
Española Valley Fiber Arts Center | 325 Paseo de Oñate | Española, NM 87532 | (505)747-3577

Española Valley Fiber Arts Center | 325 Paseo de Oñate | Española, NM 87532 | (505)747-3577

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center offers a wide variety of classes for adults and children. Classes can range in length from one afternoon to several weeks. Classes are offered year-round in all aspects of weaving, spinning, dyeing, knitting, beadwork, embroidery and other techniques.

Many of our classes are taught by recognized masters in their field, and we proudly offer instruction in Northern New Mexican traditions such as Chimayó-Style Weaving, Jerga, and Colcha Embroidery. Current classes are listed below. The two prices listed are for members/nonmembers (one membership benefit is 20% off on classes). Besides regular youth classes, we also offer a summer fiber arts day camp for children ages 6 to 13.
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Class Descriptions and Registration in pdf format
The two prices listed with the classes are member/nonmember prices. Please sign up early, classes with
insufficient signees are cancelled 2 weeks before the start date. A minimum 25% deposit is required. If a class is cancelled, or if you notify us
more than two weeks before the class starts that you cannot attend, the deposit
will be refunded or applied to another class.
At 2 weeks the deposit becomes non-refundable. A registration form is included in this
newsletter on page 6.
SPINNERS TOOLBOX with
Jen Fehlau - $84/105 - materials fee $20.
This course is for students who are
ready to move beyond basic spinning and are ready to build on that basic
foundation with additional skills that will enable them to have what they need
in their “toolbox.” Students will
practice using the skills they learn to work with the new fibers, create
different thickness and qualities of yarn, and evaluate the yarn they produce
and improve on them. The class is
designed with homework in order to get the most out of this course. Students should be prepared to have time to
practice in between class sessions. Member can rent a wheel from EVFAC or bring
your own.
Sundays, April 5, 19
& 26 & May 3; 1:00pm to 4:00pm.
HANDPAINTED ROVING
with Chelsea Lovato - $25/34, materials fee $10.
Learn the techniques for hand-painted
roving used in spinning, felting, or knitting.
This class offers the basic use of Cushing's acid dyes for hand-painted
effects in one or multiple colors. We will learn to use the microwave and stove
for use in setting the dyes. A fun and informative class for all fiber artists
who use roving. These techniques can be applied to wool yarns as well. EVFAC
will have roving for purchase. Chelsea is a New
Mexico native who has been spinning for four years. She is also a knitter and her love of these
two hobbies, combined with an intense love of color, inspired her to begin to
dye roving and yarn.
Saturday, April 11;
1:30pm to 4:00pm. (right after Spinning Saturday)
BEGINNING QUILTING
SERIES 2 with Terry Meyer - $42/53, materials list supplied. Confident beginners build your quilting skills with
the “BUZZ-SAW.” Make a pillow top or small wall hanging using
machine quilting. Have your fabric prepared before class (wash and iron).
Instruction will be given out before class. Owner of Wild Wind Quilting, Terry is
a new addition to our teachers. She is passionate about quilting, and has
started a guild in New York.
Saturday, April 18;
10:00am to 4:00pm. Sample on display at
EVFAC
COLONIAL RUG HOOKING
with Monna Monk - $84/105, materials extra. Equipment list supplied
Learn the art of Colonial Rug Hooking –
North America oldest Folk Art. Rug
hooking is a craft wherein you make rugs from loops of yarn or wool fabric that
are pulled through a stiff base of burlap or linen, done with a unique crochet
hook. Monna will teach you how to make your own pattern and will sell frames
and hooks. Class will be offered for two weekends in April and May. You may
take one or both classes.
Saturday-Sunday, April
25-26; 10:00am to 4:00pm. Sample on
display at EVFAC
GOING BIG! WITH
BASKETS with Irene Smith - $42/53, materials fee $25. Equipment list supplied.
