2025-2026 Programs
Unless otherwise noted, meetings start at 10am US Central Time and are held in person at Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL, and livestreamed online via Zoom.
Please be sure to check this page for updates closer to the actual program dates.
Tuesday, September 9th
Jennifer Johnson, “Joining Fiber Remnants into One Project”
Do you collect one-off special yarns when you travel? Have a stash that’s peppered with yarns of unknown fiber content or weight? You’re rummaging through your cones of weaving yarn and you find a tag in the bottom of the bin. Whose tag was it?! Fear strikes your heart as you find the PERFECT cone… but what is it and how can you use it?
Jennifer is a longtime member of the Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild and leads our Strong Beginnings study group. She is a weaver, teacher, mentor, and creative facilitator based in Greencastle, Indiana.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
>> In-Person Workshop: Mystery Stash Busting: Know Your Cones! With Jennifer Johnson, September 9, 2025 after the meeting from 1-3 pm. <<
Cost: $30 per person, with a $5 material fee to Jennifer
Building on the morning’s program, Jennifer will show participants what to do when they find the PERFECT cone in their stash, but don’t know its content or how much they have. We will find out what and how much is on that cone!
Participants will bring their own mystery yarns and a copy of the Handweaver Master Yarn Chart to calculate what’s on that mystery cone! Use of McMorran balances will be utilized (both homemade and commercially available). If participants have a McMorran balance, they should bring it.
To register for this workshop, please complete and submit our Workshop Registration Form. Make checks payable to: Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild and send to Sarah Berry at the address shown in your member directory.
Tuesday, October 21st
Emily Winter, “Buildings to Weave with: Exploring Landscape and Architecture with the TC2 Loom“
Emily Winter is a weaver, writer, and teacher based in Chicago. Her studio work bridges functional design, material and historical research and formal explorations of color, construction and architecture through weaving. She is co-founder and director of The Weaving Mill, an artist-run industrial weaving studio that blends design, production, research, education and community programming. Her research and projects have received support from the Center for Craft, the Design Museum of Chicago, and DCASE among others. She holds an MFA in Textiles from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BA in History from the University of Chicago and currently teaches in Fiber & Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In this presentation, Emily will share her recent work on the TC2 digital loom, a series of building portraits that utilize the textile language of plaids, stripes and gradients to render sky, earth and architecture. Woven while in residence at the Icelandic Textile Center (Blönduós, Iceland) and Praxis Fiber Workshop (Cleveland, Ohio), these building portraits deploy the material qualities of thread and woven structure to address questions of space, light, and volume and a certain type of observation made possible by attention and patience and presence. This work is on view through November 16th in Emily’s solo exhibition Apparent Paths at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Tuesday, November 11th
Janet Phillips, “Exploring the Design Possibilities of Summer and Winter“
Janet Phillips has been designing and weaving for over 40 years after studying industrial Textile Design at the Scottish College of Textiles, graduating with a First Class Honours Degree. She is the author of two monumental books, Designing Woven Fabrics, and Exploring Woven Fabrics. From Janet, “Colour and texture are still the passions that keep me weaving. I dye most of the yarns I use and I am continually experimenting and sampling to find new weaves and textures. I also have a deep commitment to teaching others to be creative with weave.”
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
>> Digital Workshop: 8-Shaft Summer and Winter with Janet Phillips, via Zoom on April 11th, 18th, and 25th <<
Price: $100 + approx. $50 for a copy of Janet’s book, Exploring Woven Fabrics (we will order as a group to save on base price, shipping, taxes, etc.).
This Zoom Course will be based on Part 4 of Janet’s book, “Exploring Woven Fabrics,” which each student must have a copy of. The aim of the course is to teach weavers the design possibilities of 8-shaft Summer and Winter Weave Structure. It is suitable for all weavers who are confident with making a warp and dressing their own loom.
There will be three sessions of approximately 2 hours each, one week apart.
- Janet will be available to answer questions via email throughout the course.
- A ‘Padlet’ will be set up for everyone to share photographs of their weaving.
- A recording of each session will be taken and posted on Janet’s website.
To register for this workshop, please complete and submit our Workshop Registration Form. Make checks payable to: Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild and send to Sarah Berry at the address shown in your member directory.
Tuesday, December 9th
Holiday Party and Guild Challenge
Fun, food, and sharing! View your guild mates’ responses to this year’s Challenge, “Log Cabin.“ Learn more about this year’s Challenge.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Zoom Meeting — Tuesday, January 13th
Cally Booker, “8-Shaft Double Huck Lace“
Two layers of huck lace: what can they do? What are they good for?
One of the happy surprises of this structure is just how appealing a double huck fabric is. From elegant scarves with beautiful drape, to towels and blankets with an irresistible ‘bounce’, it is lovely to wear and to handle. And just as in regular double weave, the two layers can be exchanged to create a variety of patterns and textures.
In this talk Cally will introduce double huck and take you on a tour through her experimentation with this flexible and attractive structure.
Cally Booker weaves on the top floor of a converted jute mill on Scotland’s east coast, looking out over Dundee and the Firth of Tay. Weaving can be meticulously planned or improvised at the loom, and Cally finds that a mix of these approaches appeals to the different parts of her nature.
