News Jan 2016

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Tasha

Arizona Fiber Arts Retreat, Things I Forgot to Mention, and More

Lately I haven’t been doing as good a job as I’d like keeping you all, lovely readers, updated when I have something going on outside of this blog. I haven’t wanted to stick random announcements into tutorials or thoughts that will (hopefully) be read long after the news is relevant, but I also don’t want to pepper you with little posts for each bit of “look at this!” type news. So I’ve decided to do a periodic news round-up when warranted. Because this is the first one, there’s some overdue stuff as well as some newer items.

Old News

I wrote a few more articles that came out in Seamwork magazine this fall, and the latest one in the December issue. Although I mentioned some of them in passing, I didn’t really point them out. There’s one on how fabric is woven, and how to use your knowledge about that to improve your sewing. It draws on what I learned when my grandma taught me how to weave, and uses a toy loom that belonged to my mom as an example. The latest article is about five essential hand stitches, and it’s just what it sounds like, a tutorial on my most-used stitches. I’ve been inspired by all the hand sewing and visible mending going on lately, and I’m happy to add to it! Maybe my favorite article so far is the one on wool. It was a total blast to research it, and I’m really happy with how it came out. It covers some of the history and science of wool, and how to use that knowledge when you’re sewing with it. It also features my favorite (super easy) hand-wash method for all your lovely woolens.

As always, you can read any of the articles in Seamwork for free online. I’ve also added links to the ones I’ve written in my category page (you can also get there by clicking “Sew” under “Tutorials + Inspiration” at the top of my site) so they’re included with the rest of the sewing info I’ve shared.

To wrap up the older news, I joined Instagram this fall, and also never mentioned it here outright. My inclination at this point is to avoid anything that involves more “screen time”, but there was so much going on there, especially in the fiber arts world, that I decided to try it out. And I think I like it. It’s nice to have a place to share quicker projects, things in progress, and thoughts that won’t become their own blog posts. And there was some surprisingly deep conversation going on there during #slowfashionoctober! Still I’m determined to use it sparingly. If you too are on this exciting/elitist/beautiful/frustrating/inspiring platform, do come say hi, I’m @frenchtoasttasha.

New News

The winter gathering at Arcosanti has a new name: Arizona Fiber Arts Retreat, and I’m teaching there again this year. It’s coming up January 22 and 23, and as of this writing there are still spaces in both my classes. One is on 3D wet felting, and one is making felt cuffs and beads (pictured below) while learning to use attachments, prefelts, and shaping in your felt making. Click over to their new website for details and to sign up. Observant readers of this blog may notice my digital fingerprints on the AFAR site, and indeed I’ve been spending a fair amount of time working on that lately. It’s a bit surreal to be the one in our group with the most web skills, but there you have it!

Knitting classes are also starting up again at Purl in the Pines in Flagstaff. The first session of my beginning knitting series is this Saturday (complete beginners welcome), along with a “knitting skills lab” where you can get all your questions answered and learn some new techniques. If you’re interested, head on over to their class page for details. It’s still snowing like crazy as I type this, but if the forecast holds, the roads should be clear by the time classes start.

I have a more contemplative post for the new year in the works too, but (appropriately enough) it’s taking a while to distill my “Slow” thoughts for that one. In the meantime, if there’s anything you’d like to see in this space, or for classes etc. in 2016 feel free to let me know!

Learn to Felt With Me, this Weekend at Arcosanti!

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Tasha

If you’re in AZ, come on over to Arcosanti this Saturday and learn to felt with me in person, at Meet & Greet Fiber Retreat 2014! I’ll be teaching my felt flowers, and answering all of your wool and felt questions. You can also learn needle felting, or drop spindle spinning and more. In the afternoon there will be a speaker, Ann Morton. I went last year and it was great (and there weren’t even classes yet) so this time it’s bound to be a lovely day of learning, fun, and fiber camaraderie.

Visit the Fiber Retreat page on Arcosanti’s site for more info, and RSVP for classes to the email address provided there and on the flyer above. Hope to see you there!

(If you can’t make it, you can always browse my Felting Basics Part 1 and Part 2, and make your own flowers with my tutorial. It comes with support, so it’s like we’re virtually felting flowers together!)

Aimee León: Art, Sheep Shearing, and Connections

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Tasha

A few weeks ago, I got invited at the last minute to go with a couple of friends to a fiber “meet and greet” event, held at Arcosanti (about an hour and a half south of Flagstaff). I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I am so glad I went. Not only was it fun to hang out with other fiber crafters and get a glimpse of the architecture on a rainy, blustery day in the desert, but the speaker was fantastic.

Aimee León, who is working towards her MFA at ASU in Phoenix, had agreed to come up and speak to us about her felt artwork – for free. Her talk epitomized one thing I just love about the maker movement and modern crafters; people who are not just looking to make something, but thinking deeply about the connections between materials, handcrafts, and society.

Aimee shears sheep (did you know they can weigh more than 200 lbs each?) and uses discarded wool in her artwork, which reflects her ideas about society and gender norms. She talked about how much wool is wasted because small farmers don’t have the resources to ship whole container loads to China (!) for processing, and about her goal to bring more of that local wool to fiber artists. And about the historical connections of wool and fiber with labor, women’s role in society, commodities, and how we think about the clothes we wear today. One great thing about a small venue is that I had a chance to talk with Aimee quite a bit, before and after her presentation. There are so many ideas to pursue in these topics that I could have talked much longer . . .

I love thinking about how what I make is connected to the materials I use and where they come from, the historical use and place in society of the materials and the maker, and all the choice that gives me in the modern world. It just reinforces the fact that the choice to be a maker in modern times is a powerful one for us as individuals, with implications for our broader society as well.

A desert road near Arcosanti on that foggy wet day

Do check out Aimee’s website, there are lots of pictures of her work and links to other interesting projects she’s working on. If you live around here and would like to be on the mailing list for this event next year, let me know and I’ll pass your info on to the lovely woman who organizes it, Kimberly Hatch (thanks Kimberly!).

What do you think about art and craft and its potential to change us? I’d love to know!