Now that you’ve made a Market Basket,
use your skills to make a BIG Market Basket, so you can tote a ton of produce
in style. In this class, students will revisit the steps in making a basic
market basket and will learn to add filling weavers for a sturdier base. Irene has been making baskets for 30
years and has worked in the repair and restoration of Indian baskets.
Saturday, April 25;
10:00am to 4:00pm.
INTRODUCTION TO
CHIMAYO STYLE WEAVING with Lisa Trujillo - $147/184, materials extra.
Learn how to combine angles and forms
to create this unique form of woven expression.
To take this class you must be able to warp a loom by yourself prior to
the class, and control edges in weft-faced weave. Lisa’s work has received numerous
awards at Spanish Market and is part of collections around the world.
With her husband Irvin, she owns
Centinela Traditional Arts in Chimayo.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday; May 1-3; 9:30am
to 5:00pm.
COLONIAL RUG HOOKING
with Monna Monk - $84/105, materials
extra, equipment list supplied.
Learn the art of Colonial Rug Hooking –
North America oldest Folk Art. Rug
hooking is a craft wherein you make rugs from loops of yarn or wool fabric that
are pulled through a stiff base of burlap or linen, done with a unique crochet
hook. Monna will provide a pattern to use and materials kit. Class will be offered for two weekends in
April and May. Take one or both. Sample on display at EVFAC.
Saturday and Sunday,
May 2-3; 10:00am to 4:00pm.
BEGINNING SEWING with
Lorraine Gruys - $56/70. A separate supply list of basic equipment accompanies
this class.
Our class will cover the basics! We will move along quickly and hopefully
thoroughly so you are comfortable with the information and are able to use what
you are learning. You will be provided
with a workbook where you may take notes, read simple description of the
“task,” and plastic sleeves for keeping samples of the exercises we do in
class. I urge you to be familiar with
your sewing machine. You should be able
to wind bobbins, thread your machine, change stitch length width, with
ease. I will, of course, be able to
assist you with minor problems, but I am hopeful you will be comfortable with
the use of your machine. Lorraine is a custom tailor and an experienced sewing teacher at Santa Fe
Sewing Center.
Saturdays, May 9 &
23; 10:00am to 2:00pm.
BEGINNING QUILTING SERIES 3 with Terry
Meyer - $42/53, materials list supplied.
Confident beginners build your quilting
skills with the “LOG CABIN.” Make a pillow top or small wall hanging using
machine quilting. Have your fabric prepared before class (wash and iron).
Instruction will be given out before class.
Sample on display at EVFAC. Owner of Wild Wind
Quilting, Terry is a new addition to our teachers. She is passionate about
quilting and has started a guild in New York.
Saturday, May 16;
10:00am to 4:00pm.
ADVANCED RIB BASKETRY:
THE EGG BASKET with Irene Smith - $42/53, materials fee $15, equipment list
supplied. Maximum 6 students - sign up
early!
Use the skills you learned in making a
Melon Basket to create this classic basket.
This time, you’ll learn the shaping and weaving techniques involved in
making this double –pouch form, also known as the hip, neck or butt
basket. Please review the god’s Eye
lashing from the Melon Basket class, so we can move ahead to the new
techniques.
Saturday, May 16;
10:00am to 4:00pm.
SUMINAGASHI MARBLING
with Suzanne Vilmain - $42/53, materials fee $10.
Spilling Ink / Marking Water /
Capturing Tension. Beginning with
traditional techniques, sumi inks on Japanese papers, you will learn how to
prepare various inks, dyes and metallics to print on papers and fabrics. With a
single strand of hair, our breath, and soap we will move and manipulate
while reveling in the patterns of chance and surface tension. Suminagashi is a meditation -- still as a
yoga pose, easy as a brush stroke, magical as capturing a dream. Once comfortable with the basics, we will
practice making prints that capture a vocabulary of marbled patterns.
