Blog - Fabric of Life

Book Reading with Peggy Hart

April 12, 2024 / FoL / Comments Off

On March 14, 2024, local artisan and author, Peggy Hart joined us to celebrate her book, Wool: Unraveling an American Story of Artisans and Innovation.

Nearly two dozen people, including a few rapt teens, filled the Farmhouse living room as Peggy offered a captivating book reading. She discussed the research that went into writing her book and passed around samples of wool textiles during her talk. She also brought a sample of an extruded garden amendment she has been developing that is made from waste wool. Peggy shared a number of excerpts from her book, including a fascinating story about wool that had been at the bottom of the ocean for decades!

She showed us images from museums, advertisements from magazines, and brought the data to life with her engaging speaking style. Peggy demonstrated wool’s impact on millions of lives, from immigrants, slaves and Native Americans, to farmers and advertisers. She revealed the trends in wool consumption throughout history through interesting charts and charming graphics and photographs. Peggy gives a voice to the story of technological and social change, marketing forces, and above all, consumer choices.

During our time with Peggy, she shared pictures of her weaving studio in Shelburne Falls, which is the home of Bedfellows Blankets. She has a collection of industrial looms, including 1940’s Crompton and Knowles dobby looms with widths up to 92”. She enjoys weaving complex structures, often utilizing 24 harnesses, compared to the standard 4 harnesses on a hand loom, to achieve unusual, intricate patterns. She weaves original designs from cotton and wool as well as completing custom weaving using wool and alpaca fiber.

To learn more about Peggy and purchase your own copy of her extraordinary book, please visit her website at https://www.blanketweave.com/

Singing Ukulele Retreat

September 26, 2023 / FoL / Comments Off

On Sunday, September 10th, Fabric of Life held a “Singing Ukulele Retreat”. The event was a gathering of 30 ukulele players who, for one day, became a community of musicians dedicated to improving their skills and making music together.

We are excited for the opportunity to offer this musical program as part of our ongoing efforts to preserve and promote traditional skills that enrich our daily lives. People have always made music, but in our modern world most people are passive listeners rather than active music makers. Both singing and playing ukulele are easy and accessible to anyone who wishes to discover how enjoyable and rewarding it is to be a musician.

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Most ukulele workshops offer the chance to learn new songs and skills to improve playing technique, and this was no exception. But even though the ukulele is most often used to accompany singing, attention to vocal technique is often overlooked in group settings to ukulele players. In this retreat, we paired the two together to produce a fun-filled afternoon .

Stu Fuchs opened the day with a session on mindfulness and musicmaking. This introductory session combined some playing, singing and mindfulness practice to get everyone in the mood. Then the group was split into two groups to practice each set of skills separately. Stu led participants in improving their playing technique using easy and fun songs while Justina Golden focused on vocal technique and understanding how the voice works with the power of one’s breath.

In the evening, the group came together for a delicious supper prepared by our host Becky Ashenden. We enjoyed a mini concert where Stu and Justina each did a short performance, followed by the group singing and strumming the tunes they learned during the day.

This workshop enabled musicians of varying skill levels to work with professional teachers and performers at the beautiful Bassett Homestead in Shelburne, MA. During the Singing Ukulele Retreat, we received many favorable comments from participants who learned new techniques, made new connections with other musicians, and enjoyed this very special day.

Meet our Singing Ukulele Instructors

Stu Fuchs is a lifelong musician, award-winning teaching artist blending mindfulness practice and creative play. He has presented his ukulele workshops and concerts at ukulele festivals around the world and has performed classical and gypsy jazz guitar with symphony orchestras. Stu blends accessible mindfulness practices with playful holistic music instruction at his “ukulele zen” workshops and retreats. He was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work bringing healing music to cancer patients. Stu recorded and toured with renowned sacred chant artist Snatam Kaur, playing on her “Best New Age” Grammy award nominated album “Beloved”. Stu continues to offer weekly lessons and music inspiration at his YouTube channel Ukulele Zen.

