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| Dahlia exhibit at Lighthouse Fair |
One of our favourite events is the Lighthouse Community Fall Fair. This takes place just up the highway from Qualicum Beach at the Lighthouse Community Centre. This year the guild had a large room in the main building so in addition to our usual demonstrations we had a large display.
When not attending our display, guild members got to check out the exhibits and prize winners (the Dahlia's are exquisite), eat home made pie, visit the vendors, participate in a cake walk or silent auction and generally have a good time.
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| Outfits pairing denim clothing with hand crafted items |
This year we decided to stage our weaving display around two themes, what goes with denim clothing and what can you make out of denim cloth. We made outfits based on a piece of denim clothing such as jeans, a dress or a jacket. It was surprising to see how many different hand crafted items fit with the casual look and colour of denim. We had shawls, scarves, knitted tops, vests and even felted beads.
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| denim dress and shawl |
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| funky flower hat |
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| Jude's rags and rug |
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| Linda explaining rag rugs |
The second part of our display included items made out of denim and tee shirts. It included rugs and a fancy denim bag. Linda was kept busy explaining the process of cutting the rags and weaving the cloth. The random surface effect of turns or joins in the rag strips gives a lovely homely effect that is characteristic of these simple but very effective and practical pieces.
While the weaving looks simple there is an art to getting a tight rug with a consistent width that will lay flat on the floor. The preparation of the rag strips can take longer than the actual weaving.
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| detail of Charlie's tee shirt rug |
Our display included demonstrations of spinning and of weaving. The warp on our small demo loom was finished and the end knots on the warp on our Jane loom are rapidly approaching the harnesses. That isn't surprising since both looms have been in heavy use this summer.
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| Tracy's rovings |
The Lighthouse Fall Fair includes the usual prize categories for handicrafts and baking. Spinning, Felting and Weaving are included in the needlework category. One of the weaving prizes is sponsored by Weaver's Atelier and another is sponsored by the Qualicum Weavers and Spinners Guild.
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| Jude's nuno felted shawl |
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| Gitte's star |
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| Misc weaving category |
Several of our members came home with prize ribbons and rosettes.
This marks the last of our summer public events but we will be participating in the Regional District of Nanaimo, Active Aging Program. The public is invited to come to the Qualicum Beach Museum on Thursday September 28th from 1 to 4 pm where they will have a chance to try their hand at spinning and weaving and learn more about guild activities.
Check our "events" calendar and the special links section for more information about meetings and demonstrations.
