The members of our guild come from southern Oregon - Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass. The purpose of this organization is to contribute to the knowledge of and provide for continuing education of weaving and related fiber arts, to promote interest in weaving and fiber arts in the local communities and to encourage improvement in our own work through comparison and sharing.

Our dues are $20.00 a year. The benefits members receive are many, such as wonderful, informative programs put on by our members, programs from outside our membership, library use, equipment rental, a monthly newsletter (Rogue Rovings in conjunction with Rogue Valley Handweavers Guild) and membership in study groups. We also sponsor, for an extra fee, workshops taught by well known weavers.

We meet the 2nd Saturday of each month, Sept. through June, from 1:00 to about 3:00 p.m. in the Medford Library. We always have goodies first, then the business meeting, followed by show and share and the program.

For membership information contact:

Membership information:
Shirley McFarland Email
P.O. Box 395
Merlin, OR 97532
541-476-0287
 
ANWG Rep.:
Kathy Brooks Email
13460 Highway 234
Gold Hill, OR 97525
541-855-5318
 
Newsletter editor:
Cindie Kitchin Email
1761 Robertson Bridge Road
Grants Pass, OR 97526
541-479-0538

Saturday Handweavers’ Guild was started in 1974. The Guild was organized to accommodate weavers who worked outside the home and could not attend a meeting on a weekday. The group met in members’ homes until it grew too large and currently meets in the Adam's Room at the Medford Central Library.

Saturday Handweavers’ and Rogue Valley Handweavers’ Guilds jointly sponsor an Outreach Committee that schedules and sets up displays and demonstrations at different public venues. We have a table loom set up for children or adults to try, giving many of them their first experience at a loom. Members also demonstrate on the guild's loom or bring their own project or spinning wheels.

We have gone beyond county fairs and now do Antique Shows, annual community events such as the Rooster Crow in Rogue River, Pottsville, Pioneer Days at the Southern Oregon Historical Society's Hanley Farm, and month-long displays at the local libraries and banks. A recent addition has been a gallery exhibit at the Skyline Plaza, an upscale retirement residence. It was a great success and we have been invited back next year to show and sell our work.

We also demonstrate weaving and spinning at the county and state fairs as well as in schools whenever we are called upon to do so. We sponsor a prize to be awarded to a 4H member for the best weaving entered in the county fair.

The southern Oregon Handweavers Guilds have a program called the "Certificate of Accomplishment." There are three levels to this program - apprentice, journeyman, and master. Kathy Fennell, of Saturday Guild, has completed all three levels of this program, and another member, Richard Kidder, has passed the apprentice requirements and is working on the journeyman section.

September 2009