Workshops
Come and enhance your fiber arts skills, or try your hand at something new!
Have an idea for a class? We encourage you to submit a Workshop Proposal Application.
Announcing our 2024 Workshops for the Western New York Fiber Arts Festival!
2024 Workshops
Wet Felting a Vessel with Marcia Weinert
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Wet Felted Vessels: It is both magical and easy to use unspun wool and soapy water to fashion a 3-dimensional purse, pouch, or other vessel around a flat form that “resists” felting and shrinking! We’ll play with a mountainous rainbow of fluff and sparkle to make unique, small bowls—and discuss how these same techniques can be used to develop into hats, handbags, and vases! Felting requires sustained but gentle physical effort for the entire class period.
READ MORE...- Course Fee: $55
- Materials fee: $10
Marcia Weinert
Marcia Weinert (who is “Undeniably Loopy!”) has been addicted to turning fluff into stuff ever since sneaking her 9-year-old daughter’s spindle and fiber after their first class together, over two decades ago! She teaches spinning, knitting, felting, and crochet in many outlets across the northeast, particularly the Weaving & Fiber Arts Center in Rochester, NY. We are delighted to have Marcia return as an instructor for the WNY Fiber Arts Festival.
Know Your Wool, Spin Your Wool – Carding, Combing and Blending – A Prep Primer with Tami Fuller
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Longwool, short staple, woolen, worsted, carded, combed, hand, roving vs top, from the fold, in the grease – what is a diz? Do I really need a flick carder? What are neps? Silk, bamboo, wool and artificials versus natural…There is so much that goes into spinning before spinning! Learn the basics of fiber prep and have common questions answered, like when you should card and when you should comb, how to handle each process and the tools and best practices associated with each prep and why woolen versus worsted matters.
READ MORE...
A discussion of longwool and short staple breeds and how to source your wool with a fiber artist with a background in breeding and wool sourcing will be included. Learn the difference between roving and wool top and learn how to create your own with access to fiber tools and resources during class and working demonstration of drum carding, combing and how to blend through use of carders and blending boards. A class that covers it all with demonstrations and open question and answers sessions for the fiber-curious. Includes suggestions on handmade tools for beginners looking to begin prep. Students will receive a supply of wool that they will work with to create a set of blended rolags at the close of class to use in future spinning classes with use of a blending board. Blending board use is provided during the course of class with the option to purchase at the close of class for an additional materials fee.
- Course Fee: $52
- Materials fee: $15 Supply (Wool, use of tools through class)
- Blending Board: $55 to purchase
Tami Fuller
Tami Fuller is a second-generation fiber artist, and works as an educator and exhibiting fine fiber artist. Tami is passionate about inspiring and empowering a new generation of creators by teaching the fiber arts in new, modern contexts which are still strongly rooted in traditional practices with a fine art discipline. Her workshops through her fiber arts and education company, Blubird Studio, are designed with an eye toward revitalizing and modernizing fiber, ensuring the continuation of these skill sets by exposing the art form to new people within new contexts.
Tami is an exhibiting member of the Buffalo Society of Artists and a 2021 Roycroft Emerging Artist. She currently serves as the chair of the Roycroft Emerging Artists Program and was recently appointed Executive Director of the Roycrofters-at-Large, the nonprofit serving modern Roycroft Artisans nationwide. She is also the primary fiber art event coordinator for the Arts Council of Wyoming County, where she is in charge of educational outreach and fiber arts programming for the Fiber Flurry 2024 Fiber Festival.
Tami is currently working to establish Indigo in WNY through volunteer work with the Great Lakes Indigo Project and will be hosting a series of international workshops in southern France in 2024 and 2025 in collaboration with the Reinhabitory Institute, an all female arts education institute co-headquartered in WNY and in Berkley, Calif. She works out of her studio at 17 Elm Street in East Aurora, where she also co-operates and co-curates The COMMA Fine Art gallery, in collaboration with two other women artists.
Creating a Vanity Basket with Maureen Quale
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
An excellent ‘project’ basket, catchall, mail basket or filled with dried flowers.
READ MORE...Measurements of the “Vanity Basket” are as follows, 12 inches high, including handle. 10 inches long 8 inches wide. The opening of the basket is 11 3/4 inches long and 8 inches wide. Measurements are approximate.
- Course Fee: $25
- Material Fee: $30
Maureen Quale
Maureen Quale has been teaching basket weaving since 2008 and has taught many diverse groups…native Americans, girls scouts, church groups, etc. Her passion is to keep this art form alive and to encourage first time weavers to join the fun! Maureen has been teaching at our festival for several years and always brings interesting and functional projects with an array of colors to suit student’s taste.
Beginning to Spin with Marcia Weinert
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Learn to make your own, unique handspun yarn on a spinning wheel! We’ll play with several types of prepared wool while we discuss wheel maintenance, drafting, treadling, plying, and finishing techniques to make a balanced yarn. As time permits, we’ll touch on other fiber preparations, and non-wool fibers. No previous experience required. Warning: Spinning can be addictive. Suitable for beginners – no prior experience necessary. STUDENT BRINGS Any treadle-driven wheel in good working condition, with at least one bobbin, or rent one from the instructor for an additional $10 fee.
READ MORE...- Course Fee: $55
- Material Fee: $10 +$10 wheel rental (if needed) Contact the instructor at mailto:[email protected] to reserve a rental wheel
Marcia Weinert
Marcia Weinert (who is “Undeniably Loopy!”) has been addicted to turning fluff into stuff ever since sneaking her 9-year-old daughter’s spindle and fiber after their first class together, over two decades ago! She teaches spinning, knitting, felting, and crochet in many outlets across the northeast, particularly the Weaving & Fiber Arts Center in Rochester, NY. We are delighted to have Marcia return as an instructor for the WNY Fiber Arts Festival.
