We will not have a meeting this month. We decided at our October meeting that our workshop on English laces with Judy Aycock (November 7-9) will replace our regular meeting for November.
If you have not yet signed up for the workshop, it’s not too late. It will be held in the home of Sherry Mathers. Even if you don't sign up, feel free to drop by to view the works-in-progress and to cheer on the workshop participants.
Don't forget the 2009 Kid 'n Ewe Festival in Boerne the weekend of November 13-15. Check out their website for additional information on the events and times. http://www.kidnewe.com/
Our December meeting will be a holiday party the afternoon of December 13. Sherry has once again graciously agreed to host it at her home. Look for more details in the December newsletter.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Lacemaker gone astray
Look who I spotted at the International Quilt Festival in Houston a couple of weeks ago!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
October 2009 Newsletter
From Our President
The October meeting of the Alamo Bobbin Lacers will be held on the third Thursday, October 15 at 7 PM at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 308 Mount Calvary Drive. We’ll be discussing what we want to put on our new “blog” and the technical “need-to-know” points of using, enjoying, and showing our best to people who go to our site. Heather Norris will be our hostess so come early to make a plate of goodies. Also, bring your show and tell. We’re still getting over the disappointment of not being able to have our workshop this month but we’re looking forward to the future.
Thanks to Cheryl Anderson and Beverly Tschirhart for demonstrating at the Hondo fair. Thanks to Cheryl, Ronna Bruce, and JoAnn Mozisek for demonstrating at the Moye in Castroville.
If you weren’t able to get your dues in last month, remember to bring them to the meeting or mail them to Heather Norris.
Alamo Bobbin Lacers at Medina County Fair
(See Cheryl Anderson's post on September 26)
Introducing a New Series
Amy Groff is writing a series of articles about the people who inspired her to make lace and expanded her skills as a lacemaker. The following article about Alfretta Skladal includes some information from an article written by Patsy Anderson, a charter member of Alamo Bobbin Lacers, that was published in the May 1981 IOLI Bulletin.
Lace Muses: Alfretta Skladal (Amy Groff)
I took my first bobbin lace lesson at the Southwest Craft Center from Alfretta Skladal and Margaret Ivy. They provided pillows, which they made, and bobbins to their students. The students were allowed to keep these supplies at the end of the class.
Alfretta was in her 80s when I met her. She had been making lace since 1947. She demonstrated and taught lace to anyone who was interested in learning the art. She refused to be paid for teaching lacemaking saying, “I don’t accept payment. I only ask that you teach someone else.”
Mrs. Skladal did not have access to the teachers and resources that we have access to today. She had a few basic lessons, but expanded her sills through studying books, constant practice, and sharing knowledge with other lacemakers. She originated a group of lacemakers in San Antonio that predated ABL.
She also relied on her imagination and creativity. She designed many of her own patterns and developed a unique way to make a permanent master pattern on a clear plastic strip. After designing the pattern on graph paper, she then layered a strip of plastic, the graph paper, and heavy pattern paper. She then pricked the design through all three layers. As the paper pattern wore out, additional patterns could be made from the plastic master pattern.
She also made her own work-pillows and helped her students make theirs. These were velvet-covered roller-type pillows.
Although Mrs. Skladal usually used plastic bobbins purchased in England, she also made her own from wooden dowels. The dowel was cut into four-inch pieces and grooved at the top to hold the thread.
She developed a method of winding bobbins that was fast and efficient. She slipped a one-inch piece of rubber tubing (from hospital supplies) onto her sewing machine bobbin winder, and then stuck the end of her lace bobbin into the free end of the tubing. While loosely holding the bobbin in place with her left hand, she wound the lace bobbin in the same manner she would a regular sewing machine bobbin. In this way she could wind at least fifty bobbins in half an hour.
Mrs. Skladal did tatting, knitting, embroidery, and sewing, but her specialty was torchon lace. The finest thread she used was 160/2 and the coarsest was 40/2. Depending on the type and width of the lace, her average speed was six inches of lace in two hours. Mrs. Skladal considered lacemaking to be good therapy for her arthritis and spent several hours a day at it. Much additional time was spent happily sharing her talent with others, including me.
The October meeting of the Alamo Bobbin Lacers will be held on the third Thursday, October 15 at 7 PM at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 308 Mount Calvary Drive. We’ll be discussing what we want to put on our new “blog” and the technical “need-to-know” points of using, enjoying, and showing our best to people who go to our site. Heather Norris will be our hostess so come early to make a plate of goodies. Also, bring your show and tell. We’re still getting over the disappointment of not being able to have our workshop this month but we’re looking forward to the future.
Thanks to Cheryl Anderson and Beverly Tschirhart for demonstrating at the Hondo fair. Thanks to Cheryl, Ronna Bruce, and JoAnn Mozisek for demonstrating at the Moye in Castroville.
If you weren’t able to get your dues in last month, remember to bring them to the meeting or mail them to Heather Norris.
