Weavefest 2011 is being held on Saturday, May 28, 2011 at the Weaving Studio of Notre Dame Convent, 246 Sydney Street, Charlottetown, PEI.

The Studio Members of the Spinners and Weavers Guild of P.E.I. are holding Weavefest 2011, this will feature handwoven, hand spun, and knitted items for sale. There will also be demonstrations and refreshments.

Come join us.

For more information, contact Barbara Henry at flinders@pei.sympatico.ca or (902) 368-2343

Oh, boy, this is SO exciting! Things are ticking right along! People are subscribing, both to the announcements and to the RSS feed, and event listings are coming in from Sydney to Gagetown, NB.* Shari MacLeod of Red Twig Brown Twig even wrote a post about us on her beeeoootiful blog! Thanks, Shari! I've spent an inordinate amount of time on this over the past little while,** so it's gratifying to see it that it's apparently been time well spent.

The site's been live for less than 24 hours and I've already started making changes, of course. I worked my graphics-fu and designed the new banner image you see up there at the top of the page. What do you think? I used the same picture to create a new badge for the site that people can slap on their own pages in order to link back here (it's over in the sidebar), and it's also in the slideshow I added to the Home page early this morning. I've also been adding new things to the Links page -- but have still only barely begun to scratch the surface of the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. That's going to be an ongoing labour of love, I can tell, and will quickly need to be broken down into separate pages by category 'cause there are just so many great sites out there!

I'm all keen to keep working (can you say "binge"?) but it's time I was off to help my six year old niece hunt for Easter eggs. :)

- Janet

* I LOVE that events are coming in from outside Cape Breton! Keep 'em coming, folks - let's fill that calendar right up! There's SO much going on in this region that we all want to hear about! 

** Srsly, an inordinate amount of time. I've been up past 5:00 the past two nights and I'm not too proud to admit that, until I got in the shower just now, I'd been wearing the same shirt since last Thursday.

Well, this is it! After talking about it for simply ages,**  I've finally set up a website to help the Cape Breton weaving community get and stay in touch. Truth be told, I hope it will bring together fibre artists of all stripes from all over the Atlantic provinces - but start with what you know, eh wot? Still, start small but aim high: you'll notice the name of the site is Fibre Arts, not just Weaving. Please help me expand and grow into my big girl clothes!

On the Events page you'll find a calendar of events, exhibits, sales, classes, workshops and all manner of activities that might be of interest to the local fibre community. If you know of such things coming up, please drop me a line or use the handy form to let me know so I can add them. I may someday figure out a widget that will let you add your own events to the calendar but for now a quick email is all it takes.

Many of those same things will turn up on this Announcements page too - exhibits, sales, and one time events in particular - but this is also a place to let everyone know about exciting news from the textile community. Had an article published in a magazine? Won an award? Good fibre related show coming up on tv?  Let everyone know! Again, send me a quick email or use the contact form to let me know what's happening in our community so I can spread the word. There's an RSS Feed for this page, too (check out the sidebar on the right) so you can add it a blog reader if you like.

Next there's a list of textile and fibre arts groups and guilds. Some of these are formal organizations (some are even registered with the province - how posh is that?) and others are informal groups who get together on a regular or semi-regular basis. This is where to look to get in touch with people in your region with similar interests. Got a knitting club? A spinning group? A weavers' guild? List it here and let folks know how to reach you, or just stand up and be counted. For good measure, I've included some farther flung guilds as well - national and international organizations that you might want to join even if you can't ever get to a meeting. Many of these organizations offer lending libraries, long distance learning opportunities, or regular conferences. Good stuff!

In addition to the list of guilds or groups, there's room on this site for a group to create its own micro site. These micro sites can have announcement pages of their own, member contact lists, guild libraries and more. They can be password protected so that only members of your own guild can access them, or you can choose to make part of the micro site private and other parts public. For instance, the Sydney Weavers' Guild micro site has its guild library list visible to the public but the rest of its pages are not. If you'd like me to add a micro site for your own fibre or textile arts group or guild, drop me a line. 

Next up is a page of Links: the typical online resources you'll find on many other websites (but gathered into one convenient location for those of us who aren't exactly monogamous in our fibre pursuits), followed by things more focused on the local community: local blogs, local fibre artists' personal sites, local suppliers, local organizations that support fibre arts and craft in general, etc. As always, you can add to these lists by using the form or sending me email.

And finally (phew! finally!) there's a page of classified ads. Selling a loom? Looking for a used wheel? Offering a class? Need a roommate at a conference or someone to carpool with to a big sale? You know the drill: email or form and Bob's your uncle.

I have more ideas for down the road*** but this? This is enough for now. This I'm happy with. Still, if you have any ideas for other things I can add to the site, please let me know!  (There's no form for that one. You can just send email.)


Thanks for visiting and be sure to sign up for the RSS feed so that you get a notice of future announcements!

- Janet


* That's supposed to sound like Frankenstein, but you got that, right? Of course you did.

** 10 years, if anyone's been keeping track. That's actually kind of embarrassing. Oh well, the idea's got LEGS, and now its time has come!

 *** Micro sites for individuals, calendars sorted by event type and/or group, photo galleries of work, a registry of fibre folks, and oh, so much more!