NEWS Day 2

Friday was the first day of classes at NEWS (New England Weavers Seminars).

Campus Center - where most of my classes are held
(Note the blue sky - two days in a row!)

Weavers have various class options:

• 3 hour classes
• Full day classes (6 hours)
• 2 day classes
• 3 day class

We can mix and match to fit in 5 or 6 3-hour class sessions. (Or fewer if just coming for a day or two). It suits different learning styles because you can do 3 hour sessions on different topics, or dive in to a 3 day workshop on a single subject.

Inside Campus Center

The only other time I came to NEWS (in 2007), I signed up for 5 classes - 3 of them involved making things like jewelry, nuno felting, weaving with copper - and two of them were the least challenging weaving topics I could find. I had been a little worried that I'd find too much of the conference way over my head. Plus I thought making things might be more fun than lectures....and I'm always a little afraid of getting bored in school!

This year, my personal class selection pendulum may have swung a bit too far in the other direction. While my friends are taking classes in things like batik, dyeing, shawl pin making and such, I'm signed up for Computers in Weaving, Block Design (full day), Fabric Analysis and Paper Weaving. Serious stuff that I know will help me be a better weaver. Sometimes a girl just wants to have fun though! (Well, paper weaving might not be too serious!!


This morning Judie Eatough taught a general class on things your computer software can do to enhance your weaving. I picked up a lot of tricks about my software (Fiberworks)....and learned that something I was banging my head against in the software last spring was actually not really possible in that product. Plus, she gave us each a CD with the class notes, tons of tricks for many weaving software products, drafts, and who knows what other info. I have been so busy I haven't looked at the CD yet.

This afternoon was my free class period - so I spent the time visiting the vendors and exhibits that are part of NEWS and are free and open to the public.


The Faculty Show is a display of items created by the talented faculty for the conference.


The Gallery Show is a juried show of items woven by members of the various New England weaving guilds. I went back today to look at my favorites more closely.


The Guild Displays are tables put together by each New England weaving guild. Most guilds have a theme and the room is full many, many projects.

In addition, the travelling library of samples with drafts is available for study.


There are two floors of vendors in the Campus Center. If I were to choose a theme for my purchases, it would have to be gadgets - as opposed to my usual theme of yarn. More on that another day.....I don't want to shock my husband Jim by having him see gadgets here before I have a chance to explain that in addition to a loom budget and a yarn budget, I appear to also have a gadget budget!!


Plus, Smith College Museum of Art was open, so I spent a short time there. After my recent discovery of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth, and now Smith's Art Museum, I'm starting to wonder what other college art museums I've been overlooking all these years!

Tonight was the juried fashion show. There were so many beautiful garments created and woven by so many talented New England weavers. The March of the Kimonos by Mainely Weavers kicked off the evening. Each kimono is made from 3 folded dishtowels. Rumor has it that the folding technique is in an issue of Handwoven. (And if any of you commenters or readers know which issue, I'd love to hear about it!)


Then weavers, or models they recruited, walked the aisles modelling beautiful clothing and accessories. The awards ceremony capped off the evening. (Or maybe the wine and cheese in the dorm after the awards ceremony really capped off the evening!!)