The Chattahoochee Handweavers Guild hosts three workshops each year with well-known fiber artists. Workshop leaders are chosen for their expertise and are often nationally and internationally known. Workshops are generally held in Room 4 of the North DeKalb Cultural Center.

Workshop registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, with non-Guild members welcome on a space-available basis. Registration normally opens two months before a workshop, and the registration opening date for each workshop is published in the Guild’s Fiber Focus newsletter.

To register, click on the link at the bottom of one of the workshop descriptions below. Only on-line registrations will be accepted. However, you may pay for your workshop either on-line or by check. If you pay by check, your payment must arrive within 14 days of your registration or your registration will be void and your place in the workshop will go to the next person on the waiting list.

If you register for a workshop and are unable to attend, you must find your replacement in order to have your workshop payment refunded. Please email the Workshop Chairman for the workshop waiting list.

The 3D's of 3-D:  Deflection, Differential Shrinkage, and Doubleweave
Ruby Leslie

March 20, and 21, 2010

Head off the beaten track, where it's delightful, it's deliberate, it's deflected.  Using a layman's approach to color theory and a myriad of weave structures, subtle to amazing transformations can occur in woven cloth if you understand how to control the variables of fiber, yarn grist, weave structures and finishing techniques.  Explore a variety of weave structures producing ruffles, ridges, waffles, crinkles, "innies" and "outies" while weaving on prewarped looms (with pre-wound warp chains provided by Ruby).  Everyone will have the opportunity to weave two samples at each loom---one will receive appropriate finishing treatment, the other will remain in its unfinished off-the-loom-state, to document the before and after effects.  Discussion will center on why these transformations happen and how to manipulate cloth to produce dimensionality.  We will focus on a variety of weave structures as well as the role that color plays in creating optical movement.  Methods of finishing cloth with water and/or heat will be addressed (and employed depending upon the availability of access to water).

Ruby Leslie maintains a full-time weaving and teaching studio in northern Vermont, where she designs her own line of handwovens as Ruby Charuby Weavings . Boundless enthusiasm for sampling and experimenting, especially with color and its interaction with structure, has guided Ruby's creative endeavors from the beginning of her weaving career. For 20 years she has shared her fiber skills as artist-in-residence in the public school system, teaching in venues from preschool through college. When Handwoven magazine invited Ruby to become a contributing member of their new "Color Forecast" series design team, the creation of swatches on a regular basis mandated a rethinking of her design process. This fueled Ruby's desire to share her insights about how to successfully integrate color, structure and yarn in weaving without having to dye yarn or rely on recipes. She has taught at guilds, regional conferences and Convergence. Recently she received an invitation to teach a weaving class in the arctic, in Kjøllefjord Norway.

Requirements: Pre-warped 4-shaft loom.  8 or more shafts preferred, minimum width of 8".
Skill level: Intermediate to advanced.  Must be able to read and interpret a weaving draft, dress a loom and understand a color order chart.  Prior experience weaving with a variety of yarns and/or weave structures as well as a conceptual understanding of doubleweave is helpful although not required.

Location: North DeKalb Cultural Center
Cost: $150 
Materials Fee: Included in cost
Maximum number of participants: 20

Workshop is full.
Please email workshops@chgweb.com to be put on the waiting list.

Past Workshops