The Nottawasaga Handweavers and Spinners Guild held their June meeting and Annual General Meeting on Saturday June 24th, 2017.

The day was hosted by one of our members, Gail Franklin Hawes at her home,
G n’R Alpacas.

It was a lovely June day and as we met outside under the trees, the 7 Alpacas wandered around amongst us, feeling very comfortable around the spinners and weavers who were eying their lovely soft fibre.

While the business portion of the meeting is always interesting, the pot luck lunch is the highlight of the day. Everyone brings their favourite dish and recipes are gladly shared.

In addition to the usual popular show and tell of handmade items, we had 2 other special showcases. The first was a display of items made by several of our members that were prize winners in recent competitions.
Sandi Nemenyi showed her handwoven table runner with surface designed red maple leaves, which won Best in Show at the South Simcoe Arts Council Show.
Eileen Land won a prize at the OHS Juried Show at their conference for her crocheted shawl. Catherine Wilson won the Madelaine Smith Award for her handwoven scarf “New Fibres, New Challenges” and Honourable Mention for “Parallel Journey” at the OHS Juried Show. She also won a prize at the Alpaca show for a scarf that featured Alpacas of course.
Gail Franklin Hawes won for a felted hat, made with alpaca also at the Alpaca Show.
Congratulations to them all for their lovely handcrafted items.

Our second showcase of items was for a guild challenge.
Thanks to Eileen for coordinating this for over a year. There were many entries, all showing “What Canada Means to Me”, interpreted in fibre. It was a hard choice but by popular vote, Sonia Kamel won first place for her lovely copper bobbin lace maple tree.
Julie Legere won second prize for her “Weave a V”, shawl in lovely shades of brown, black and white. Prizes were gift certificates purchased from Gemini Fibres.
All entrants should be commended for their items and the thought put into them.