FiberHearts
Guild Outreach Award Guideliness
sponsored by Handwoven magazine

Each year Handwoven and contributing sponsors present fabulous cash and equipment awards through our FiberHearts program. FiberHearts is designed to acknowledge weaving guilds for their active participation in nurturing new weavers. And, each year we are joyfully reminded of the important work of weaving guilds everywhere. Here are this year’s award winners and a brief introduction to their impressive work.

Learn more about the FiberHearts awards.

Lake Charlevoix Area Weaving Guild
Handwoven’s Small Guild $500 Award

Located in the picturesque resort town of Charlevoix, Michigan, this newly formed guild of twenty members meets twice a month. The guild nurtures beginning weavers by offering them a series of eight—count them!—eight free weaving lessons! The group is small enough so that newcomers are given special attention. Linda Van Andel remembers when she was a new member, “I would sit quietly and just listen to all the inspiring weaving talk. I was always asked my opinion and included in whatever discussion was taking place.” The guild will use its  cash award to help support its free lessons for beginners

Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild
Handwoven’s Large Guild $500 Award

Formed in Canada in 1949, this guild of nearly ninety members supports and creates new weavers by hosting a mentoring program matching novice and experienced weavers and hosting Fun Days. Anyone can drop in and ask for help with their current project or just show off what they have been doing.
In order to ensure a future generation of weavers, the guild sponsors elementary school weaving courses including Flock to Frock and Weaving by the Numbers. The guild will use their grant money to support their numerous yearly demonstrations that are their primary method of attracting new members.

Moonspinners Guild of Edgewood, Washington, has an innovative program called C.A.M.E.L. (Creative Approach to Mobile Education Loom). This loom is always warped and members are encouraged to take the loom and finish the project in a week and then pass it on. To help increase the number of looms in circulation, the guild is being awarded a Flip rigid heddle loom from Schacht Spindle Company and an inkle loom from Bountiful.

Since 1953, The Rogue Valley Handweavers Guild of Ashland, Oregon, along with its local fiber shop Llamas & Llambs, has kept weaving alive in its community. Budget restrictions in both the local Historical Society and community college ended their ability to support a weaving studio, but the guild teaches on! The guild will use their award of a Louet table loom and fifty minicones of Halcyon Signature Yarn to support their teaching programs.

Spiritual Journeys Guild in Concord, North Carolina, is a guild of one, but that will soon change. Reverend Marion L. Rhyne is work‑ ing toward setting up a guild just for young people. To support her efforts, she is awarded a nine-inch Good Wood lap loom, a Journey Loom from Weaving a Life, and a JK Seidel tape loom.

Weavers Guild of Springfield hosts many public demonstrations each year. The cloth that is woven at the demonstrations is turned into cards. All those  who give weaving a try are given a card to take with them. To help build the guild’s library, Gilmore Looms provided them with a book and DVD of Learning to Weave.

The Weavers Guild of Minnesota in Minneapolis has the enviable position of housing its guild in The Textile Center of Minnesota. The Center includes a gallery and gift shop, 300-seat auditorium, classroom space, a textile library, and dye lab. With nearly 500 members, the guild hosts numerous workshops and classes that get dozens of beginners started each year. Members will use the award of a Kessenich table loom and Golding bobbin winder to expand their adult and youth education programs.