Christmas Guild Meeting

Huffaker Schoolhouse
Originally uploaded by Purple Fuzzy Mittens

This is the historic Huffaker School, now a part of Bartley Ranch, one of our county parks. It is also the new part-time home for the Carson Sierra and Weavers Guild, thanks to some connections made by Heidi, our president. It seems that our mission statement fits into that of the park's and they have given us use of this facility without charge. If you belong to a guild, you know this is huge.

We had our first Christmas meeting here and what a wonderful place it is. A spinning guild just seems to fit right in with all the museum displays. Nancy is showing some of her family's weaving history. The carpet was handspun and woven at 10 epi by her grandmother, the red being madder. We always have high energy Christmas meetings, but I think we really connected with the vibe of the building. Very special to me in this picture are the two wheels, both brand new and at their first guild meeting, acquired by the two friends who have become spinners, and are now my new friends. I have nothing to compare with the energy of a group of passionate spinners and weavers.
I thought the potbellied stove added to the great atmo-
sphere, especially when we were being warmed by central heat and the stove was for looks only. It is the one meeting that all members try hard to attend. We sell stuff, we buy stuff, we eat stuff, and we celebrate our friendships. We even celebrated a birthday, but my camera battery failed at that point.
Soap sales were good for me, so I splurged and bought these bumps from my neighbor, Mim. She called me a while back after she had dyed up a bunch of stuff, so I drove over to see and these are the two that caught my eye. On the drive home she told me that she was disappointed these didn't sell at the last meeting, one I couldn't attend, and figured she'd probably spin them up herself. Simple answer - they were mine. She sold most of her bumps and I sold most of my soap. We were happy from the meeting and happy from our successes.