Simple Japanese folded book forms will be used to assemble these patterns into
a collaborative edition of samples and will be produced as a souvenir/container. Artist Suzanne Vilmain utilizes
layering techniques in her book arts and series of ephemeral memoirs; she
teaches printmaking, binding, letterpress, and marbling workshops .
Saturday, May 23;
10:00am to 4:00pm.
CHENILLE with Trish
Spillman - $126/158, materials extra.
We will weave 2 scarves of luxurious
chenille in 3 days. This is not for
beginning weavers. If you have taken
this class before and would like to either refresh on extend your chenille
knowledge, come have fun. Any questions,
please, call Trish Spillman at 753-3781.
Trish is the founder of EVFAC. She
weaves for sale and for fun and is fearless with color and novelty yarns.
Wednesday, Thursday
& Friday, May 27-29; 10:00am to 4:30pm.
FELT TAPESTRY with
Leland Guthrie $84/105 materials extra. Break out of the geometric confines of
warp and weft. Explore smooth curves and
beautiful color gradients as we learn to “paint” with wool. The first day will be spent immersing
ourselves in the artistic medium of wet wool and laying out our designs. The second day come prepared to get wet, wild
and soapy as we roll our designs into the prepared backgrounds and dance,
stomp, squish and knead our tapestries into life.
Leland is an accomplished and creative felter, interested in the historical
and cultural significance of felting.
Saturday - Sunday, May
30 - 31; 9:30am to 4:30 pm.
HANDPAINTED ROVING with Chelsea Lovato -
$25/34 materials fee $10.
Learn the techniques for hand-painted
roving used in spinning, felting, or knitting.
This class will teach basic use of Cushing’s acid dyes for hand-painted
effects in one or multiple colors. We will learn to use the microwave and stove
for setting the dyes. This is a fun and informative class for all fiber artists
who use roving. These techniques can also be applied to wool yarns as well.
EVFAC will have roving for purchase.
Saturday, June 13;
1:30pm to 4:30pm (right after Spinning Saturday).
MITERED CORNER JACKET with Valentina
Devine - $70/88 Materials extra. The possibilities for using the mitered corners
technique are endless. The pattern stitch in this garment is garter stitch
(knit every row). The knitter uses color
at random; so collect colors that are pleasing to the eye and be a
one-of-a-kind designer. Valentina is a well-known knitting artist, designer, author, and teacher
with many years of experience.
Saturday, June 20;
10:00am to 4:00pm, & Sunday, June 21; 1:00pm to 4:00pm.
INTRODUCTION TO NUNO FELTING
with Lise Poulsen - $49/62, materials fee $13.
Nuno felting is becoming very popular now, and it’s a fast and easy
technique for creating beautiful highly textured ‘fabric’. This one-day
class will introduce you to the process and provide you with the materials to
take away your very own creation in the form of a fabulous scarf. Please note that there is some physical work
involved – just perfect for a light upper body workout! Ask for
the equipment list when you sign up. Born in
England, Lise comes from several generations of accomplished and professional
knitters and tatters. She has worked in
a variety of fiber mediums for the past twenty years. Felting for over ten years, she draws
inspiration for colors and textures from landscapes in England and her new home
in the mountains south of Taos.
Saturday,
June 27; 9:30am to 4:30pm.
BLOCKWEAVES with Jason
Collingwood - $245/307, materials extra.
An exploration of three end block
weave, the same structure Jason uses to weave all of his rugs. The technique starts with simple two color
design and moves on to designing within the blocks and the introduction of a
third color. Techniques such as clasped
wefts and dovetailing will be looked at to further increase the design scope of
this structure. 2/1 double faced twill
will also be covered in this class.
Special emphasis will be placed on Shaft Switching, everyone being able
to adapt their looms in class to try out this exciting technique. Jason Collingwood began studying
weaving with his father, renowned weaver, Peter Collingwood, in 1987. Jason’s rugs have been exhibited widely
throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. He spends eight to twelve weeks per year
teaching rug weaving techniques in the United States and Canada.
