Sheep to Yarn to Quilts
Saturday, May 4, 2024 9-3
Start your day of Amish heritage with a 7 am pancake breakfast, followed by demonstrations of Amish heritage. There will be sheep shearing, spinning, weaving, quilting, rope making, broom making, soap making, kids games, food, and maybe even buggy rides. See www.illinoisamish.org for more info.
Between Arcola and Arthur on Rt. 133.
Spinners & Weavers Day
Saturday, July 13, 2024, 10-4
The CU Guild and Hoosier Heritage Spinners & Weavers meet for a day of fun and fiber arts. Bring anything you’re working on (weaving, spinning, crochet, knitting…) and enjoy the company of others.
Forest Glenn Preserve, 20301 900 North Rd., Georgetown, IL
Threshermens’s Reunion
Friday, August 30, 2024, 8:30-2:30
We will be spinning, and there will be sheep shearing. Find out more at: http://threshermensreunion.org/ .
Natural Dye Day
Saturday, September 16, 2023, 8:30-3:30
All are welcome to participate or just observe. The fires start around 8:30 with the first sample going in when the pots are ready and we wrap up around 3:30.We are at the Homestead in Forest Glen Preserve, near Westville Illinois. In general, we have 2 mordant pots and and 5-8 dye pots. We always have indigo, black walnut, cochineal and goldenrod, and then perhaps logwood, madder, osage orange, onion skins, annatto or something else that comes up. We use .5 oz (almost 15 grams) samples of protein fiber, and use between 16 and 20 samples. Samples can be skeins, weave-its, roving, ribbon…, the only requirement is that the sample holds together so it goes in and out of the pot easily and can be hung on the line with a clothes pin. Additional dying can be done if there is dye left in the pots. If you are interested, bring along additional samples or larger skeins. New this year, I will prepare samples that you can buy. I will have .5 oz skeins of fingering weight yarn ready for you to dye. They will cost $3 per skein. Bring your own lunch, We have access to the Homestead Log Cabin for setting out food to share and Forest Glen Preserve provides a cold drink (and hot if it is a cold day). We will be outside around the
cabin near the fire, Please bring a chair and something to work on while the pots are cooking. There is no rain date, if it is pouring all day we will cancel.
A $5 donation is requested for all participants to cover expenses. Labeling materials will be provided.
Prep: Please bring 16-20, .5 oz washed unmordanted samples, one for each dye combination Be sure to tie skeins loosely in at least 4 places. Place roving in a bag. Put some type of water- and heatproof identifiable tag on each sample. Your handout will have a record sheet for you to use.
PLEASE RSVP to [email protected]
Packing list for Participants:
- Fee – $5
- Protein samples to dye all labeled
- chair
- something to do while pots cook
- lunch (could be something to put in coals)
- snack to share if you like
- plastic bags to take your finished possibly
wet samples home - containers for left over dye if you want to
take dye home