Fiber-A-Thon

Join us on Thursday, March 27, 2025

Mark your calendars for an unforgettable day! The HGA Fiber-A-Thon will be a day filled with inspiring stories, uplifting creativity, and an opportunity to make a difference. This event will be broadcast live for 12 hours on Thursday, March 27th, starting at 12 noon Eastern Time, and promises to be an incredible showcase of talent, compassion, and community spirit.

Why Your Support Matters

The Fiber-A-Thon aims to raise funds for HGA, an international membership association devoted to educating, supporting, and inspiring the fiber art community. Your generous contributions will help us continue our vital work in providing inspiration, instruction, and networking opportunities for fiber artists of all skill levels, including grants and scholarships.

Fiber-A-Thon Schedule

This schedule is tentative and subject to change.

12 - 1 PM	Anthony DiRenzo	A Montessori Approach to Fiber Arts. Anthony will share his 3-part approach that he uses to deepen his connection to his fiber arts practice.
	Dorothy Bailey	Dorothy will give a brief history of the Catskill Merino farm and explain why their wool is special. She will also share her experiences as an employee at the Union Square Greenmarket, getting to help with shearing this year, and getting to know their shepherdess Dominque.
	Denise Bolger Kovnat	Denise will honor her mentor, Joyce Fisher Robards, and give a brief presentation of her contributions to weaving -- including the founding of the Weaving and Fiber Arts Center in Rochester, NY, in 2002, which has made a major contribution to fiber-art education and community in our region.
	Jocelyn Warren	Jocelyn will share items that can be made with fiber arts "waste" for more sustainability.

1 - 2 PM	Suzi Ballenger	Demonstrating specialized weaving tool techniques that are recognizable to her work, as well as discussing hand manipulation techniques and the importance of how material choices help to fully articulate a visual vocabulary. Recognizing weaving friends.
	Beth Cederberg Guertin	Beth will highlight weaving in process at her weaving studio/school and showcase students work.
	Sarah Ruth Beyer	Sarah will discuss The Fort Worth Weavers Guild's Unusual Materials Study Group that focused on using unusual materials to create woven textiles.
	Laura Womack	Laura will share her experience weaving on the TC2, a computer controlled loom.
	Jaimee Veronneau Roberts	A colorful conversation about Jaimee's current work and the woven work Jaimee curated for a hotel Newport, Rhode Island.

2 - 3 PM	Edie Eckman	3 Must-Know Crochet Tips. These tips will take your crocheting from "meh" to "mahvelous".
	TBA
	Jaime Rosegren	Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving

	Jocelyn R. Shaw	The Woodland Weavers and Spinners Guild's Textile Education Day
3 - 4 PM	Maureen Macedo, Macedo's Mini Acre Ranch	Unboxing a New Product
	Beth Duncan, Fine Line Creative Arts Center	How to Play with Stripes
	Patricia Martin	Tricks for how to make threading easier through set up and hand-positions.
	Marcia L. Weiss	The Power of Community...in this presentation, Marcia will share the impact that the HGA creative community has had on her life and work, and how it continues to grow and evolve.
	Suzanne W. Hokanson	Beyond the Potholder
4 - 5 PM	Rebecca L. Smith	Presentation on the San Diego Creative Weavers' Guild exhibition held in September 2024
	Danaleah Schoenfuss, Intertwine Arts	Us Intertwined: Disability Advocacy and the Fiber Arts. Intertwine Arts will talk about ways to increase accessibility in weaving and advocate for disabled and chronically ill fiber artists.
	Connie Lippert	The Mother Tree commission
	Lorraine Hanson	The Fuzzy EAR raises Angora rabbits and use their wool to make specialty yarn blends (with fine wool sheep fleeces). We will discuss the rabbits.
	Thomas Victor	Why does de-hairing matter when spinning and working with alpaca and similar fibers
5 - 6 PM	Laura Womack	Laura will discuss her Cambodian friends who are struggling to keep a small weaving studio open post-Covid.
	Sally Orgren	Let's Dip into Doup Leno! A 1974 SS&D article by Hilary Chetwynd, "Experimenting with leno weaves," led Sally Orgren down a less traveled path of weaving into exploring how threads can "turn, turn, turn."
	Margaret Briggs, MidAtlantic Fiber Association, Inc. (MAFA)	Promoting Education in the Fiber Arts
	TBA
	Eloise DeHaan	My Gratifying Experience as a New Member of the Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers joining an Outreach Event with my Pampa Loom
6 - 7 PM	Patricia Bugas-Schramm	History of a Local Fiber Arts School
	Kate Ohara & Gigi Matthews	Interactive Fiber Arts Map of the US
	Pat Bullen	Introduction of an electric bobbin winder
	Dell Christy	Thread Talk: The Convergence of Fiber Art and Software Design in a Neurodivergent Brain - My Fiber Arts Journey.
	Geri Forkner	Discussing the creation of a vest with electronics in the Convergence Fashion Show in Knoxville.
7 - 8 PM	Rachel D. Wittels	Rachel will explain what a Tc2 digital jacquard loom is and a general overview of what it takes to prepare to weave on a Tc2, as well as 2-3 examples of her woven portrait artwork made on the Tc2.
	Elliot Rockart	Elliot will discuss a recent project soft sculpture of creating a bed and dolls representing their partner and themself to discuss themes of safety, security, and love in times of political chaos.
	TBA
	Carol James	How did they make stretchy garments in a time before spandex, before knitting? Sprang is the answer. Carol James gives you an idea how it works, and some of the evidence of this technique from history.
	Janis M. Johnson	Volunteer-run beginning floor loom classes from the Ruth Dabritz Legacy Weaving Project in Portland, Oregon
8 - 9 PM	Michelle Brooks	Michelle will discuss the digital weaving capabilities at the Thomas Jefferson University studio, including a photo tour and presentation of their software and jacquard looms.
	Barbara Cabral	Weft Ikat featuring Cambodian Hol and Shifting Wefts
	Julie Drogsvold	Cotton
	Qiqing Lin	Lin will present about her figurative weavings with linen, paper yarn and paper collage.
	Beatrice Bonanno	Fiber artist and educator Bea Bonanno will discuss the impact weaving has had in her life personally and professionally.
9 - 10 PM	Deborah Staehle, Association of Northwest Weavers' Guilds (ANWG)	The History of ANWG
	Margo Duke	Highlights of The Fiber Guild of the Savannahs; creating a palette with wool and silk fiber
	Barbara Cloud-Weisman and Brent Weisman	Florida Cracker Sheep - A Heritage Breed. Our Sheep Journey ~ Rusty Bee Ranch ~ Alachua, Florida.
	Jill Duarte	Spinning for Consistency through understanding materials and methods
	Jennie Hawkey	10 Fiberlicious Ideas for Using Handwoven Fabrics to Make a Fabulous Bag. Ready to transform your handwoven fabric into a stunning bag or tote? Get inspired and unleash your inner designer with these fabulous ideas.
10 - 11 PM	Martha Owen	Remembering Pam Baker Howard, who worked for HGA years ago and who came to work with Martha as a Resident Artist at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
	Lou A. Morgan	More than Rag Rugs: Features and Ideas
	TBA
	Gigi Samsin Matthews	Counterpose Your Crafting: Very gentle chair yoga for posture and relaxation

11 PM - 12 AM	Kathi Grupp	Favorite Moments of Textiles & Tea
	TBA
	TBA
	David Faison Heustess	Sustainable Container Farming for Silk
	Gigi Matthews	The Eco-nomics of the Fiber Arts

Your support inspires fiber artists

12 Hours of Fiber Content

Give to the Campaign

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Show Your Support for the Community

Support HGA by participating in the Fiber-A-Thon.

Show your support for our fiber community by registering to share a story, give a talk, unbox a new product, offer a sale. We're open to hearing your creative ideas.

Honor or memorialize another weaver by sharing their story (donate in their honor/memory and encourage others to do so as well)
Share why you support HGA
Challenge viewers to a donation match
Show-and-tell of guild artwork
Share a successful guild program
Challenge your guild members to give each a small amount ($5, $10, $20... small amounts add up to make a big impact)
Share how your guild was impacted by the Guild Development Retreat
Share an artwork and talk about its creation
Share your fiber journey
Give a 10-minute Thread Talk
Share a story about how your membership with HGA impacted you
Share how a story in Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot personally affected you
Share a weaving tip or best practice
Give a 10-minute lesson
Demo a new product
Do an unboxing of a new product
Offer a discount or special gift with purchase to anyone who donates to HGA (in the next hour or during the Fiber-a-Thon)
Share how working with HGA has positively impacted your business

Help us Celebrate!

Have questions? Want to learn more?

Please contact a member of the staff at 678-730-0010 or HGA@WeaveSpinDye.org.

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