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November 2025 Newsletter

Guild Calendar

Guild Meeting

Monday: November 17th, 2025  

10:00 am to Noon

Gooseberry Room

North Berkeley Senior Center

Study Group

Saturday, November 22nd CANCELLED

10:00 am to Noon

Holiday Gift Making - Cookbook Chickens

Susie's House​

Get Together

Monday, December 8th

12:30 - 3:30 pm

Downstairs Meeting Room

North Berkeley Public Library (new location)

GGW Newsletter Bridge Image.png

President's Message

Dear Weaving Friends,

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Planning for 2026

We reviewed the responses to last month’s questionnaire. Many great answers, lots of ideas, and varied interests - Thank you!

Bernie has made a list of your question responses and categorized them, and will bring some paper copies to our next meeting. The survey responses can also be made available by email, so please ask. 

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The common thread (pun intended) we found will be our Theme for 2026: 

COLOR!

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Color is a key design element and construct for weaving, complicated by the interplay of different colors in the warp and weft. We’ll use the color theme and your ideas to plan speakers and meeting activities in 2026. More about this to be discussed at Monday’s meeting.

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I also want to give a shout-out to Lonnie for all of her great outreach work and exploring ways the guild can engage with the local community, organizing our first workshop, and connecting with Richmond Arts Center (RAC), Sports Basement, and local Yarn stores.

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November Meeting Agenda

Color Theme discussion, survey highlights, and 2026 planning, including speakers and activity ideas.

 

Please bring with you:

  • Your favorite book(s) on color 

  • A color gamp (if you have one)

  • Show and Tell items you want to share

 

In addition:

  • An update on outreach activities, the Inkle Loom workshop at RAC, and looking ahead to 2026

  • A preview of The Beetle Book presented by Bernie

  • Karen and Vicky to share weaving samples from their class with Madelyn van der Hoogt

 

Please check out the Calendar below for details on Susie’s Study Group on the 22nd, and the December Get-Together at North Berkeley Library.

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Have a Happy Thanksgiving. 

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Hope to see you in December for our Get-Together at the North Berkeley Library (new location), 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley.

​

Happy Weaving. ~ Vicky

Meetings

Guild Meeting

Date: Monday, November 17th  

Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

​​​​​

Guild Meetings Calendar:

  • Nov-22:  Study Group - CANCELLED

  • Dec-8:  Get Together at North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley

  • (No Guild meeting in December)

  • Jan-19: Guild meeting on ZOOM: 

    • Liz Schott: Dorothy Liebes and the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition

  • Feb-16: Guild meeting on ZOOM: 

    • Michele Belson: The Value of Color

  • Mar-24: Outreach Event

    • Open House at Sports Basement

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The Golden Gate Weavers Guild meets on the third Monday of the month, 10:00 am to Noon in the Gooseberry Room, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave, or on Zoom. No meetings in July, August, and December.

​

Study Group

Saturday, November 22nd, CANCELLED

We will discuss subjects for future Study Groups. Bring any interesting items & ideas for holiday cards, gifts and decorations using handweaving. 

Cookbook Chickens

Instructions for making a "Cookbook Chicken" will be available along with supplies. 

If you want to try a project like this one, bring:

  • scissors

  • a scrap of fabric (7 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) 

  • needle & thread

Additional supplies if you have them are: 

  • felt pieces

  • 2 small black beads (Bernie has extras)

  • some batting

  • beans (old, dried) for the filling

Below is a photo of the Cookbook Chicken that Karen Schwartz made:​​​​​

Karen's cookbook chicken.jpg

Get Togethers

December 8th, 1:30 - 3:30 pm

We have been looking for alternative spaces to meet, and have a reservation in the Large Meeting Room at the North Berkeley Library for our December meeting. 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley.

​

An informal gathering and an opportunity for Show and Tell.​

Show and Tell

Inkle Loom Workship​

On November 8th, three women (Jessie, Cathrine, and Paula) attended a class at the Richmond Arts Center on beginner Inkle weaving. The class was organized by Lonnie and taught by Bernie. The students learned how to plan for and create a color swatch with 5/2 Lunatic Fringe cotton, read a pattern, warp an Inkle loom and then weave their first band.

