Christmas Art Fest at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum December 4, 5 & 6, 2009

Join us at the Xmas Art Fest,3 Rosamond Street, Almonte,On.Sponsored by the Crown and Pumpkin Studio Tour Artists December 4, 2009, 5 to 9 pm • December 5 and 6, 10 am to 5 pm.

A festival of local art and fine crafts showcasing Pottery Jewellery Hats Hand-woven Textiles,Soaps, Teddy Bears, Paintings, Santa Dolls,Mosaics, Hand-blown and Fused Glass, Photography ......

Catering by the Friends of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
$5 entry fee, donation to the MVTM
For information: b.mullally@sympatico.ca 613-256-3647
www.crownandpumpkin.com

Fezziwig Victorian Celebration

(Click on the post title to go directly to the MVTM website)

Reminder of Upcoming Xmas Shows

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum Christmas Show - Friday Dec. 4th, 5pm to 9pm; Saturday & Sunday Dec. 5th & 6th, 10am to 5 pm

Xmas in the Valley

The 21st Annual Christmas in the Valley Artisan Show
A juried selection of over 25 artisans, crafters and bakers will have their wares for you to view at the Almonte Community Centre- upper hall,182 Bridge Street, Almonte Ont.
Friday, November 6th, from 2-9pm, Saturday, 7th from 9-4pm.

The Christmas in the Valley Artisan Show presents venders to give you a wide variety of hand crafted items.The wares vary from: Realistic wildlife carvings, sun catching stained-glass and fused, rustic pottery, scented soaps, tasty seasonings, sauces, honey and maple products, silky scarves, sparkly jewelery, delicious cakes and sweet confections, framed miniature quilts, twinkling glass boxes, delicate weaving, floral arrangements.

The Friends of the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum will be serving snacks, soup,sandwiches and drinks as a fund raiser. If the weather permits the charming alpacas from Victory Farms will be present on Saturday. Free admission to the show.

Please note that the show will be wheel chair accessible and a door prize for a lucky winner.

Carp Farmers Market Xmas Display

Click on the POST heading to view the Link to the Carp Farmers Market and Calender


The December Xmas Market will run from Dec 4-5, 2009. Friday 3 to 8 pm and Saturday 8 am to 2 pm. Enjoy some refreshments, and enter the free draw for Market gift baskets donated by the vendors. A complete list of attending vendors will be posted here soon.

Cool Winds are a blowing.. Let's meet the Challenge!

January Challenge Reminder
This is a reminder that the January challenge is to make a scarf. The main challenge will be for members to guess who made it, so keep your project under 'wraps' at Guild meetings. We will be providing you with bags to hide your creation in when you bring it to the January meeting.

Dress Rehearsal

The LADIES OF THE MOP

Cordially invite you to

Ladies of the Mop
Dress Rehearsal
Preview


Saturday November 7th
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
7pm. Curtain at 7:30
Tea, Coffee and treats provided
*admission by donation
R.S.V.P. sara.cochran@gmail.com
Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Birdhouse Workshop

Jane Whittam of Winchester Ontario provided a workshop on how to make twined basketry birdhouses. Each with an unique design and handcrafted by the participants there were many interesting shapes and sizes.

http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/misc/freeins.htm
Check out the link for free pattern ideas

Fibrefest 2009 at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

14th Annual Fibrefest
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum’s highly anticipated Fibrefest is returning for its 14th annual event! Join the celebrations from September 11th – 13th at the North Lanark Agricultural Hall, Almonte Old Post Office and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (MVTM). All sites will feature fibre art vendors, demonstrations, lace, quilt, and weaving exhibitions, a textile appraisal fair, a quilting play and fashion shows for everyone to enjoy! A two full-day festival of the fibre arts at three exciting heritage locations!
Join the MVTM on Friday, September 11th from 7-9 pm as they host the opening gala, and the play ‘Quilting Pieces’ as presented by the Valley Players. This original play, written by: Elizabeth Inder Corewin & Barbara Inder Robertson, will delight in two acts as guests can reveal in the beauty of each quilt as it is changed to correspond with the next scene. For other show times throughout the weekend, please call the Museum.
Throughout Fibrefest weekend there will be the featured exhibition, 'Fibre Adventures: Collaborations!' by the Ottawa Valley Weavers & Spinners. In this great collection textile artists have been pared together to showcase unique co-creations. Some pieces are the result of paring a spinner and knitter, an embroiderer and weaver or a weaver and papermaker and many more variations. Don’t miss your last chance to view the Museum’s special exhibit ‘Halas Lace’. This acclaimed exhibition of handcrafted beauty showcases over 100 years of Hungarian lace brought to you by the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary. On display in the Norah Rosamond Hughes Gallery will be ‘Service Comforts’. This exhibition will join period artifacts with hand knitted clothing from Beehive Patterns of the 1940’s, depicting woolen field and hospital wear in beautiful vintage colours.
Also not to be missed are the tearoom services provided by the Friends of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum featuring homemade goodies, beverages and sandwiches that will tempt the taste buds. Visit the North Lanark Agricultural Hall and treat yourself!
For only $20 you will be able to view the opening gala, show and have entry for the rest of the weekend festivities. If you’re not planning to attend the Friday event the entry fee on Saturday & Sunday will be $5 to both sites. These locations will present vendors of fibre arts supplies and finished goods, and throughout Fibrefest, local guilds will be on hand to demonstrate the arts of knitting, lacemaking, smocking, weaving, spinning, quilting, penny rugs and more!
Fibrefest runs on Saturday, September 12th from 10am – 5pm and Sunday, September 13th from 10am – 4pm at the North Lanark Agricultural Hall on the Almonte Fair Grounds, Almonte Old Post Office on Mill Street and at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum at 3 Rosamond Street East in Almonte, just 45 minutes west of downtown Ottawa. For more information contact the Museum at 613-256-3754 x 10 or mvtm@magma.ca

