Saori weaving, often called “No Rules” weaving, began in Japan over 40 years ago.  Its emphasis on creativity and total immersion in fiber and color make it a meditative process that allows for the emergence of new concepts and weaves.

Jill Sanders’ knowledge of saori weaving goes back about 10 years, and 2 years ago, she completed saori training.  Shortly thereafter, she opened her studio in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where she teaches weaving, clothing construction, spinning and dyeing to children as well as adults.

Jill’s presentation will include photos of saori weaving, illustrating its integration and popularity among all age groups in Japanese society, examples of textiles woven by Jill and her students and 3 saori looms for hands-on experimentation.

Date/Time: January 11, 2012; 9:30 AM until 12:00 PM

Place: Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos, CA

Date and Time:  Wednesday, November 9, 2011; 9:30 AM until 12:00 PM

Place:  Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos, CA

Examples of warp wrapping, an ancient textile structure used by the peoples of the pre-Columbian Andes, are limited to fragments found only in museums and private collections. Viewing such fragments whetted Barbara Nitzberg’s curiosity and led to several years of study, documentation and exploration of the structure, which she has now made her own and incorporated into her work.

Barbara will take us on a journey — her journey — sharing her concepts of the structure, how it was done originally and variations she has created.  Her presentation will include many textiles, old and new, that reflect the paths warp wrapping has taken over time.

Barbara is an accomplished Bay Area fiber artist, who has worked in many fiber techniques, including her current favorites of warp wrapping and Peruvian and Japanese braiding.

Day/Date/Time:  Wednesday, October 12, 2011; 9:30 am until 12:00 pm

Place:  Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos, California

"Bundle Basket" by Barbara Nitzberg, 1999

• The Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Santa Cruz
• Camphill Communities California in Soquel

Providing access to looms, a place to weave and weaving assistance is one way in which The Vista Center carries out its mission to empower and enrich the lives of individuals who are blind or visually impaired.  Camphill Communities California, a residential care community for adults with developmental disabilities, includes weaving among its activities.  Members of the guild are involved with both organizations.  Laura Rider and Joan Vierra will discuss their work at Camphill Communities California and Joan and other guild members will describe their volunteer efforts at The Vista Center weaving program.

Date and Time:  September 21, 2011; 9:30 AM until 12:00 PM

Place:  Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos. CA 95003

Note that guild meetings are usually held on the second Wednesday of the month.  Since the second Wednesday of September falls during the Santa Cruz County Fair, the guild meeting will be held on the third Wednesday of the month.

Carole Beckett is a guild member experienced in transforming handwoven cloth into garments.  At the May guild meeting,  Carole will share her knowledge about working with handwoven cloth — knowledge gained from participation in workshops, as well as personal experience, and evident in the garments she creates.

Date:  Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Time:  9:30 AM until 12:00 PM

Location:  Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos, CA

Handwoven cloth by Carole Beckett

Have sticks, will travel here, there and everywhere! Laverne Waddington is passionate about backstop weaving. Born in India, raised in Australia, she now lives in South America. In 1998, she moved to land locked Santa Cruz in Bolivia — a large city with a small town feel. Life in Santa Cruz, Bolivia is simple and laid back despite the crazy traffic and the blaring tropical rhythms. It is a perfect base from which Waddington travels and continues learning to weave, braid and spin as it shares borders with Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Since moving there, she has continued to travel and learn to weave in Ecuador, Guatemala and beyond.

Waddington keeps journals in which she has meticulously documented all the techniques she has learned here over the years with diagrams and step-by-step photos and it is only recently that she have found a forum in which to share all this with other weavers around the world. Visit her blog (http://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/about/) and let her tell you about her life in Santa Cruz and her weaving and learning experiences. She is the author of Andean Pebble Weave, a monograph on one of the many techniques she has learned in her travels.

The meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Aptos Village Park. See the guild web page for directions —  www.santacruzhandweavers.org

Our speaker for February will be George-Ann Bowers who will discuss and show her fiber artwork.

She combines multi-layer pickup weaving with modified tapestry technique to create imagery inspired by nature’s colors, texture, structure and patterns. She explores the intimate details of subjects such as tree bark, rock formations, or plants in close-up, creating compositions which reflect discreet moments in a dynamic and continuous cycle of creation, destruction and change.

Time and Date: 9:30 AM, Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Place: Aptos Village Park Clubhouse. See http://www.santacruzhandweavers.org for map and directions.

The distinctive dress and fabrics of the once nomadic Sami people of northwestern Eurasia share methods and materials with other subarctic groups and with settled farming communities.  Weaving techniques include use of the ancient warp-weighted loom, extinct elsewhere in the world, as well as elaborate braided and warp-patterned bands.  During the 20th century, the Sami encountered a shrinking environment for their old ways of life and work, while at the same time, the Sami became engaged in the need to document and strengthen their cultural identity.  Today, makers and artists steeped in tradition experiment with new and exciting forms of expression.

Desiree Koslin teaches graduate textile courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York and New York University.  Her areas of expertise include medieval art history with a special interest in the technology and design of textiles, as well as clerical and secular medieval dress.  In addition, she is active in woven and mixed media textile creation.  She has authored articles on textiles for academic press books, reference works and journals, and she lectures frequently in museums.

Time and Date: 1:00 PM, Saturday, January 15, 2011

Place: The Museum of Art & History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA