Join Us

All Things Fiber

—

From Lynda Myers for the Fiber Explorations Study Group 

“From the day we arrive on the planet
And, blinking, step into the sun
There’s more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
There’s far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round
It’s the circle of life
And it moves us all.”

And, how wonderful it is that “our” circle of life — the Fiber Explorations Study Group — “moves us all” into new directions and new ways of “making” with fibers and more!  Sir Elton John, composer of this tune, above, from The Lion King, says it all: “more to do than can ever be done; … far too much to take in here.” He captures our perennial quest to attempt to delve into fiber explorations of all kinds.

Members Jennie Baas, Carol Gunther-Mohr, Louise Koslofsky, Lynda Myers and Ronee Vanca came together on the cusp of the pandemic (March 2020) around a shared Interest in all things fiber.  Carol Gunther-Mohr writes: “The new TWG study group met virtually or outside for two years, exploring pounded flower printing, rust dyeing and clay painting on fabric and paper. These diverse media were selected by the group in part because we could easily do them at home with limited materials.”

​With a return to in-person gatherings, our small group met at Carol’s fiber and art-filled home, and members composed mixed-media quilt squares on wire screening as part of the 50th Anniversary quilt project. The mix of media used:  silk cord, yarn, paper and more!

The group’s exploration into “fiber, stitch and thread” has expanded, through serendipity or necessity, to adhesives (bonding one thing to another), making marks on fabric, combining fiber with vintage ephemera, embellishing with baubles and notions, embedding found objects. Each of us honed our skills of “in, out, up, down, over, around and through.”

Then we got our fingers wet on a joomchi project — mulberry paper felting.  Carol Gunther-Mohr led the workshop.  “Joomchi is the unique Korean traditional way of making textured and colored paper by simply using Hanji (Korean mulberry paper), water, and eager hands. Many layers of Hanji are made from dak (100% mulberry fiber) used together with water, and then rubbing, squeezing, agitating with the hands, causing the fibers to tangle and adhere firmly to each other, similar to the felting process. The paper becomes stronger and tougher the longer it is worked with water and hands.”  For more information, visit https://www.beyondabove.com/about-joomchi
What comes next?  Join us and discover!  Will we cut blocks of rubber to print on fabric?  Will we make home-made worry dolls?  Craft passementerie?  Or shall we embark on studies of stitch:  resilient, slow, Hmong, Japanese, mending to repair and renew?
Yes.  It is true.  There is “More to do than can ever be done;
… far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found.
 
Yet, the Fiber Explorations Study Group presses forward – to study one fiber project at a time. Won’t you “come away with me” and make your own melody with all things fiber?
 ​

​This study group meets on the 4th Monday of the month from 1-4.  Contact Carol for more information. 

● Related Posts