Monthly Meeting Programs 2018-2019
Program Chair: Beth Engelbrecht-Wiggans, engwig@gmail.com
Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month unless otherwise noted. The meeting starts with our program at 6:30 pm followed by a short business meeting and social time with snacks. Meetings are generally held at the Champaign Public Library. Exceptions to this schedule will be noted here, in the newsletter and on our Facebook page. An email reminder of location, time and topic will be sent out shortly before the meeting
September 11, 2018
This is our welcome meeting, renew Guild friendships and welcome new members. Please bring a story and, if possible, an exhibit of what you did on your summer vacation. Always a fun meeting. We will also outline the fun and exciting things we have planned for this year. Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
October 16, 2018
Please note the date! This is the third Tuesday of the month. We changed the date so we could have Sara Anderson give a presentation. She will be coming directly from the Guild’s spinning retreat at Allerton. A great opportunity to learn from a spectacular spinner. You are always welcome to bring your spinning with you to the library. Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
November 13, 2018
Tonight, our speaker will be Amy Swanson who is the US Operations Manager for June Cashmere, a sustainable cashmere company that began in 2016. Amy will speak about the company’s story, bring some yarn for us to ogle, and answer questions about production and the latest Fall design line! These yarns are not to be missed! Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
December 1, 2018
And now for something completely different. We are meeting at the Anita Purves Nature Center, at the north end of Urbana’s Crystal Lake Park (directions to come in the newsletter), on a SATURDAY! We have reserved a large room from 10am – 3pm. The plan is for us to have a Bourse and Activity Day. Come to relax and spin, knit, weave, make lace, and find “new to us” treasures. The possibilities are endless! They will provide chairs and tables, and the room comes with sinks. More to come in the newsletter and on Facebook.
January 8, 2019
Heather Simmons will introduce us to bobbin lace. Bobbin Lace is a particular style of lace-making popular in Europe dating back to the Renaissance. It is made on a pillow with bobbins and pins. Sometimes called “off the loom weaving,” it is a form of fiber art that has no knots. Heather will give a brief history and a demonstration. She would love to start a Bobbin Lace study
group, and perhaps after her talk there will be plenty of interest! Time: 6:30 pm program followed bybusiness meeting and snacks.
February 12, 2019
Cindy Ruesink will introduce us to rigid heddle weaving. She will give us a brief history of the rigid heddle from 1300 to the present. We will be treated to early images of rigid heddles and her collection of historic rigid heddles and historic bands woven on them. She will then bring us to the present and the modern rigid heddle loom and cloth. Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
March 12, 2019
Rachel Berry, has been lobbying for the return of hemp. She will give us some history of hemp production, recent changes in the law and the future of hemp in the US. Very timely as in June 2018,
the US Senate voted to legalize the growth of hemp. Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
April 9, 2019
This year the guild’s education committee presented grants to members, and this is the meeting for those people to bring back to the guild what they have learned. More to come on this via newsletter and Facebook. Time: 6:30 pm program followed by business meeting and snacks.
May 9, 2019
Spring Potluck and Installation of the 2019/20 Officers. Kristi Pyatt is hosting our Spring Potluck, come see the new barn and commune with the critters. Directions will come with the May newsletter. Time: 6 pm not 6:30 pm.
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Past Programs:
2015-2016 Programs
2014-2015 Programs