Alamo Bobbin Lacers at Medina County Fair
(See Cheryl Anderson's post on September 26)
Introducing a New Series
Amy Groff is writing a series of articles about the people who inspired her to make lace and expanded her skills as a lacemaker. The following article about Alfretta Skladal includes some information from an article written by Patsy Anderson, a charter member of Alamo Bobbin Lacers, that was published in the May 1981 IOLI Bulletin.
Lace Muses: Alfretta Skladal (Amy Groff)
I took my first bobbin lace lesson at the Southwest Craft Center from Alfretta Skladal and Margaret Ivy. They provided pillows, which they made, and bobbins to their students. The students were allowed to keep these supplies at the end of the class.
Alfretta was in her 80s when I met her. She had been making lace since 1947. She demonstrated and taught lace to anyone who was interested in learning the art. She refused to be paid for teaching lacemaking saying, “I don’t accept payment. I only ask that you teach someone else.”
Mrs. Skladal did not have access to the teachers and resources that we have access to today. She had a few basic lessons, but expanded her sills through studying books, constant practice, and sharing knowledge with other lacemakers. She originated a group of lacemakers in San Antonio that predated ABL.
She also relied on her imagination and creativity. She designed many of her own patterns and developed a unique way to make a permanent master pattern on a clear plastic strip. After designing the pattern on graph paper, she then layered a strip of plastic, the graph paper, and heavy pattern paper. She then pricked the design through all three layers. As the paper pattern wore out, additional patterns could be made from the plastic master pattern.
She also made her own work-pillows and helped her students make theirs. These were velvet-covered roller-type pillows.
Although Mrs. Skladal usually used plastic bobbins purchased in England, she also made her own from wooden dowels. The dowel was cut into four-inch pieces and grooved at the top to hold the thread.
She developed a method of winding bobbins that was fast and efficient. She slipped a one-inch piece of rubber tubing (from hospital supplies) onto her sewing machine bobbin winder, and then stuck the end of her lace bobbin into the free end of the tubing. While loosely holding the bobbin in place with her left hand, she wound the lace bobbin in the same manner she would a regular sewing machine bobbin. In this way she could wind at least fifty bobbins in half an hour.
Mrs. Skladal did tatting, knitting, embroidery, and sewing, but her specialty was torchon lace. The finest thread she used was 160/2 and the coarsest was 40/2. Depending on the type and width of the lace, her average speed was six inches of lace in two hours. Mrs. Skladal considered lacemaking to be good therapy for her arthritis and spent several hours a day at it. Much additional time was spent happily sharing her talent with others, including me.
REMEMBER: Next Meeting 7:00 pm, October 15
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Demo at Medina County Fair in Hondo, Texas!
Last Saturday, September 19, Beverly and Cheryl demonstrated lacemaking at the Medina County Fair. The Alamo Bobbin Lacers have been demonstrating at this fair for years but it's been a long, long time since I've done this particular event. You can bet I'll be back next year! Beverly and I agreed that this was one of the best demos we've done. There were SO many people stopping to watch and talk and there were several "seriously interested" potential lacemakers. We're hoping to hear from one or two of them again. *fingers crossed*
Here are a couple of personal stories, not particularly lace-related, but great memories brought to me by way of lacemaking.
I had a great conversation with a little boy, about 7 years old, who was interested in how the bobbins were made. I explained how a lathe works and about the materials used for making bobbins -- plastic, wood, bone. Something about that reminded him of the fact that some species of sharks are endangered. That was news to me so he explained some of the pressures on the shark populations, including commercial fishing and death. I wish I could have learned even more but his mom made him leave.
Near the end of the day, a man watched for a while, very interested. He told me that as a boy in New Jersey he had worked in one of the last mills in the US to use a Jacquard loom. He told great stories about maintaining a dying technology, a story we lacemakers often tell about but don't often hear from others. We marveled at one another for a bit then I learned that he is Tim Fousse, Director of Public Works and Aviation for the City of Hondo. He was very nice about my laughing at that job description. Who knew that Hondo had such a long, colorful history of aviation? I introduced him to Mike, they found that they have heroes in common and I'm sure they will be sharing more stories and photos in the future. We all talked until Tim's wife made him leave.
Hmmmmmmmm....
--Cheryl
Monday, September 7, 2009
From Our President
We have scheduled our workshop with Debby Beever for the weekend of October 10-12. We’ll be studying different aspects of Honiton and perhaps a second lace discipline to be decided after I’ve heard back from those of you who are coming.
Our next meeting will be September 17th, 2009 at 7 PM. (Please click on the link at right for the location and a map.) Heather Gonzales is the hostess. We will discuss the details of the workshop at that time. We’ll also begin thinking more specifically about the Louise Colgan workshop scheduled for March 20-22, 2010.
Dues ($10 for the fiscal year September 1 through August 31) are payable in September. Please be prepared to renew at the meeting or mail them to: Heather Norris. Contact Us if you want to mail your dues.
Cheryl Anderson will be bringing more books available for purchase. I’ll make sure to bring my copy of the group library list…look over your own copy plus your personal inventory so that you can find just the right addition to complement your collection and/or the group’s collection. Don’t forget your show and tell.
While going through some old “lace stuff” (partially because of my desire to establish the history of our group) I came across an Alamo Bobbin Lacers dated August 2000 written and edited by Sue Daeschner, who conscientiously produced the newsletter for so many years. I will end the way she ended that newsletter: “Be sure to put out water for the birds and little wild animals. It is so dry and they are suffering for a drink.”
Our next meeting will be September 17th, 2009 at 7 PM. (Please click on the link at right for the location and a map.) Heather Gonzales is the hostess. We will discuss the details of the workshop at that time. We’ll also begin thinking more specifically about the Louise Colgan workshop scheduled for March 20-22, 2010.
Dues ($10 for the fiscal year September 1 through August 31) are payable in September. Please be prepared to renew at the meeting or mail them to: Heather Norris. Contact Us if you want to mail your dues.
Cheryl Anderson will be bringing more books available for purchase. I’ll make sure to bring my copy of the group library list…look over your own copy plus your personal inventory so that you can find just the right addition to complement your collection and/or the group’s collection. Don’t forget your show and tell.
While going through some old “lace stuff” (partially because of my desire to establish the history of our group) I came across an Alamo Bobbin Lacers dated August 2000 written and edited by Sue Daeschner, who conscientiously produced the newsletter for so many years. I will end the way she ended that newsletter: “Be sure to put out water for the birds and little wild animals. It is so dry and they are suffering for a drink.”
The 2009 IOLI Convention by Dori Malmberg-Long
Beverly took a Withof class with Susie Johnson – six hours a day for four days and many more hours working in the classroom. I took a Sprang class in the mornings (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). Sprang is made on a frame by wrapping the warp threads over two suspended dowels and weaving some threads forward and some back with the fingers. The lace is stretchy like knit and can be done in heavier threads to make purses and caps. My teacher, Mieka Kerkstra, is in her eighties; pleasant and patient.
In the afternoon of those four days, my teacher was William McConnell teaching the Irish laces: Irish crochet, Limerick, Carrickmacross, and Tambour. The teacher seemed to know his lace, but he was severely lacking in teaching techniques. What I learned in this classroom, I may never use, but it is nice to know the basics anyway.
On Wednesday while others were going on tours, I took a wire lace class from Kim Davis, a bubbly kindergarten teacher who was very inspiring. I would love to take another class from her.
On Saturday after Beverly left, I took a six hour class in netted lace from Jean Doig. One woman was taking the class for the third time just to learn to make the basic knot. Learning to make the knot is that difficult, but we were assured that once you learn it, it is easily worked even while watching TV. I learned to make the knot, but it rubbed the skin off my fingers in the process.
There were several very informative lectures by Bridget Cook, Marianne Stang (point ground laces), Lieve Jerger (Lace as Meditation & Prayer), Phil Yeh (Line Art & Lace Design) and Bart & Frances of Belguim (on threads). The lecture at the banquet was on Lace in China and Sri Lanka. It included an old video of the blind lacemakers in India who would have died of starvation if not taught by the nuns to make lace. I purchased some of their lace; it is truly a Torchon miracle.
The salesroom had temptation in abundance and the lace displays were really great. If you can possibly do so, I urge you to go to Oregon next year for the convention. They are working hard to make it more affordable and grand.
In the afternoon of those four days, my teacher was William McConnell teaching the Irish laces: Irish crochet, Limerick, Carrickmacross, and Tambour. The teacher seemed to know his lace, but he was severely lacking in teaching techniques. What I learned in this classroom, I may never use, but it is nice to know the basics anyway.
On Wednesday while others were going on tours, I took a wire lace class from Kim Davis, a bubbly kindergarten teacher who was very inspiring. I would love to take another class from her.
On Saturday after Beverly left, I took a six hour class in netted lace from Jean Doig. One woman was taking the class for the third time just to learn to make the basic knot. Learning to make the knot is that difficult, but we were assured that once you learn it, it is easily worked even while watching TV. I learned to make the knot, but it rubbed the skin off my fingers in the process.
There were several very informative lectures by Bridget Cook, Marianne Stang (point ground laces), Lieve Jerger (Lace as Meditation & Prayer), Phil Yeh (Line Art & Lace Design) and Bart & Frances of Belguim (on threads). The lecture at the banquet was on Lace in China and Sri Lanka. It included an old video of the blind lacemakers in India who would have died of starvation if not taught by the nuns to make lace. I purchased some of their lace; it is truly a Torchon miracle.
The salesroom had temptation in abundance and the lace displays were really great. If you can possibly do so, I urge you to go to Oregon next year for the convention. They are working hard to make it more affordable and grand.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
We have a new home on the Web!
Our poor little website! It has been soooo neglected! We just haven't been able to maintain it over the past couple of years. So here's an idea: let's try a different location and see if it works better.
Ah! A blog!
How 21st century!
Ah! A blog!
How 21st century!
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