June Workshop Success

The West Carleton Fibre Guild enjoyed a day of dying silk scarves.
Many participated in the event and these are samples of their work

The Republic of Hungary cordially invite you to this stunning exhibit.

Halas Lace – Over 100 Years
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, August 1-September 14, 2009

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is delighted to announce the arrival of an acclaimed exhibit of international importance. Lauded in Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, this exhibit offers a rich sampling of Hungarian Halas lace, one of the finest types of lace produced in Europe over the past century.

Developed in 1902 by designer Árpád Dékáni, Halasi Csipke (Halas lace) has become an important part of Hungarian folk art and gained international recognition for the quality of its workmanship and its unique construction, which combines delicate needlepoint lace with bolder fabric outlines.

This technique is an example of the creativity fostered by Hungary’s late nineteenth-century arts and crafts movement, which sought to re-invigorate native cottage industries with new designs. Thus, every piece of Halas lace is completely handcrafted, down to the hand-woven fabric that frames the intricate lace.

Halas lace has won numerous prizes at international competitions, ranging from the 1904 St. Louis World Fair and 1906 Milan International Exhibition to the 1937 International Craft Exhibition in Paris, where it surpassed the previously unchallenged lace of Brussels. Items made of Halas lace have also been presented as gifts of state to world leaders as diverse as the Roosevelts, Princess Julianne of the Netherlands, Pope John Paul II, Queen Elizabeth II, and Governor General Michaelle Jean.

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum and the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary cordially invite you to this stunning exhibit.

Come see for yourself why Halas lace is one of the most prized types of textile art in the world!

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is located at 3 Rosamond Street East in Almonte, Ontario. For directions to the museum or questions about the exhibit please contact Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Curator at 613-256-3754 or mvtm@magma.ca

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Almonte's Puppets Up Festival

Welcome to the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival
Please click on the post title to refer to the website for the Puppet Festival in Scenic Almonte,On(a 30 minute drive west of Ottawa). 2009 will mark the fifth year of this highly successful and entertaining puppet festival which was recently endorsed by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Show off your creative side- Take a course in Puppet Making

Puppet Making Workshops (August 4 to 7) Leave a Life-long Impression


ALMONTE (Town of Mississippi Mills) – Making a puppet from scratch is something few people will forget once they’ve tried it, says Noreen Young, Master Puppeteer and Artistic Director, of the Puppets Up! International Puppet Festival. And workshops with Noreen and visiting puppet experts have inspired both successful puppeteer careers and passionate hobbyists.

“There’s something about turning inanimate materials into something that literally comes to life in your hands,” says Young. “Personally, I never get tired of building puppets and adding new puppet characters to my collection.”

This year, Puppets Up! offers an extensive array of puppet workshops in advance of the festival itself featuring some of the world’s best puppet artists. Workshops commence on August 4 at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte and run until the festival begins on August 8. Workshops are for participants sixteen years of age and up.