Natural Dyes + Adventures in Indigo: Shibori, Salt and Indican: A Primer on working with Indigo
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Indigo is one of the most ubiquitous and mysterious dyes on the planet, and the blue produced by indigo, both in fresh leaf and vat dye, has captivated the world for thousands of years. Learn how to work with Shibori resist methods, learn about the various ways to use paste and stitch as resist and even work with freshly harvested indigo leaf experimentation, and learn about methods of growing and extraction like ice and salt in an afternoon workshop. Students will leave knowing all there is to know about getting started on a journey with indigo or deepening an already basic understanding of working with the plant, a personal supply of fresh leaves to work with at home and a shibori dyed textile as an artifact of their learning experience. Class led by an experienced dye instructor and grower of indigo with experience in both various methods of extraction.
READ MORE...- Course Fee: $42
- Material Fee: $18
Tami Fuller
Tami Fuller is a second-generation fiber artist, and works as an educator and exhibiting fine fiber artist. Tami is passionate about inspiring and empowering a new generation of creators by teaching the fiber arts in new, modern contexts which are still strongly rooted in traditional practices with a fine art discipline. Her workshops through her fiber arts and education company, Blubird Studio, are designed with an eye toward revitalizing and modernizing fiber, ensuring the continuation of these skill sets by exposing the art form to new people within new contexts.
Tami is an exhibiting member of the Buffalo Society of Artists and a 2021 Roycroft Emerging Artist. She currently serves as the chair of the Roycroft Emerging Artists Program and was recently appointed Executive Director of the Roycrofters-at-Large, the nonprofit serving modern Roycroft Artisans nationwide. She is also the primary fiber art event coordinator for the Arts Council of Wyoming County, where she is in charge of educational outreach and fiber arts programming for the Fiber Flurry 2024 Fiber Festival.
Tami is currently working to establish Indigo in WNY through volunteer work with the Great Lakes Indigo Project and will be hosting a series of international workshops in southern France in 2024 and 2025 in collaboration with the Reinhabitory Institute, an all female arts education institute co-headquartered in WNY and in Berkley, Calif. She works out of her studio at 17 Elm Street in East Aurora, where she also co-operates and co-curates The COMMA Fine Art gallery, in collaboration with two other women artists.
Class: Eco-Printing Speckled Wool Yarn
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Explore the art of creating naturally dyed speckled wool yarn. Be it wildly colored or a few speckles here and there, learn to harness the beauty of plants and flowers to imprint natural colors onto yarn. This hands-on class will guide you through some basics of natural dye for protein fibers and the process to eco-print before you dive into your own take-home creation. Discover the joy of playing with natural color to transform plain wool into unique, eco-friendly masterpieces ready to knit or crochet!
READ MORE...- Course Fee: $50
- Material Fee: $20
Missy Singer DuMars
As an educator for almost 20 years, Missy has taught dozens of workshops and classes on a wide range of subjects from business, to holistic spiritual education, to food and agriculture. Missy infuses all the events at her farm, Crown Hill, with educational programs be it school group tours, farm-to-table dinners, food & fiber workshops and holiday events. In addition, Missy has taught at local venues including Concord Public Library, Union-Pleasant Elementary School, Be Healthy Institute, Buffalo is Creative, Bialek Chiropractic, ECC’s Culinary Program and at the Erie County Fair.
Fingerweaving Chevron Keychains
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Learn how the one-direction & two-direction loomless warpface weaving style, while weaving a chevron pattern onto a keychain with Marilyn Isaacs.
- Course Fee: $40
- Material Fee: $10
Marilyn Isaacs
Marilyn Isaacs is a self taught fingerweaver, and has been fingerweaving for more than 35 years. She has been teaching workshops to students 12 and older for more than 10 years. Her goal as a teacher is to inspire all generations to explore the possibilities in creating, designing and making clothing to be worn. Marilyn recently collaborated with Cornell graduate student Jenine Hillaire and co-wrote a 48 page instructional fingerweaving booklet titled “Hodinohsonih Fingerweaving.”
Marilyn is a member of the Weaver’s Guild of Buffalo and has taught fingerweaving workshops at multiple locations including: Stitch Buffalo, Salamanca Central Middle & High School, Akron Central School District, Fort Erie Native Friendship Center, Tuscarora Nation Community Building, REACH Festival in Dayton, Ohio, Ganondagan State Historic Site, Six Nations Healing Center, Seneca Nation language class.
Pokey Pumpkin
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Come unearth the world of Feltie Forms as you create a unique seasonal pumpkin. You will use core fiber and scissors to learn how to prep the form to get the shape you want. And then out comes the felting needles as you decorate the form with dyed roving. You will explore different ways to add details, make a stem and embellish the pumpkin. Example of completed works using Feltie Forms will be available to view for future project ideas.
- Course Fee: $40
- Material Fee: $27
JoAnn Clark
JoAnn Clark was introduced to Needle Felting 18 years ago and has been giving it a stab ever since. Though flat was fun, she soon found that 3D was her creative muse. JoAnn loved felting and teaching others how to make snowman and Santa ornaments, but still wanted to go bigger. Over the years, she has experimented with both wet and needle felting to develop what she calls Feltie Forms. These firm shapes have given her the ability to bring forth fanciful creatures and freakish full-size pumpkins. She now teaches how to use these forms at The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival.