Threadbenders Guild of Baker & Union Counties, Oregon
ANWG Challenge Grant Report – Part 2
The members of the Threadbenders Guild wish to express our appreciation to ANWG for the Challenge Grant that we received for 2024-2025. We have just completed the second of three workshops that are being partially funded by this grant. This second workshop, “8/2 Cotton: Beautiful, Versatile, and Inexpensive”, was led by the very talented – and now retired – weaving instructor, Mary Berent. From Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22, sixteen guild members gathered at the Cook Memorial Public Library in La Grande to explore how 8/2 cotton can be used to create an incredible variety of cloth, from densely woven Inkle bands and Repp Weave to soft and drapey Bronson Lace. During lessons interspersed with “round-robin” weaving practice on 17 looms, we learned how cotton yarns are produced, the unique characteristics of cotton, the considerations that are important in determining sett, methods for finishing cotton fabric, and much more. On the final afternoon, we removed the woven cloth from the looms, examined and discussed the fabrics that had been produced with different weaving structures and setts, and then cut each cloth apart so that participants could leave the workshop with their own woven samples and a notebook detailing how each sample was created. This was an enjoyable and valuable learning experience for our guild members who are newer to weaving as well as to those with years of experience and we are very grateful for this opportunity. Thank you, ANWG! And thank you, Mary!
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Findholt
