CARMEL CRAFTS GUILD NEWSLETTER

JULY 2007

FELTED SOAP BARS? Why would anyone want to felt soap bars? They make good stocking stuffers for starters. They're also easy-to-transport and useful house gifts. A felted soap bar is easy to grip for both the young and the old. A felted soap bar has exfoliating properties with no wash cloth needed. Convinced? If so, you're in luck because at our July meeting, Laurie Simmons will guide us through FELTING SOAP BARS.

The Guild will provide all the materials needed (bars of soap, wool roving, containers, hot water, panty hose, and towels). Feel free to bring materials of your own, especially if you have special soap that you wish to felt, e.g., scented soap, odd-shaped soap, handmade soap. Also, if you have colored roving, bring that.

Time: Thurs., July 12, 2007 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Place: Buzzard's Backyard BBQ, Fremont St., Mty
(near Travelodge Motel)


JULY NIGHT MEETING

Dick Gamble has completed repair of the loom at the Sally Griffin Active Living Center and it looks great. Merrie warped up five yards of a pastel rainbow of cotton yarns, which are ready to be threaded as soon as the new heddles are finished. We need 200 more string heddles. We'll continue to warp up the loom at our next night meeting. Join us in making heddles, sleying the reed, and/or donating shuttles, books, and other weaving equipment you no longer need.

Time: Thurs., July 26, 2007 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Place: Sally Griffin Center, 700 Jewell Ave., P.G.


MONTEREY COUNTY FAIR 2007

It is still possible to enter your work in the fair. The deadline for email entries is July 10. There are still spots for volunteers to weave on the demonstration loom in the Wool Room. Days are Tues. Aug. 14 through Sat. Aug. 18. Times are 3 hour slots, starting at noon and ending at 9 pm. (12 - 3; 3 - 6; 6 - 9). Call Merrie or Jan before we call you. You'll have a chance to sign up at the July meetings. Other important fair dates are:

Wool Judging: Aug. 4
Handcraft Judging: Aug. 8
Entries due: Before or on July 31 by mail or UPS
In person: July 31 - Noon to 7:00 pm.
Auction: Aug. 19 beginning at 12:30 pm

More information? www.montereycountyfair.com or Lili Blalock (831-375-5092).


DYE DAY

The June 23rd Dye Day was fun and productive. We had two batches of indigo dye - one for wool and one for plant fibers. We also had a former Monterey resident who now lives in Sedona, AZ, Cindy Davies, join us for the afternoon. Dye results can be seen at our July meetings.


THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO GO

Remember Michael Hattori who gave us a fabulous kumihimo braiding demonstration last September? Michael will be performing on the koto - another talent he has - on Sun., July 8 at 2:30 PM. 6lst Annual Obon Festival, Mty Pen. Buddhist Temple, 1155 Noche Buena St., Seaside, CA Noon - 6:30 PM.

July 21, 10 AM - 4 PM. Fabric Dyeing with Edie Brown. Tie-dye, shibori, clamping, paint, stencil and stamp on fabric.$75 + $40 materials. Register at Santa Cruz Art League (831) 426-5787 or cindy@scal.org

July 28 - 9 AM - 6 PM. 21st Annual Lambtown USA, Dixon. Fiber fair, wool and mohair show & sale, alpaca fleece show & sale, classes, seminars, workshops and much more. Contacts: www.lambtown.com or gabrielle@fanfarefarms.com or 707-448-5869.

Through Sept. 2. "Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World." The Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. This is the first U.S. exhibition to examine Tuareg art, culture and history.

Info at www.museum.stanford.edu.

Aug. 25-26, 10 AM - 4 PM. Spinning & Dyeing Silk Hankies with Connie Rose. Dye silk hankies and caps and different methods of spinning for fabulous, unusual silk yarns. Printmaking Studio of The Ink People, Eureka. $60 + $20 materials. Register: Connie 707-476-8571 or connierose0218@sbcglobal.net.

(Ed. note: When in Eureka, I visited Connie's studio and bought some fabulous yarn she'd dyed and spun. If I were a spinner, I'd take her workshop in a flash. It's worth a trip up north.)