Now in our 45th year, the Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild started in Holland, Michigan, in March of 1979 by a group of women who took a community class together on hand spinning wool. We met every Wednesday evening at members' houses to continue to spin and share life's adventures.
One evening, our member Judy Anthrop came into my front door waving a paper and declaring that we were now an official guild with the Handweavers Guild of America. The others already sitting down looked dumbstruck. Judy announced that she was the president and then said looking at each of us, "What do you want to do?" We ended up with positions like Vice President of Spinning (Sharon Meeuwsen, she was the best among us).
We also started out as the Fiber Arts Guild of Holland. In 1990, we changed the name to Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild to be more inclusive of all the guild members from along the lakeshore communities beyond Holland. The meetings had always been on Wednesday at 7pm, just like our original hand spinning group, but evolved into an hour-long presentation from someone with a special talent (sometimes hands-on but also often purely inspirational), a business meeting and then show 'n tell. In September 2021 we changed to meeting at 1pm in the afternoon and our membership has grown.
Our first meeting had somewhere around 75 people attend (and even a husband joined). Our dues were $10 and allowed us to have programs from artists and craftspeople in our community and gradually from well outside of Holland.
Our group has always been very diverse with every medium from weaving (tapestry, rugs, clothing, wall hangings) to spinning, dyeing, surface design, basketmaking, papermaking, garment construction, knitting, crocheting, quilting, and now includes wet felting, needle-felting, dollmaking, embroidery, and more.
Each year we have an annual Brown Bag Challenge to stretch our personal creativity. Five things in a brown bag and randomly chosen by members surprises us into making something out of the contents. The December holidays bring us the annual ornament exchange and potluck.
We've also belonged to the Michigan League of Handweavers for most of our guild’s history. Making the swatches for the MLH Swatch Collection has challenged us from pattern weaving, to papermaking, discharge dyeing, and shibori stitching with indigo dyeing.
Dues are $30/year
September to May. We welcome anyone interested in the fiber arts whether you’re
practicing or just an enthusiast!
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