Saturday, Sunday and
Monday, June 27- 29; 9:30am to 5:00pm.
PINE NEEDLE BASKET
with Irene Smith - $42/53, materials fee $12. Irene will
teach coiled basket techniques using long leaf pine needle and raffia. Students will learn a traditional coiled
basket “start”, increasing shaping, and various stitches to create a small
basket needle. Irene has been making
baskets for 30 years and has worked in the repair and restoration of Indian
baskets.
Saturday, July 18;
10:00am to 4:00pm.
EXPLORING
TAPESTRY USING THE HOKETT LOOM when one has “not enough time and very little
money,” with Sharon Van de Velde. There is no fee for instruction, materials
fee $10. Looms will be available for the
class and for purchase. Please call to
reserve your space soon so that looms can be ordered to arrive on time.
Have you wanted to learn
tapestry but just could not make the time for a longer class? Learn the fundamental “meet
and separate” technique and how all tapestries are variations of “hills and
valleys”. You will learn how to blend
weft fiber from piles of leftovers, separated into lights, mediums and darks. Sharon has been a tapestry
weaver for eleven years. She finds the
Hokett Loom the perfect medium for testing a design or one’s choices of colors
without making a huge investment. The
smaller creations can be worked together to form a large design. As a chemist Sharon learned a lot about
color. She dyes most of her yarn and also spins.
Saturday,
August 15; 10:00am to 4:00pm.
Natural Dyeing with Liesel Orend- Materials Fee $15.
Learn the basics of using natural dyes
to color wool and cotton yarns. The
properties of well-known dyes such as osage orange, cochineal, cutch, logwood
and madder will be explained so that students will understand the range of
color available from each dye material and under what conditions it works
best. Students will learn to create and
maintain an indigo vat, which will then be used to create blues, and, through
over dyeing, greens and purples. This
class will cover safe mordanting procedures, using the least toxic materials
available, alum and iron. We will also
learn how to prepare dye baths, wash finished yarn, and keep records. Students will make a rainbow of samples to
keep and will be able to go home and begin dyeing their own yarn!
Saturday & Sunday,
August 8 & 9; 9:30am to 5:00pm.
Dye Plants to Grow with Liesel Orend- $62/$49, materials fee $10.
Explore the wide range of color
available to you through plants you can grow yourself! In this class we will use the plants growing
in Liesel’s garden, including Hopi dye sunflowers, coreopsis, tobacco, madder
and even bindweed to make a rainbow of samples.
Finally, we will make beautiful shades of blue using fresh indigo or
woad leaves grown in the garden. Seed
sources and planting requirements will be discussed. Students will receive yarn samples to
keep. A map to Leisel’s studio will be
provided. Liesel is passionate about natural dyes and is an expert dyer. She gathers and grows many of her dyes, and
sells her naturally dyed yarn.
Saturday, August 29;
9:00am to 5:30pm.
ONGOING LEARNING at EVFAC
SPINNING
SATURDAY - Polish your spinning skills or learn to spin in an informal setting. Bring your wheel or borrow one of ours. Free.
Saturdays,
April 11, May 9, June 13; 10am to 1pm.
BRING YARN
OVER, KNIT TOGETHER - A relaxed, social gathering for knitters and crocheters (not a class but we
learn from each other). All levels
welcome; no charge. Bring your yarn and
needles (or buy some here) and join us!
Mondays;
5-8pm.
WALK IN AND WEAVE for those who want to make 2x3 rag
rug, but have no experience in weaving.
Cost is $25 for the warp and $10 for weft materials.
Please contact Pam,
505-747-3577 to set up a time.
