Arlene Tiemeyer Demostrates Needle Tatting

The Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild’s November meeting will feature Arlene Tiemeyer on “Needle Tatting.” The program will be Nov. 6, at the Holland Area Arts Council, 150 East 8^th St., Holland, MI 49423, starting at 6:00pm. 

Zeeland resident, Arlene Tiemeyer, will demonstrate how to do tatting use a fine two-pointed knitting needle or a long doll sculpting needle to create intricate but easily made tatted pieces.  Supplies will be available for attendees as well as easy patterns to follow.  The hands-on session is low-key and a lot of fun for those wanting to learn a new way to do tatting without a shuttle.

Arlene is the mother of 13 children, has been married to Brian for 38 years.  They have a business on Etsy.com, Big Fam 15, making and selling mini-weaving looms and supplies for spinners and weavers.  All the items are made from recycled wood.  Arlene also has her own business, "Grandma's Hands," for which she makes and sells handcrafted items.  She teaches and does demonstrations trying to keep the "my grandmother used to make this" alive.  She weaves, spins, needle tats, knits, crochets, does kumihimo Japanese braiding, sews, and a little quilting, and tries to combine these arts into work with a new twist. 

The Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild invites anyone interested in the textile fiber arts to their monthly program meetings held the first Wednesday of each month at the Holland Area Arts Council.

Mary Sundstrom: Hands-on Turkish Marbling

Mary Sundstrom demonstrates the basics of marbling while
avid guild members watch.

Mary Sundstrom presented her creative approach to marbling on Wed., Oct. 2, at the Holland Area Arts Council where she works as Program Director.  She loves learning and watching students of all ages develop new ways of creating.

So, after demonstrating the basics of marbling, she watched and helped all of us create a myriad of colorful and wild marbled fabric.

Evidently, it was the Chinese and Japanese that developed the technique but it was the Turks that came up with the carageenan (made from seaweed) to float the fabric or paper on the surface.