Our Studio

In 2017 the Qualicum Weavers and Spinners moved from our tiny attic space in an old Via Train Station to Qualicum Commons, a repurposed elementary school in the heart of Qualicum Beach.  There we were able to expand our programs and our memberships.  We now have well over 80 members.  Our programs include studio projects, study groups, group learning activities, public demonstrations and a variety of workshops.

fancy socks

The studio has been home for our guild.  It has been place were we can strut our stuff and share experinces.

rovings rug

It has been a learning centre for informal and formal workshops where we welcome both members and non-members who share our interests.  It is where we've learned to spin, knit and weave.  We've felted slippers, knitted hats and made baskets in our studio.  We've also hosted events for seniors and school age children.

market basket class

warping on a square

We come together in our studio to work on projects, whether it is warping one of the studio looms, weaving blankets on the 60 inch Leclerc or preparing samples for the Canadian Guild of Weavers.

hand dyed blanket warp

samples for CGW program

And so it is with some sadness that we learned the school board is considering shutting down Qualicum Commons.  The building needs costly repairs.  The school board does not have the funds to cover the repair costs so they feel they must shut down the site.  They will make their decision in November.  In the meantime we are looking at options for a new home as of June 30th 2025. 

We'd be great tenants!  No pets! We don't hold late night parties or have rowdy overnight guests.  Lots of laughing but no loud music. Many of us are mothers so we clean up after ourselves.   

Where Did May Go To???

 

Bird's nest early May

May arrived with the promise of things to come and some how those eggs hatched and the fledglings learned to fly and in the wink of an eye (or so it seemed) May had turned into June. 

May was a busy month for the Qualicum Weavers and Spinners.  We finished off our spring beginner weaver lessons and moved on to trying something new.  Many of our members live a distance from the guild's studio which means in-person activities are not always possible.  In order to keep members involved and improve access to resources we have been working on a project called "Loom to Zoom". 

Ginny's fancy twill scarf in tencil

Personal interactions and the opportunity to see and touch works are both terribly important in the fibre arts. (Ginny's scarf drapes beautifully,)  It is difficult to capture the spirit of guild interactions when we only had on-line meetings.  So, we decided to work towards "blended" events where we could have simultaneoius in-studio and on-line activities.  As part of that project we piloted a blended workshop called "From 4 to 8 Without Tears".  We plan on more blended workshops in the future.

Kellie spinning ?dog? hair

Mary demonstrating the drop spindle

We have also been out and about at the Qualicum Beach Family Day event as well as a visit to a local school.  We have a great team that love putting on events for the public.  It's never difficult to get volunteers and the kids reward our efforts in so many ways.

CGW samples on loom

Members have been busy with projects.  We are doing the samples for the Canadian Guild of Weavers Bulletin for 2025.  That means weaving 400 rectangles for each of 4 samples in the set.  We have chosen to do a set that illustrates how to blend two drafts into one.

detail M's & O's

Linda has been exploring M's and O's and lace with a series of towels.  At the same time she is working on reducing some of the yarns in her stash.

Evelin is playing with stripes in this tea towel in an unusual application of the structure "Bedford Cord".

Evelin's stripes

We are planning a summer "dye day".  Members are busy putting together their warps to be dyed when the weather cooperates as this is an outdoor activity.  We are also planning a pot luck combined with a stash sale later in the month.  Some how we all plan to downsize our stash at these events but some how we always seem to find something we need (really, for sure need) to buy to add to the stash.  After that we are on holidays for July and most of August.