Creatively, she is drawn to places at the edge, where land and water meet, and in her work explores lines and boundaries, positive and negative, using layered structures which hide and reveal. She combines drawing, data and digital tools with the slow processes of hand-dyeing and hand-weaving to create cloth which holds stories. Cally’s work has been exhibited around the UK and internationally. She is a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen and a past president of Complex Weavers.
Cally is passionate about making things by hand and shares her love of weaving through The Weaving Space, a program of resources and workshops based online.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
>> Digital Workshop: Exploring Huck Lace with Cally Booker – Via Zoom on February 21st, 22nd, and 28th, 2026 <<
Price: $80
We will weave a variety of samples in double huck, including layer and block exchange, stitched layers, mixed structures and color-and-weave effects. The program includes three talks to introduce different aspects of the material, as well as supporting video demonstrations which participants can access at any time. In the final session, we consider extending the structure to more than 8 shafts.
Participants will need to have access to an 8-shaft loom and will receive full instructions enabling them to set up their looms ahead of time. Note that countermarche looms are not suitable for this workshop.
To register for this workshop, please complete and submit our Workshop Registration Form. Make checks payable to: Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild and send to Sarah Berry at the address shown in your member directory.
Zoom Meeting — Tuesday, February 10th
Sydney Sogol, “Weaving for the Future: Exploring Sustainability Trends for Weavers“
Let’s chat about weaving for a brighter future! We’ll dive into the latest sustainability trends for both hobbyists to professional weavers. We will explore exciting developments in fiber making from the local fiber shed movements to innovative yarns. Explore various ways to adopt greener practices in your studio to reduce waste.
The presentation will have 15-20 minutes at the end for discussion on the topic and sharing of how we can implement these ideas in our weaving practice / bring up ideas one would like to explore in the realm of a sustainable studio practice.
Sydney Sogol is a fiber artist who grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is a handweaver, creating unique, one-of-a-kind luxury wearable art and woven paintings. She draws inspiration from her years of studying art, ornithology, and marine biology. Sogol discovered her love for all things yarn when she was at Earlham College obtaining a BA in Weaving and a minor in Biology. She knew she wanted to pursue her passion for weaving and attended East Carolina University, where she received her Masters of Fine Art with a concentration in Textile Design. Learn more about Sydney at her website:
www.sydneysogol.com
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Tuesday, March 10th
Oberon Waters, “Weaving and Fibre Arts with the Visually Impaired“
Oberon Waters is the lead fibre arts instructor in the therapeutic arts centre at Friedman Place, a supportive nonprofit living facility for the visually impaired. Friedman Place supports individuals who are interested in weaving by providing access to a therapeutic weaving program. We teach anywhere from brand new weavers to people who have been weaving for upwards of 10-15 years. On occasion, this program also provides ‘offshoot’ classes like spinning, basketry, and more. While not the kind of art therapy program that facilitates actively unpacking past trauma to address mental health issues, the Friedman Place residents are supported in a meditative form of art therapy that is incredibly important. The weaving program gives a sense of accomplishment to residents by providing them an opportunity to have autonomy over what objects they make. For some residents that have become blind later in life, weaving can also provide an activity that promotes catharsis and help someone work through the emotional process of acclimating to being blind.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Tuesday, April 14th
Dagmar Klos, “Sheep Talk”
Turning fiber into string (thread) is one of the oldest accomplishments in the history of the world. One of those fibers is wool – sheep wool. There are hundreds and hundreds of different breeds of sheep. In this presentation we will talk about the breeds that include fine wools, long wools, crossbred wools, down type wools (think natural super wash), and feral and primitive wools. Different wools, different textiles and uses. It’s more than just merino.
Dagmar Klos is a dye master, fiber artist and teacher living in Chicago. Locally, she has taught at many of our weaving guilds and at Fine Line. She has also published articles in Piecework and SpinOff (where she was also a technical editor), was an editor for the Turkey Red Journal and author of The Dyers Companion. Dagmar achieved the Certificate of Excellence in Dyeing from the Handweavers Guild of America.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Tuesday, May 12th
Guild Study Group: Fox Valley Study Group Presentation on Overshot
Study groups allow IPWG members the opportunity to further explore, discuss, and study weaving in a small group setting. Join us for the Fox Valley Study Group’s look into the world of overshot–specifically, miniature patterns created by designer Bertha Gray Hayes. Bertha designed hundreds of overshot patterns from about 1920-50 and wove them on her tiny Structo loom. The study group has woven selected patterns and will share their findings.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Tuesday, June 9th
Betty Kirk and Sarah Berry, “Linen Growing and Processing in Chicago“
Join us as Betty and Sarah share their observations and experience with growing flax for fiber in the Chicago area. Betty grew flax in the late 80s and 90s, and Sarah grew it for the first time in 2025. We’ll discuss growing, processing, spinning, and weaving the fiber as well as touch on the history and growing movement to use more of this incredible fiber.
>>End-of-Season Potluck following the meeting<<
Please bring a meatless dish to share.
Guild members will receive a Zoom link via e-mail. Non-members, please complete our Visitor Registration Form to participate at least 48 hours prior to meeting start.
Questions/Comments: Contact 1st Vice President Sarah Berry.
Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild 