Learn about Sydney Sogol's style of warp painting to achieve color interplay through warp pooling.

PM: Let me take you on a little journey through my weaving world. I’ll tell you how I got started with dyeing, how I explore color combinations, and how I draw inspiration from the beautiful nature around us. 

12/4/2025

Morning (11AM): Jennifer Gaudet, “Threads Through Time: The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Turkish Hand Weaving”.
Afternoon (12PM): Potluck Holiday Party

AM: For centuries, weaving in Türkiye (previously Turkey) was more than cloth — it was culture, memory, and identity. Yet within a single generation, most of that knowledge disappeared. When Jennifer Gaudet stepped into this world in 2009, the craft was literally hanging by a thread. In this talk, she will walk you through its rise, decline, and fragile revival.

PM: Potluck Holiday Party

10/23/2025

Morning (11AM): Kris Leet - “Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge:  An Exploration of the How and Why of Tablet Weaving.”
Afternoon (1PM): Sale Setup

AM. In this presentation we will explore both types of questions, procedural (how) and conceptual (why), as they relate to understanding tablet weaving and the knowledge that each provides.  We’ll also touch on how the different conceptional models, modern and historical, influence what is deemed possible

9/25/2025
The focus of the September meeting is study groups and how to further your explorations. Elaine hopes to inspire other weavers to join an existing study group or start a new one.

Morning (11AM): Elaine Palmer - “Study Group Inspiration: Samplers, Gamps and Projects from the Hill Institute, Florence, MA”

Afternoon (1PM): Round Table discussion on the topic of study groups with Patrice Riordan, Sue Willingham, and Marjy Fiddler.

5/22/25
AM: Woolens & Waulkings, Tartans & Tweeds
PM: Woven Sashiko

4/24/25
AM:History of Leno and Gauze Weaves
PM:Weaving with Doups on Handlooms

3/27/25
AM: “Velvet Weaving in Venice”: Take a tour of velvet weaving on the original 18th century looms with how the looms are set up, the fabrics created and the tradition continues in the 21st Century.

PM: “Color Value in Weaving”: This color value presentation is geared toward anyone who weaves, spins, dyes or knits to help unravel color value and make it work FOR you in your projects.

2/27/25
Morning (11AM): “Design a Digital Vision Board”
Afternoon (1PM): “Fiber Art: Become the Artist You Want to Be

TWO DOWNLOADS:
Design a Digital Vision Board - DOWNLOAD PDF
Become the Artist you want to be - DOWNLOAD PDF

Learn howto gather creative ideas in a digital vision board to focus on specific topics like: color, weave structure, nature inspiration, or artist inspiration.  Christine leads this program using a simple digital tool to organize ideas and inspiration, helping you to put in order the information that will support and grow your creative efforts.

1/23/25
AM: “From Fleece to Blanket"
PM: "Tips and Tricks"

Take a journey, through the eyes of a production weaver, on what it takes to go from Sheep to Finished Product. Throughout the presentation, Tegan will provide suggestions on how to implement local(ish) wool to a small studio practice, and a honest approach to what it is like working within the fiber supply chain.

12/5/24
Morning (11AM): “Member Spotlight” featuring four SWG Weavers

• Allyce Wood: "Digital Jacquard Tapestry - Weaving Coded Images in Norway, Iceland, and Ohio"

• Gabi Nirino: “Always In Between”

• Jennifer Shuster: "TIFF, Text, Textiles and Technology: Loom controlled imagery and words”

• Sarah Kaltsounis: "Northwest Coast Weaving"

Afternoon (1PM): SWG Fashion Show

DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM FOR FASHION SHOW HERE

Morning (11AM): “SWG Member Tips Tricks & Tools”
(Afternoon (1PM): Sale Setup)

PDF of Heidi’s TIPS from Presentation (added 10/26/2024)

Morning (11AM): “Design Deliberations”
Afternoon (1PM): “A Design Journey”

Designing can be hard work! Do you have trouble deciding what or how to design for weaving? Are there too many choices or not enough? Are you stuck in a rut with your designs? Sometimes the best ideas come from considering the work of others. Many different approaches to weave design will be explored while looking at inspiring examples. 

HANDOUT TO DOWNLOAD, CLICK HERE

AM: “Exploring Double Huck”

Two layers of huck lace: what can they do? One of the happy surprises of this structure is just how appealing a double huck fabric is. From elegant scarves with beautiful drape, to towels and blankets with an irresistible ‘bounce’, it is lovely to wear and to handle. Cally will introduce double huck and take you on a tour through her experimentation with this flexible and attractive structure.

AM/PM: Notes from the Field

My favorite talks are those that I give to weavers and creatives who work with cloth. Over many years I have reflected on what makes these moments, when we come together as makers, so compelling and almost magical. Is it the lineage we share, the equipment, materials, and familiar techniques we hold in common that so compels us? Or is it the exotic wardrobes of amazing cloth that predate us, the bolts of historic and intoxicating fabrics that have dressed generations and continue to profoundly inspire us?

