Gina grew up learning to sew, she attended TAFE at night. She tried knitting but still has a piece she started 21 years ago! When she finished school and started working, Craft went on hold but her love of colour and fabric led her to attended Uni and graduate with a Bachelor of Design. After Uni she went overseas for 6 months and returned 7 years later. She then worked for an Agency and when her father became ill she started to embroider. This led to an interest in spinning so she tracked down the Guild and found that Loomcraft was due. She booked but fell down the stairs at Town Hall station the day before and still learned to spin in spite of everything. She became the Guild News Editor and also attempted a 2 year Embroiderers' Guild course so spinning went on the back burner for a while.

She now has two looms and three spinning wheels and is doing Liz Calnan's weaving course as well as experimenting with dyeing. She feels she needs to overcome her perfection gene and just enjoy creating. Gina showed samples of her embroideries, her silk paper, and also a part completed commission of a Quilt made entirely from men's neckties.

Posted by Red Wolf at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is with great pleasure today, that I wish to present Anne Miller with the Life Membership Award of the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of NSW. Before asking her to accept it I would like to outline her involvement and contribution to the Guild since she first joined. Anne became a member in 1978 — some 27 years ago and has maintained her membership throughout that time.

Continue reading "Anne Miller" »

Posted by Red Wolf at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Early Days
My maternal and paternal grandmothers, and my mother, all worked as tailoresses during their lifetimes, and from a very young age I was encouraged to make things with fabric. Upon arrival at Wagga Wagga Teachers' College, we were asked to choose an optional subject, and for me, there was only one option, it was Craft, with Mr Perce Cosier (yes, he wrote the original book on Inkle Weaving). During the next two years he very capably introduced me to pottery and elementary weaving on a four shaft loom.

It was here, in the Craft Room, that I met my future husband, (although I didn't know it at the time), Jim the Driver.

Continue reading "Caroline Baker" »

Posted by Red Wolf at 10:01 AM | Permalink

Fibre craft has been a part of my life for more than 50 years. From 1951 I worked as an Occupational Therapist in the fields of both physical and psychiatric therapy. In the physical field we used weaving, leather work and basketry for therapy. We found that when people were engaged in these activities they didn't notice that they were exercising and put their pain to one side. We adapted work practises and equipment of these arts to maximize physical activity. For example I mounted warping boards on the wall for full body motion and used long shuttles for arm extension. On looms I used base warps where I threaded a loom with macramé and knotted each warp onto the macramé, which ensured the loom was already threaded and ready to weave.

Continue reading "Ros Haege" »

Posted by Red Wolf at 4:34 PM | Permalink

Hello everyone. I have been a member of the Guild since 1975, the year my son was born. I left Teaching in Term One, 1975. Then on our last holiday as a couple, we visited my sister and her husband. My sister had been spinning and weaving tapestries for two years and for interest had bought a coloured sheep flock hoping to breed black sheep much to the concern of her husband who was breeding white fleeced sheep. Some of her ewes were dropping all black lambs. Things were going well.

Continue reading "Peta Andersen" »

Posted by Red Wolf at 5:55 PM | Permalink