DYE DAY WORKSHOP with
Pam Stewart. Materials fee $10. Please sign up in advance. We will be using a modified version of the Color by
Accident method for creating multicolored fabric or yarn with fiber reactive
dyes. These dyes are best for cellulose
fibers such as cotton, rayon, Tencel, bamboo or linen. Warp painting will also be offered. Please have your fabric or warps prepared
before class (fabric should be washed if new; warps already wound and tied
loosely but frequently). Pam is the Education Coordinator at EVFAC. She is an accomplished fiber
artist with special expertise in sewing
and rug weaving. Her passion for dyeing
is infectious, and tie-dyeing is one of her specialties.
Saturdays, April 23,
May 23, June 20;10am to 2pm.
Four Harness Plain
Weaving: Color & Weave
Instructor: Liesel
Orend
Dates: June 11-13,
Thurs, Fri, Sat; 9:00am to 4:00pm.
Location: This NNMC
class is offered at the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center
Credits: 1, Tuition:
Approx. $90 for NM residents
Course # 30602
Color and weave is a weave structure
that creates infinite design possibilities using a light and a dark color on a
four harness loom. The pattern looks
complex, but it is actually a plain weave structure, without the floating
threads a twill weave would produce.
Students will learn about this fascinating weave structure, and create
one scarf or shawl to take home. Simple
patterns, such as log cabin, can accommodate the beginning weaver, but the more
complex variations will bring something new to those who are more
experienced. Liesel is an
accomplished weaver and a regular instructor at Northern New Mexico College and
EVFAC. She weaves tapestries, complex weave rugs, and traditional jergas. She
enjoys teaching the basics of weaving.
Instructor: Liesel
Orend
Dates: July 8-12, Wed
- Sun
Times: 9:00am to
6:00pm
Location: This NNMC
class is offered at the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center
Credits: 2, Tuition:
Approximately $130 for NM Residents
Course # 30583
In this special form of weaving, fabric
is woven folded in half on the loom, and then can be unfolded once it is off
the loom. In this class, students will
learn the technique of double weave and will design and weave a poncho or
blanket, incorporating vertical and or horizontal stripes. Some weaving experience is preferred.
*NOTE* There is
space available in Liesel Orend’s
April/May classes, Four Harness Weaving III: Saddle Blanket and the Design for Textiles class. See our Newsletter, January – March,
2009 or call the College.
Remember,
registration for NNMC classes is through NNMC, not EVFAC .
click here to download class descriptions and registration forms in a PDF format: these are also found on pages 3 - 6 of the current newsletter.
Contact US
Española Valley Fiber Arts Center
325 Paseo de Oñate
Española, NM 87532
(505)747-3577
info@evfac.org
SPINNING SATURDAY - Polish your spinning skills or learn to
spin in an informal setting. Bring your wheel or borrow one of ours.
Saturdays, April 11, May 9, June 13; 10am to 1pm.
BRING YARN OVER, KNIT TOGETHER - A relaxed, social
gathering
for knitters and crocheters (not a class but we learn from each
other). All levels welcome. Bring your yarn and needles (or
buy some here) and join us! Mondays; 5-8pm.
WALK IN AND WEAVE - A loom is prepared for those who want to make 2x3 rag rug, but have no experience in weaving. Cost is $25 for the warp and $10 for weft materials. Please contact Pam, 505-747-3577 to set up a time.
DYE DAY WORKSHOP - We will be using a modified version of the Color by
Accident method for creating multicolored fabric or yarn with fiber reactive
dyes. These dyes are best for cellulose
fibers such as cotton, rayon, Tencel, bamboo or linen. Warp painting will also be offered. Please have your fabric or warps prepared
before class (fabric should be washed if new; warps already wound and tied
loosely but frequently). Materials fee $10. Pam is the Education
Coordinator at
EVFAC. She is an accomplished fiber artist with special expertise in sewing and rug weaving. Her passion for dyeing is infectious, and
tie-dyeing is one of her favorite techniques.
Saturday, April 23, May 23, June 20;10am to 2pm.