PM: “Photographing & Styling Handwovens, by Elaine Palmer.

We photograph our handwovens for many reasons: to catalog our personal work, for submission to juried shows, to post on our websites, and for printed publications. This talk discusses design and technical considerations when photographing and styling handwovens for different media. The talk includes discussion of studio lighting, outline vs. simple environment, and styling techniques Elaine used when photographing handwovens for the Weavers’ Guild of Boston’s 90th Anniversary book, Interlaced. There will be a short demo of the lighting technique and styling at the end of the presentation.

AM: “Weaving with Willow- from farm to basket”

Willows are most often used for strong functional baskets, but creative and decorative pieces can also be woven from willow bark. Basket weaver Katherine Lewis will tell you the story of how willow took over her life, from growing the material to weaving baskets from both withies and bark

AM: “Combining Warps and Structures for Wow! Yardage”
PM: “YouTube Video: Leftovers”

We start with some basics on weaving yardage, what to weave and how to sett it. The most important part though, is finding out what you’ve got, and how to make it work for you. Learn how to know what’s on the cone, or in the skein, and see how far it will go! The focus here is on 8 shafts. With 8 shafts you can magically combine structures and different yarns and create some inspiring and truly unique fabrics. Lots of drafts and lots of examples.

AM: “Exploring Japan- A travel journal looking at some ancient and modern textile making traditions of Japan”
PM: “Continued, with a wrap up including more specific examples that relate to the workshop on rag weaving techniques.”

Join Sara as she takes you along a virtual tour of Japan. She and her students explore cities and rural areas to experience the making traditions of Japanese fiber artists. On this whirlwind trip, Sara will explain how cultural influences have shaped the material usage and making practices in many different areas of textile traditions; embroidery, spinning, weaving, temari ball stitching, dyeing and more! We will visit remote areas very infrequently visited by outsiders who have maintained some practices for more that 1,300 years, as well as modern manufacturing processes in silk factories. In-person guests will have an opportunity to put their hands on samples that are sure to impress and inspire. We will discuss some of our more unique experiences and hands-on workshops we participate in. Lastly we will look at how these Japanese crafts have left their shore to influence artists from all around the world.

PM - Group Activity: “Fancy Paper Crowns for an occasion, because everyone is special!”

Use your imaginative skills to make a special crown for yourself or a special friend. Elegant or witty, it’s great for kids and grownups too, special occasions and everyday wear. Nice alternative to a birthday card. Embellish to the max, or keep it simple. This will be a fun opportunity to expand your creative skill set and make something fun and special.

AM: “Woven Textiles – Art Into Industry”.

Margo Selby is an internationally renowned woven textile designer. Her design philosophy is focused on pushing the boundaries of weaving to create contemporary stylish fabrics for a range of textile applications. Alongside her commercial textile design business Margo also creates distinctive handwoven artworks, which unite a modernist aesthetic with traditional weaving techniques. In her talk Margo will talk about her career in woven textiles, how the brand has evolved and the crossovers between her work as an artist, craftsperson and designer.

AM only: “Keeping Italian Textile Traditions Alive”.
(PM: Sale Setup)

When I arrived in the Serchio River Valley in Lucca Province in 2004, I met spinners, weavers and other textile workers who had learned their craft from mothers and grandmothers who had learned in the same way, possibly extending back to Etruscan, Bronze Age and even Neolithic times. I will speak about ten people and three institutions which are or were until recently actively carrying forward these traditions.

AM: “How History has Shaped Wild Silk in India – Tasar (tussah)”
PM: “Thirty Years of Change for Muga and Eri”

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.

This two-part presentation, morning and afternoon) will ask, and attempt to answer, the question “What (and how and why) were Iron Age weavers producing the amazing woven cloth and bands they left behind? We will examine the textiles they made, the tools and technology they used, and other cultural artifacts found with those textiles which help shed light on their meaning and status. We’ll also look at how these revelations from the past encourage us to re-evaluate the limits of our modern understanding of the craft of weaving.

This two-part presentation, morning and afternoon) will ask, and attempt to answer, the question “What (and how and why) were Iron Age weavers producing the amazing woven cloth and bands they left behind? We will examine the textiles they made, the tools and technology they used, and other cultural artifacts found with those textiles which help shed light on their meaning and status. We’ll also look at how these revelations from the past encourage us to re-evaluate the limits of our modern understanding of the craft of weaving.

Deflected Double Weave lends itself well to being woven as “something else.” Crimp weave, loom-controlled weft shibori, and plain weave can all be woven on DDW threadings. On 16 shafts, DDW can be woven in 2/2 twill, combined with collapse weave or twill bands, and used to create stunning v-shaped shawls. Explore the options beyond traditional patterns.