Inkle workshop 2.jpg
October Guild Meeting  

Members brought in some wonderful weavings for Show and Tell. Below are

  • Tatiana's plain weave cloths, homespun yarn and twill gamp

  • ​Susie's samples using warp sections with different dye methods

  • ​Naoko's drawloom towel with dogs and cats and a pattern weave (method not recorded)

  • Koko's collection of deflected double-weave scarves 

  • Duane's optical illusion and colorful wall hangings

  • Bernie's mock-Damask pick-up heart bag

Tatiana gamp.jpg
Noako drawloom cats and dogs.jpg

CNCH News

 

 

www.cnch.org 

 

CNCH 2026 - May 14-17, Asilomar

  • Grant Application -

    • December 19, 2025:  Grant applications must be received no later than Dec. 19, 2025

    • January 16, 2026:  Grant winners will be notified by this date.

  •  Registration - February 2, 2026:  CNCH 2026 registration opens.

    • Classes include: Inkle Weaving, Weaving two Ways on the Ridgid Heddle Loom, Tablet Weaving, Huck Lace, Hands on Color, Vibrant Rugs, Spinning Angora Rabbit & Cotton, Spinpossible, Shibori Dyeing with Indigo, Painted Warps and Parallel Threading, Fabulous Felted Flowers, Transparency Weaving, and Pine Needle Baskets

    • Instructors include: Sienna Bosch, Gretchen Fancher, John Mullarkey, Rosalie Neilson, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Mary Zicafoose, Julie Drogsvold, Michael Kelson, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Denise Kovnat, Dawn Edwards, Rebecca Smith and Marilyn Mckanel

 

CNCH 2027 Planning  

  • Area Three, which includes GGW, is planning the 2027 Conference. Vicky and Bernie joined a recent planning meeting.

    • Golden Gate Weavers has been assigned the task of Grant Fundraiser

EVENTS

  • ​Routed West: Twentieth-Century African American Quilts in California, June 8 - November 30 at BAMPFA. The exhibit traces the flow and flourishing of quilts in the context of the Second Great Migration through approximately one hundred quilts representing the work of eighty individuals, many of them women. https://bampfa.org/program/routed-west

  • Lee ShinJa: Drawing with Thread, August 6 to January 1, 2026 at BAMPFA. The first North American survey of the work of the historically under-recognized Korean artist Lee ShinJa (b. 1930, Uljin, South Korea; lives and works in Seoul). Spanning more than five decades, from the 1950s to the early 2000s, the exhibition showcases the artist’s bold innovations in fiber through forty monumental textile works, woven maquettes, and preparatory sketches.  https://bampfa.org/program/lee-shinja-drawing-thread

  • Arts of Indigenous America, August 26, 2025 to August 31, 2028, at the de Young. The theme “Relationship to Place.” Developed with Native scholars and in consultation with communities of origin, the project centers Indigenous values and voices. Works spanning over a thousand years of history in all types of media. https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/arts-indigenous-america

  • Baskets on the Edge: Bay Area Basket Makers Explore New Forms, October 24 - December 19, Ruth's Table, 3160 21st Street, San Francisco. https://www.ruthstable.org/baskets-on-the-edge-opening-celebration 

Resources

Publications

Watch, Read, Listen to

Guild Members Recommendations

Board of Directors

President - Vicky McAdams Vickybees@comcast.net

Treasurer - Karen Schwartz 

Acting Secretary - Karen Tripp 

Newsletter/Comms - Bernie Geuy bernie.geuy@gmail.com

Programs - Vicky McAdams & Bernie Geuy

Membership - Koko Baker 

Librarian - Sarah Leverett 

Historian - POSITION OPEN

CNCH Liaison - Sheila Fitzgerald

Webmaster -friendly guild member

Newsletter Deadline:

Please submit any items to be included in the Newsletter by the 2nd Sunday of the month.

Email: bernie.geuy@gmail.com

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