Highlights of the workshop offering include:


*A 4-day workshop with Noreen Young on making hand and rod puppets with latex/rubber faces. Puppets like these made Noreen famous on TV and around the world!
*Stephanie Atkinson’s three-day workshop teaches students how to design, construct and manipulate a marionette. Puppets will be fabricated using a combination of papier mâché, wood and foam rubber.
*Ever considered expressing your creativity on, say, YouTube... using puppets? Trish Leper brings her years of experience, including stint with Jim Henson’s Muppets, to a 2-day workshop about the creative and technical aspects of television puppetry.
*Talk about recycling! James Ashby and Grey Muldoon (The Bricoteer Puppetry Project) will show you how to turn household and found objects into fantastic puppets during a one-day workshop.
*Art teacher, Stephanie Williams provides her own take on the same theme at another one-day workshop.
*Not only will she be on stage during the festival, but Kingston puppeteer Annie Milne, of Gentle Wings Puppet Theatre, will lead a one-day workshop about how to make a personal rod puppet using foam covered in fabric and wooden rods. Ask her about the huge Purple Dragon in her life.
*Master puppeteer Luman Coad says “Get A Life!”. He’ll teach a one-day workshop on how to really bring puppets to life for the stage.
With a song in his heart, puppeteer Ben Durocher will lead a one-day workshop on puppets in musical theatre. By the way, Ben was a finalist in the CBC’s “Triple Sensation” in 2008.

“We take full advantage of the world-class puppeteers who are coming to perform at Puppets Up!, along with our resident experts, says Young. “These workshops are absolutely magical.” Marta Singh, a story teller who will perform in the festival’s Telling Stories theatre shares Young’s enthusiasm for puppet making. “When I was still living in Buenos Aires, I took a weekend-long workshop. We had to make a puppet with our own hands, then breathe life into it. Holy Henry, I'll never forget that. It was, well, it was almost otherworldly!”

For more information about Puppet making workshops and the Puppets Up! festival visit www.puppetsup.ca


Media Contact: Susan Wright: (613) 730-2020 e-mail: susan@suzwright.com

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Mississippi Textile Museum needs your help!!

In September during the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum's Fibrefest in Almonte, a play called Quilting Pieces is being performed by the Valley Players. What we are looking for are quilts, whole or halves, finished or unfinished, to cut up and make into clothing and clothing accessories.


If you are able to help us out please contact the Museum's curator


Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

Public Notice

Attention Fabric Fans, History Buffs, and all Residents of the Town of Mississippi Mills and surrounding area:

For your information, this summer the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum will open its textile research library as a Public-Access (by appointment only) Reference Library.

Our Collection covers many aspects of the Local and International Textile Industries, with special strengths in industrial Wool Processing, hand-loom Weaving, the chemistry of Dyeing, the history of Fashion, and more. We would hope that everyone including, artisans, industry workers, students, antiquarians, and professional researchers alike will find our library a source of Useful and Fascinating Information.

We are pleased to announce that the Conservation and Cataloguing of our Rare and Specialized Collection is almost complete. However, we are still in need of sufficient shelving for our books and of a photocopying machine for the use of Visiting Researchers. Any monetary Donation, great or small, towards the purchase of these items or a donation of any of the stated items would be much appreciated.

Please join us as we strive to keep the Memory of Our Town’s Heritage alive!

Michael Rikley-Lancaster
Curator
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
613-256-3754
mvtm@magma.ca
www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com

SWING YOUR PARTNER TO AND FRO

The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum fundraiser Barn Dance was a huge success Not only bringing in Money for a good cause but also some toe tapping musicians who helped folks dance the night away. As you can see both young and old enjoyed the Wing Ding celebration

Come spin along with me!

SUMMER SPIN IN at the farm on July 8. The activity will run morning through afternoon. If it rains we have lots of space in the barns. Bring your wheels and lunch, I will have coffee and drinks. If you have fibre to dye, I will have a pot of walnut skins going. Perhaps, you have other materials we could use to dye….bring them along and see what happens.

Looking forward to seeing everyone. Hope the Back to Back team will come and celebrate their 2nd place finish in Canada!!!!!!! Let me know if you can come.

Please contact Kay If you are able to attend email her at amispin@ca.inter.net

OLD FASHIONED BARN DANCE!!

Here we go again!!!!! A real OLD FASHIONED BARN DANCE complete with many fiddlers called the Fiddleheads,square dances, a caller, snacks, and cash bar.

It is a fund raiser for the TEXTILE MUSEUM originally to be held at another venue but had to be moved so on short notice, it will be held Saturday June 27th at Cuil Aitinn Farms, 4356 Appleton Side Road, Almonte after 7:00 p.m. The museum staff is doing the work, cleaning, decorating, all kinds of chores. Whew!!!

If you like, please, bring your cameras, knitting, your wheel and enjoy the entertainment from the balcony. It is a large balcony. I have lots of fleece and my wheel is available. I will have 2 grandkids so if you find yourself with little ones also, please, bring them along....no charge.

Tickets can be purchased for $20.00 at the door or from Vintages (originally the old Timmons clothing store) 80 Mill Street, Almonte. Please pass on this short notice.

I hope you can find time to join us for a cause we all can celebrate.

A job well done!!

The Woolly Wonders placed 7th in the world for their construction of a sweater from fibre to a wearable art. The international competition was held on the the 7th of June. The Woolly wonders created their sweater in just over 7 1/2 hours.
Look at the previous post for picture of the group as well as an explanation of the competition itself

And a good time was had by all!!

http://www.carpfarmersmarket.com/

Five representatives from the West Carleton Fibre Guild displayed their talents at the Carp Farmer's Market in Carp, Ontario. Each having their own area of expertise from knitting, felting, lacemaking,spinning,weaving an active display was under tent. Many onlookers stopped to observe and ask questions of technique, some reminiscing of crafts of times gone bye. Kindling memories of Grandmothers who crafted their wares in front of the open hearth, with eager youngsters at their foot.

The Woolly Wonders and their Woolly product!

Back L-R Betty Laakso, Sandy Mcmanus. Front L-R Time keeper Gertrude Thibeault, Kay James, Debbie Etherington, Beth Dennis, Kelly Plewes, Louise Rosch.

The Woolly Wonders completed their sweater in 7 hrs 37 mins this year at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ont. This includes the 5 min penalty for having the fleece hand shorn ahead of time. The team bested their time from last year by over 2 hrs. Our sponsors this year were The Carleton Co-operative Wool Growers-practice fleeces, Hewlett Construction-team aprons, Upper Canada Village-a room for competition day.
We raised $603.00 in ticket sales for the sweater.

INTERNATIONAL BACK TO BACK WOOL CHALLENGE

LOCAL RESIDENTS TO COMPETE IN THE 2009 INTERNATIONAL BACK TO BACK WOOL CHALLENGE

A group of 7 spinners and knitters from the Ottawa, Lanark County and St. Lawrence Valley guilds known as the Woolly Wonders are competing as a team in the International Back to Back Wool Challenge where the objective is to shear a sheep, spin its yarn and knit a sweater in less than eight hours following strict rules and a set pattern. The Wooly Wonders will take a 5 minute penalty to accept previously sheared wool from the Carleton Co-Operative Wool Growers.

Upper Canada Village will be hosting this event on Sunday June 7th 2009 from 9 a.m to 5.p.m. Tickets on the finished sweater will be on sale for 99 cents each.

All the money raised from the sale of tickets will be given to the Lymphedema Association of Ontario, a debilitating fluid retention condition affecting both men and women which commonly occurs when the lymph nodes are removed during cancer surgery. The team's goal is to raise $1,000.

This family event will be a great opportunity to learn about this international challenge, about wool, spinning and knitting and the Lymphedema Association of Ontario.

The team consisting of Beth Dennis, Debbie Etherington, Kay James, Betty Laakso, Nancy MacMillan, Sandy McManus, Louise Rosch would like to thank their sponsors: Carleton Co-Operative Wool Growers, Upper Canada Village and Hewlett Construction.

This International contest started in Berkshire, England in 1811 when a 1000£ wager was given to the team that could make a man's coat from a sheep's back in one day. It took the winning team 13 hrs to complete. In 1992, a young spinner Richard Snow from Scotland recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, decided to continue this contest to raise funds for cancer. The trophy would go to the fastest team to spin and knit a sweater and, in 2004, the Guinness Book of Records became involved.

Today, the contest runs around the world and coincides with the Australian Wool Festival held in mid-June. The Canadian Co-Operative Wool Growers sponsors the Canadian Trophy. In 2008, the Toronto Spiders were the recipient of this trophy and also won the International championship with a time of just under six hours. The Guinness World Record Time is 4 hours 51 minutes 14 seconds held by the Merriwa Jumbcuks, Merriwa NSW in 2004.

St. Distaff Day

The Twistle Spinners and Weavers guild of Glengarry and the Carmen Forward Fibre guild hosted the 8th annual St. Distaff Day in Winchester On.
From spinner to knitting, felting to basket weaving many stations were full with enthusiastic students. The workshops were followed by a much appreciated catered lunch.
In the afternoon much to the participants delight a local literary artist awed us with her collection of delightful poetry. WE also had the grand pleasure of being presented with a slide show to document the construction and trials and tribulation in creating the famous" Quilt of belongings"

From fleece to fine art!

In the month of May 2009 the West Carleton Fibre Guild celebrated it's 20th anniversary

http://www.andrea-graham.com/index.html

Andrea Graham of Odessa Ontario was a guest of the West Carleton Spinners and Weavers guild. A seminar was given at the Mississippi Valley Textile Mill in Almonte Ontario. The seminar comprised of Andrea's works of Art, both in text and samples of her works. She presented us with a slide show of textile art in the many places that she had visited, as well as her inspiration. The following day Andrea conducted a " Felting Workshop" to allow many of us to experience the craft of Wet Felting.