In the Begining

Our group began our meetings with small challenges. One of the first was an "Ugly" fabric challenge. We swapped a brown bag of fabric and had to make a small textile project with it. Next we swapped buttons and made a project with them. We also got a demo from Kaylene on how to draw portraits, proportion, features, hairlines, etc. We decided to challenge ourselves to make a project for the Umpqua Valley Quilters' Guild Show in April of that year. We had a separate area of the show to display our items, we set up and decorated it ourselves, and had signage and display items. Sandy set up a Gazebo with a vintage butterfly dress/costume on it. Other wearables and art were also displayed on the gazebo. There was no theme, just to do anything we choose, "Textile Art" being the criteria. We had good participation from the members, our only concern was to differentiate ourselves from the UVQG. Our first summer Vera offered to teach a fabric dyeing workshop at her home. We eagerly accepted this offer, and met for a weekend of dyeing. 8 Members learned basic color gradation, with Procion MX dyes, how to mix the dye concentrates, the urea mix, and soda ash. We also made layered "parfaits" of 3 color combos, and clamping, and tie dyeing, and folding, twisting, resist techniques. So much fun was had by all, and we made the dye workshop an annual event. Thank you Vera for your time, and hospitality, and sharing all your dye knowledge.

Our Group

We began about 5 years ago, as a copy of a textile art group in Eugene, Oregon, called Tactile Expressions. Two of their members Georgia and Kay helped us get started, and gave us a focal point. We met at peoples homes at first, until we found a location at Mercy Community Education Center. They gave us free meeting space, and we have met there ever sense. We have had a core group of about 10-15 artists, and encourage others with like interests to join us. Our show and tell, and small demos have been the basis of our meetings, all though we also have several "Play Days" through out the year. We get together for Play Days in smaller groups to explore different techniques and have fun being creative. We have done a fabric dyeing workshop for members every summer, and several other days where we played with fibers, spinning and needle felting, also fabric painting, and take and go projects. We have challenged ourselves for the first few years, to make an art piece for the Umpqua Valley Quilters' Show every April. Last year we had a challenge to create a piece for an independent show we wished to provide to different venues. Smaller challenges continue, on a sporadic basis, participation is voluntary. I will try to post information on our past workshops and activities, then do updates about our current meetings and challenges. Also a members profile was put together in a binder, and I would like to share one member each month, with their permission. Also I will post photographs of member's art work and our challenges.

Fyber Cafe, a Textile Arts Group

Welcome to the Fyber Cafe blog. We are a textile arts group dedicated to expanding our vision of the arts, sharing our talents and supporting each other. We meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month, at the Mercy Community Education offices, above Parkway Medical, on Stewart Parkway, Roseburg, Oregon, at 10am until 12 noon. We start with a short business discussion, then focus on Show & Tell, sharing ideas, constructive criticism, new techniques, works in progress, and other ideas. Time permitting we will also do a short, hands on demonstration. We invite you to join us, membership is open to interested individuals, no dues, at this time.