Monthly Meetings and Topics
My town hall meetings are with friends and neighbors, fellow Americans. We engage. —Sheila Jackson Lee
Two Monthly Meetings, Two Meeting Locations!
Members have a choice of meeting day/date and meeting location. Members may attend either or both meetings; the topics generally don’t overlap. (Check our calendar or blog to learn what’s being presented for the current month.)Our main meeting is south, on Lamar near Westgate, and meetings at 6:45 on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4622 S. Lamar Blvd.
Our north meeting is in downtown Round Rock and meets at 7:00 on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at the Baca Center.
We start our meetings with a show and tell segment. Members show current works that are in progress or have been completed. Many members use this time as an opportunity to get feedback about works in progress or ask for possible solutions when they encounter a technical difficulty that they want to overcome. Then we have a short business meeting. The current group president leads the meeting and current board members give brief monthly reports as needed. Our program and workshop chairs update the group on future events or workshops in the planning stages. This part of the meeting typically lasts no longer than 30 minutes. Then the monthly program begins. The program can be on a variety of topics of interest to fiber artists. One program involved a talk with fiber artists was an expert on lace making, another one was from an artist who was an expert on book binding and making. Our program chair is always open to suggestion for future topics that might be of interest to the group.
February Meeting – Destash Sale + Make Fiber Art Name Badges
At both the north and south meetings, lots going on! Too many supplies? Tired of an old project? Studio or workspace out of control? Need more space for new supplies? Then clean out your studio and bring extra or unwanted supplies to sell at the next meeting. Please let us know if you will be needing a table. We will be making custom name badges. AFA will provide materials for you to use to create a cool name badge. AFA will also provide members names printed onto fabric to incorporate into your badges. Feel free to bring special items or materials for embellishments. Please let us know if you want your name printed on...
South January Meeting- SAORI with Laura Poll
Come hear weaver Laura Poll speak on the Saori art form. What is Saori? SAORI is a contemporary hand-weaving philosophy. SAORI is completely intuitive. There are no patterns to follow, no guidelines to abide by. Through the creative use of colors, textures, and materials, SAORI practitioners are encouraged to express themselves through their work, without fear of making mistakes or pressure to conform to the expectations of others. SAORI is accessible to everyone, regardless of age, gender, skill-level, or physical ability. By using the most basic of weaving structures as a foundation, practitioners can begin weaving and creating within minutes of sitting at the loom. Each SAORI weaving is one-of-a-kind, as unique as the person who made it, and should be considered a work of art. The following slogans represent the SAORI philosophy and way of living. Consider the differences between a machine and a human being Be bold and adventurous Look out through eyes that shine Inspire one another, and everyone in the group About the speaker: Laura Poll is a textile artist and SAORI practitioner. She is a certified SAORI instructor and her studio is a member of the SAORI Global Network. She was introduced to SAORI in New York City, where she studied the SAORI philosophy under the guidance of Yukako Satone and members of her studio. Laura brings over 500 hours of in-studio, hands-on SAORI experience and training to her studio practice. She has also received extensive instruction and training in Osaka, Japan. She is recognized by the governing body that certifies SAORI instructors in Japan, a unique honor that few instructors outside of Asia...December South Meeting – Annual End-of-Year Party
Time to celebrate another wonderful year full of fiber arts! We’ll have sweet and savory things to nibble while we socialize. We’ll have a gift exchange: wrap up a little fiber arts something; either one of your finished pieces or some intriguing materials. Enjoy yourself at the last meeting in...
South Meeting November- Emma Dietrich on Spider Silk Potentials
Humans have been harvesting spider silk for centuries! Known for its incredible strength and elasticity, possible uses for spider silk currently range from the manufacturing of bulletproof vests, to the suturing of wounds, to the fabricating of elegant ball gowns, and more. Hear speaker Emma Dietrich tell us about this fiber that doesn’t get much discussion. Emma Dietrich is a spider enthusiast and PhD student in the Department of Integrative Biology at UT...
North November Meeting – Katie Winter Presents Acrylic Inks
Acrylic inks are bright, extremely light-fast and ideal for use in production of items for permanent display such as art quilts. Katie Winter will discuss how to use them and show us what they can do. Katie is a member of AFA and an award-winning art...
South Meeting October- Malka Dubrawski Shares Her Techniques
Come hear Malka Dubrawski shares the processes and techniques that she utilizes, many of which she learned over the course of the over 20 years of patterning and dyeing fabric. Malka is the owner of A Stitch in Dye, her web site where she sells beautiful, one-of-a-kind hand dyed and patterned cotton fabrics, both quilting and apparel...
North Meeting October- Unusual Tools to Make Marks by Sara Sharp
Come hear Sara Sharp speak on “Unusual Tools to Make Marks”. Sara Sharp is an art quilt creator who won two awards at QuiltFest last month: 2nd place in Art Quilt Large for her “To Everything There Is A Season” quilt as well as an honorable mention in the Art Quilt Small category for “Screech Owl...South Meeting September – Hands On Buttons!
Melissa Pelez will give an introduction to buttons, then lead the group in making fimo buttons.
South August Meeting- Karen Meador: Creative Thinking
This program will give artists opportunity to explore individual creative elements and gain a clearer understanding of creative thinking. You will recognize yourself in many of the examples presented and have a chance to consider how to produce more creative ideas for your work. Listeners will have an opportunity to participate in individual or shared idea generation activities based on Dr. Karen Meador’s work in Synectics and Creative Problem Solving. If you have a small art piece you are working on or something you’ve completed that you want to further examine, please bring it with you. (You don’t have to think you are highly creative to attend.) Karen Meador, PhD, is a retired professor, educational consultant and musician whose research endeavors focused on creative thinking and gifted education. Her numerous books and articles for teachers and parents addressed these topics. A largely self-taught artist, Karen started designing jewelry in 2001 and works mainly in wire, metal and enamel. Publication of her work can be found in Step by Step Wire Magazine, Easy Metal Magazine and Enameling 2016, an upcoming Lapidary Journal publication. Dr. Meador currently teaches jewelry making classes and writes...