KAWS Fall 2005 Board Meeting
October15, 2005

President Lolly Buxton called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.

Roll Call:
Present: Carol Bloom (Treasurer and Kaw Valley Fiber Guild), Lolly Buxton (Kansas City Weavers Guild), Leslie McLaughlin (Kansas City Fiber Guild), Laurie Robbins (Secretary and Flint Hills Weavers and Spinners), Ronna Robertson (HGA Rep. And Manhattan Area Weavers and Spinners), Barb Say (Flint Hills Weavers and Spinners).

Minutes of Last Meeting: Minutes were distributed again and there were no additions or corrections. They were accepted as presented.

Treasurer's Report:
Carol Bloom reported $569.85 in checking, $25.00 in savings, $2320.41 in a CD. $40.00 in prize money for state fair winners has been paid. Bills to be paid: to Marsha Jensen, webmaster ($120.00 for the domain charges and $35.00 for registering the website).

The board authorized $25.00 to be paid to Laurie Robbins, secretary for expenses incurred in copying and sending membership lists to guilds. The board also authorized money to be paid for printer cartridge and paper for the secretary as necessary.

It was noted that two vendors are now using the website, and it was suggested that we all push next year for more vendors. Ronna and Marsha will create a registration form. Lolly noted that she has been getting information from several companies, so apparently the website is being viewed by a number of people.

Old Business:
State Fair:

--Lolly was out of town when the state fair request form for the directory, demonstrations, etc. arrived, so no action was taken on that. Barb Say agreed to be the new contact person as she regularly deals with 4-Hers and the state fair.

--Barb Say reported that she did a spinning demonstration in the sheep building at the state fair one day.

--The board discussed the paucity of categories for fiber at the state fair; there are only five, and they are very broad. It was suggested that Weaving be converted to Weaving and Spinning and Fiber Arts, with subcategories under each. Weaving would include: clothing, accessories, household linens (any fiber), household rugs, household wall hangings, and other. Spinning would include: 1-2 oz. Skein of spun yarn, and finished article from handspun yarn. Fiber Arts would allow a variety of items including felting. Ronna will send the state fair board these requested new categories.

--It was noted that it is costly and time-consuming for individuals to go to the state fair to take entries and pick them up, and that likely contributes in part to low participation. It was suggested that perhaps an individual from a guild could take multiple entries to save some of these costs. 4-H entries are often taken to the state fair in county batches and this could potentially work for guilds if one person could go and take multiple entries.

Spring KAWS Conference: The Fleece and Fibers Weavers and Spinners in Phillipsburg will be hosting the spring conference. Some members were wondering about the contest among guilds. Lolly agreed to contact Sally Brandon about the contest and will see that the pertinent information is posted to the website and/or to the guild reps. See note after the minutes regarding this query.

Future KAWS conferences:
2007 in Topeka
2008 in Wichita
2009 in Lawrence
2010 in Emporia

New Business:
Marsha would like to step aside as webmaster; we need to find another person to take over those duties.

Announcements:
Ronna reported that Convergence 2006 will be June 29-July 1, 2006 in Grand Rapids, Michigan with preconference workshops on June 25-28, 2006.

Midwest Fiberarts Conference will be in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2007.

Carol Bloom noted that the Kaw Valley Fiber Guild has an ongoing project on E 15th Street east of Lawrence. There is stainless steel warp stretched between two silos, and various individuals are weaving on the warp using cornstalks and other materials as the weft.

Lolly and Leslie noted that fiber arts supplies are being gathered in the Kansas City area for those guilds affected by the hurricanes. See attached note entitled "Knitting Communities Together."

Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Robbins, Secretary
http://www.kansasweavers.com/

Later announcements:

From Sally Brandon (Phillipsburg group will be hosting the spring meeting): “I am going to try to e-mail the guild contacts to help us with a decision. We know we are a long way for many KAWS members to come especially older members. We’ve checked with a bus company and could have a charter come from Kansas City, along I-70 to make 2-3 stops to pickup along the way. The bus would stay to chauffeur the passengers around during the weekend and then drop off on the way back to KC. The bus trip would cost about $59 per person and we would need 55 people. I hope that by contacting the guild reps they will help us gauge interest because we can‚t do this unless there is enough interest. We have the festival pretty well lined out and the books will be going to print the week after Thanksgiving. We have to have registrations in a little earlier than we normally have because of the bus, trip if we do it, and the room block at the motel.” Please don't forget to contact Sally regarding any interest in this at jsbrandon@ruraltel.net

Also from Sally to Lolly regarding the spring conference: “We wanted to encourage everyone to bring an item that is from their fiber heritage. Whether it be something they’ve done or something a family member has made. We have protective showcases to display these items and hope to use them as discussion starters for the preservation class. As for a challenge, we did not choose to go that way with the festival format.”

Knitting Communities Together

The Kansas City Fiber and Weavers Guilds are helping to knit communities together with their annual “Creative Hand Sale” on Nov. 18-19, 2005, at the Holiday Inn Suites in Overland Park, KS. percentage of the proceeds from this sale will be donated to fiber guilds in cities affected by Hurricane Katrina.

“We’ve heard from artists along the Gulf Coast and decided that we had to respond,” said Catherine Armbrust, spokesperson for the Kansas City Guilds. “While our friends down south are busy taking care of the basics, the Kansas City Fiber and Weavers Guilds want to help bring color and creativity back into their lives.”

Studios were destroyed in the storm and artists lost finished goods as well as yarn, needles, looms and other equipment used in their work.

“Like thousands of people, they lost everything,” Armbrust said. “Their stories had a special twist that caused us fiber lovers to respond in this special way. I’ve received many emails, and the stories are heart-breaking: [She] returned to her mother’s home that had been under water, finding the trees that lined the street covered with her mother‚s yarns. Everything fiber related had been lost. I'm fine, as is my husband, but our house flooded and my studio is ruined. I lost everything in it. I've heard from our guild, and they didn't fare any better. . . but we'll recover eventually. It's hard to give up weaving!

In addition to the donation from sale proceeds, the local guilds also will collect supplies at the event to distribute to fiber artists along the Gulf Coast.

Through the Creative Hand Sale, individuals with common interests are reaching out to make sure that creativity returns to a damaged region.

Event: Creative Hand Sale
Sponsor: Kansas City Fiber and Weavers Guilds
Time/Date: 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 18, 2005
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, 2005
Location: Holiday Inn Suites, 10920 Nall Avenue, Overland Park, KS (Nall at I-435)
Contact: Catherine Armbrust, 816-942-3668, cadencefiberarts@sbcglobal.net
Nancy Schneider, 913-438-4808, besnlscms@everestkc.net

Gulf Coast Fiber Guild Collection:
These items to be distributed to fiber artists affected by the hurricanes throughout the Gulf Coast region

Supply List:
New and used items are accepted, but please no smoky or musty yarn!
Yarn: knitting, needlepoint, weaving
Knit/Crochet Project Kits
Knitting Needlesàall types
Crochet Hooks
Weaving Supplies
Fiber accessories: tapestry needles, scissors, point protectors, knitting bags, etc
Needlepoint and Cross-stitch canvas/kits
Sewing supplies: needles, thread, etc
Beads and Beading Supplies
Weaving Looms
Spinning Wheels
Knitting Machines
Knitting/Crochet/Weaving Patterns and Books (good condition please!)
Knitting/Crochet/Weaving/Sewing Magazines (good condition please!)

Due Date: November 27th.
I have chatted with the ladies down south and we agreed to try to get stuff there before xmas/for their Dec meeting. They will work on distribtion then....

We can continue to collect things of course, but we want to have at least a big load to send then....
I have offers of 2 separate storage places down in the Gulf Coast area, so if individual guilds wanted to put together care packages and ship down there, I would be glad to share that information with them. You are welcome to share my contact info on the website so folks could contact me for the shipping addresses.

For more information about collecting and shipping supplies to affected areas, please contact:
Catherine Armbrust at 816-523-8876 or catherine@cadencefiberarts.com