Justina Golden is a singer and vocal teacher since 1986. She fell madly in love with teaching, trying to explain how to wield something invisible that has the power to transform lives. She has taught individuals, small groups, and choirs, turning good singers into professional singers. Justina also toured for 12 years in a singer/songwriter duo, taught voice at the Dar Williams “Writing a Song That Matters” workshop, and has taught at the Northampton Community Music Center and Smith College. She now teaches in Florence, MA at her Profound Sound Voice Studio.

About Fabric of Life

Fabric of Life is a 501(c)3 not for profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation and passing on of knowledge and skills that enrich our daily lives. We strive to see traditional skills flourish in our modern world and make these educational opportunities available to future generations. Working together creating practical things of beauty not only improves quality of life, but also strengthens communities.

We hope our work brings joy to your life!

Should you feel moved to do so, we always welcome tax-deductible donations toward our mission.

Donate

Fabric of Life Hosts Retreat for Black Weavers

April 28, 2022 / FoL / Comments Off

At the end of March, Fabric of Life welcomed four talented weavers to Bassett Road for a Retreat for Black Weavers, the first of what we hope will be many gatherings of black weavers from across the country. These women come from diverse backgrounds and we are thrilled to have been able to facilitate their first in-person meeting. Melvenea Hodges detailed the experience in her blog, Traditions in Cloth and we have included some of her post below:

“We came up with the idea that we’d do a long weekend fellowship where we toured the homestead, learned about Swedish weaving yarns, sampled different weave structures, and shared farmhouse meals together. For the following week, a few weavers would stay and work on creating a weaving tutorial with an instructional booklet, video, and weaving kits to help new weavers get started. If I could get members from our new virtual group to come, the non-profit organization Fabric of Life with the support of The Ddora Foundation would sponsor us. I loved this idea because I would finally get to know other Black weavers for the first time and we could do something helpful for the larger fiber community. We would come together to aid in the preservation of our craft.”

“It didn’t take long to acquaint ourselves. I must have known these ladies in another lifetime. This was so special. I’m one-of-a-kind in any context but for once I felt like one of the pack. Yes, we’re a WE, not just me. It has been so surreal and daunting in these last 2 years to even speak publicly about fiber arts knowing I am one of a few Black weaver voices people will get to hear. I feel like I’m talking for us. Imagine talking for people you’ve never seen or met. That’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. I want to know what they value, think, feel, and what this craft means to them. We’re all Black but we’re also from all sorts of backgrounds. There are so many intricacies to sort out amongst ourselves. We could finally have those conversations in person. We’re REAL.”

“Two of us could stay the following week for the skill-sharing project. We wanted to share how to weave on a frame. It is the perfect gateway to all of the exquisite ethnic textiles being woven all over the world. Anyone can find a frame and weave an infinite assortment of textiles. It’s so special because even to this day these textiles can only be replicated by artisans. The magic is with the weaver and not the loom. Just as a spider weaves an intricate web in a frame, so does the weaver with just shared knowledge, creativity, dexterity, and perseverance. It’s a weaving heritage that remains untouched by industry.”

“My tickled soul is so invigorated.”
Melvenea Hodges

“There is work left to complete but so much was accomplished in such a short time with the support of Becky, Leni, and the Vävstuga and Fabric of Life staff. I look forward to sharing with everyone, especially aspiring weavers, the joys of weaving on a frame loom.”

“I am ever grateful to Becky, Fabric of Life, and The Ddora Foundation for helping us bring this vision to fruition.”

“As for The Society of Black Weavers, the best is yet to come. With every stroke of the keyboard, a call for connection is released into the air. Our common web is being woven slowly but surely. We find joy in weaving and now we’re doing it together.”

Read Melvenea’s full blog post.

A Late Swarm of Honeybees

March 7, 2022 / FoL / Comments Off

The Making of a Perfect Swarm

During our 2021 program season, Fabric of Life partnered with Ang Roell (they/them/their) of They Keep Bees to teach two in person workshops on Beekeeping. Those programs were well attended and participants had the opportunity to both learn about bees in an academic setting as well as dive into a variety of hives. These first two sessions were based on building a relationship with honeybees and understanding what is involved in the planning and care of a honeybee hive. Participants were able to explore a variety of thriving colonies of bees and gain an understanding of what goes into keeping colonies healthy and strong. In addition to these two live sessions, Ang put together 9 hours of written and video instruction that is available on demand for our online program: They Keep Bees: Virtual Bee School.

Fabric of Life Marketing Agent, Sara Davis (she/her/hers) owns and operates Oak Hollow Livestock, a diversified small farm in Shelburne. She raises a variety of livestock and poultry and had been considering adding a small number of honeybee hives sometime in the future. Although unable to attend the first session of our summer 2021 beekeeping program, she helped capture pictures and video of the second session.

Serendipitously, about a month later, a swarm of honeybees made a stop in Sara’s garden. Having enough confidence from observing Ang’s second beekeeping session, and not quite enough wisdom to realize she was embarking on a doomed journey, Sara carefully transferred the swarm to an empty hive and hoped they would decide to stick around… And they did!

What’s the Big Deal?

Folks who aren’t honeybee savvy might not realize the challenges of a late fall swarm. In general, bees swarm because they become too crowded in their hive. The majority of the colony remains in the original hive to grow a new queen and continue their life cycle. The old queen and a portion of the original colony set off on a journey to find a suitable new home. This usually happens in the spring when bee populations expand rapidly and there is plenty of food to build up stores of honey and pollen before cold weather arrives. Fall swarms are generally small and do not have the luxury of ample time to build new comb or abundant pollen and nectar to gather enough stores in their new home. Because of this, fall swarms generally do not survive the winter, especially in our cold northern climate.

In an effort to give this late swarm their best chance at seeing the spring, Sara spent hours researching and consulting experienced beekeepers. Sara continuously fed the swarm sugar syrup to encourage them to draw comb, and the bees dutifully brought in as much nectar and pollen as possible before winter hit. Though we are still approaching the late winter stretch, when beekeepers suffer most of their colony losses, Sara is hoping to provide enough support to bring her swarm through to the first dandelion flower of spring.

At last check, the hive was still buzzing and thriving!

Want to Expand Your Bee Knowledge?

They Keep Bees: Virtual Bee School is available to individuals with some honeybee experience. This online program includes three in-depth classes: Hive Anatomy & Expansion, All the Mite-y Details, and Preparing for Winter. In addition to a wealth of easily accessible information, participants will be provided with a copy of Ang Roell’s Apiary Action Plan Guide, as well as direct access to their Slack channel to ask questions and search relevant discussion topics. Ang’s book Radicalize the Hive is also available at no cost.

Pa’s Rag Rug

December 28, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

In this post, Becky Ashenden takes us on a first-person photo journey through the process of re-weaving an old rag rug from her father’s childhood home in Maine.

This story has been on deck for a whole year – my how time flies!

In November 2020, I finally found the time to take on a long neglected project from my father, David Ashenden, who lives in a lovely older house on the Maine coast way “downeast.” He has fond memories of this place from his childhood, as do I.
He inherited several worn out rag rugs along with the property, and after I re-wove a larger one of these for him several years ago, he presented me with this charming little challenge of a worn out rug, in case I had time and inclination. We both agreed it was a much better solution than a dumpster!
Here I have woven some header. I actually put a stick in the first shed of the warp to flatten everything out and make a nice, very smooth edge to start weaving the rug on. And there is my header, all woven. And now let’s start taking that rug apart…

Here I’ve taken the first several picks out and the different colored rags are stuck together, with time and use.
You can see here that the warp is starting to get a little bit long.
I can keep tugging to get this pick out.
Then I can use my scissors to give the old warp a haircut.
I have wound this first bit onto a shuttle, so here we go!
I make a mountain with my finger and step on the other treadle.
And just squeeze it down…
It is so nice to see how it’s already starting.
Now I put a temple on, covering our good work here, but pretty soon we will get a better look at it.
Here is a close-up of the work so far.
This nice Chevron detail separated easily into its two separate wefts, ready to go back into place in the new rug.

This is a close-up look of an especially bad section of this warp.

That shows that even as the rug was wearing out, it was still – for the most part – serving its purpose as a decorative floor cover, continually being walked on. This kind of wear certainly makes it difficult to vacuum!

Here we are, approaching the second chevron stripe, and the big tangled mess.
We need to give regular haircuts now and then, when the old warp yarns become too long to easily pull out the wefts.
When we pull apart some of these “white” rags, we discover that there is some color inside there. Perhaps these rags were 100% light blue when the rug was first made.
Here is a bit of that blue color showing through in the new rug.
Now finally, here is the eagerly awaited big tangle. But it’s not really tangled at all: as you can see, the right-hand selvedge shows exactly what order all of the rags are in, so we will use that as our guide.
How about that? The big tangle came out all in one piece! Now we will put it on the shuttle and proceed with weaving.
Ready to start throwing the shuttle?
But wait! What about all of those pretty colors we were discovering inside the rags? Let’s try ironing these rags out flat so we can see some of the hidden, original fabric on the inside.
But wait! What about all of those pretty colors we were discovering inside the rags? Let’s try ironing these rags out flat so we can see some of the hidden, original fabric on the inside.
But wait! What about all of those pretty colors we were discovering inside the rags? Let’s try ironing these rags out flat so we can see some of the hidden, original fabric on the inside.
Oh boy, what wonderful discoveries! There were obviously many different bits of fabric used here and many of them are just very short pieces, and somehow all of those places are still magically stuck together, so I didn’t tug on them too hard and now we have a big shuttle full of our big tangle all flattened out and ready to make new again in our rug.
And, here’s what it looks like woven up, not much of a tangle anymore!
The original keeps getting smaller, and now we have a little pile of warp shards.
Now that we have entered the tedious (yet kind of fun) ironing out of the old rags, I feel the necessity to continue this process for that middle section of the rug, so it has some consistency to it.
Ooh! – What a lovely pile of ironed ancient rags on the floor. I can only wonder how old these rags might be, possibly 100 years or more old, and what clothing might they represent being left over from whom? We can only wonder.
Now look at those vibrant colors in the weaving!
It helps to hold a foot on the little rug to have something to pull against.
White faded rags turning into vibrant colors!
White faded rags turning into vibrant colors!
Shorter and shorter
Longer and longer
Last chevron bits pulled out
Oooh – such a little bit of the last really worn-out section left, but we can do it.
Here’s a look at the whole underside of the rug on the loom
We gauged the length of the warp just right. It was made from old quills of leftover rug warp that have sat around for many years. You can see a few of my repairs at the back, and how close to the shafts the end of the warp has come.
AND — Here comes the rug off the loom!

The finished rug was hand delivered as a present to my father last winter. It has now come full circle to the same house where it may reside another 100 years!

Re-weaving an old rug is a wonderful adventure I would recommend to any of you out there who weave. If you take this on, we would love it if you would share your re-weaving adventure with us.

Share your re-weaving adventure with us!

How Barbara Revitalized Her Garden

November 16, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

Barbara’s prolific flowers amidst the tomatoes and basil

Over the summer, Fabric of Life was excited to partner with ML Altobelli (she/her) to offer a season long Understanding Your Garden program series. One participant, Barbara Blumenthal, gives us a first-hand account of her experience, and how she directly used her newly learned skills to revitalize her garden.

Barbara says, “This year’s Fabric of Life gardening sessions with ML really transformed my approach to gardening! Even without implementing every bit of advice – which I hope to do more of in 2022 – my yields and the quality of my produce increased enormously.”

Quite a bountiful harvest from just one day in August, all from Barbara’s garden

She has been a home gardener for about 40 years and has been reasonably satisfied with her vegetable harvests. In 2021, she said she decided to make some changes. She began in early spring by laying down cardboard and mulch hay to both nourish her garden and keep down the weeds. She then joined us for our season-long gardening series, which took place both in-person and virtually.

“The most fun sessions, not surprisingly, were the two in-person ones at the Farmhouse in Shelburne, in May and October. ML’s enthusiasm, breadth of knowledge and experience, and commonsense approach to gardening were so helpful and inspiring.”

Early November view of Barbara’s garden, all tucked in for the winter

And inspiration is something Barbara has certainly found through this program! “This fall, I’ve completely redesigned my small garden, digging paths which I filled with wood chips.” Barbara has also changed the structure of her growing area, “establishing slightly raised garden beds, applying mineral mix, wood chips, and grass clippings, leaves, and straw for my garden to winter over.” In her excitement to build her garden soils, Barbara says she “bought a cordless, electric lawn mower with a collection bag so I can use more grass clippings to feed my garden. In my husband’s words: I’m obsessed!”

Barbara also shares that she had to work a bit to incorporate the information from our garden series, confiding that “the wealth of knowledge presented was a bit overwhelming at times, but always logical and precise, and the ability to review the videos of all sessions was very helpful. This program has really enriched my gardening life and enabled me to preserve more food for the winter. It’s also been fun to see how the Fabric of Life garden has improved and truly blossomed during the virtual sessions throughout the growing season.”

Watch our Understanding Your Garden series videos

Ang Roell of They Keep Bees

June 30, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

Ang (they/them/their) started as a backyard beekeeper; they had recently moved from Florida to Massachusetts (in the Jaimaca Plan neighborhood of Boston) when they started seeking out community members and educators to teach them how to keep bees, while they weathered their first long Massachusetts winters.

Ang speaks of their first experiences with bees – how they came to know that this was exactly what they wanted to do, how they have been immersed in the community and profession of beekeeping in the years since, and what their focus is in their work with bees currently. And they share some very interesting facts about how bees minimize toxins in their hive, queens, and how they copulate with drone bees.

Ang will be teaching a two-part in-person series on Saturday, July 31, 2021 and Saturday, August 7th, 2021 around how to build a relationship with bees and planning the care of a honeybee hive to provide confidence in what you will do and in working with bees. They are excited to model how to build a reciprocal relationship with bees so that the current hierarchy of thinking related to species is leveled out. Additionally, we will soon have a virtual bundle available that will build on what you will experience in-person, but can also be beneficial for those who have some experience with beekeeping under their belt already.

Learn More: Beekeeping Series

Kira Keck: Life After the Väv Immersion Weaving Intensive

June 7, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

Kira Keck (they/them/their) was part of the third cohort of the Väv Immersion Weaving Intensive. They graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Fibers; even though they learned to weave in art school they wanted to gain more technical skills and learn more about the craft of weaving. Their undergraduate education focused on theories within fine arts and the metaphors of cloth. As they reflected on what they experienced in the program, they noted that they surprisingly found it very freeing to create utilitarian and functional items.

Their time in the program was anchored by the strong and close relationships that were built very quickly. Everyone was at a point of transition in their lives, with different levels of experience in weaving and different goals for the program, but they genuinely cared about each other and learning this craft.

Kira is currently in graduate school at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Cranbrook has a unique approach to education that gives tremendous freedom for students to bring the skills that they already have rather than providing skill-based courses; the tremendous foundation that Kira gained in the technical skills of weaving through the Immersion Weaving Intensive program has guaranteed that they have a lot to draw from as they work to combine theory and craft in their studies. In looking to the future, Kira sees themself as continuing to handweave and work with the looms and to plan to start selling more and taking on more commissioned projects from those who have seen their work. You can learn more about Kira and connect with them via Instagram @erotic_macrame and via their website.

Eva Gaultney: On Broom-Making

May 13, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

While you may know Eva Gaultney as our Scandinavian weaving teacher-in-training, working alongside of and learning from Becky Ashenden, we also know her for her skills in making brooms from broomcorn and stalks. Long before she ever found her way to western Massachusetts, she was trained in this craft, and when we learned this about her, we could not have been more excited. Eva’s broomcorn making workshops are a tremendous opportunity to come together in the fresh air in an intimate setting – classes are small, limited to 6 – maintaining all that is needed for a safe, welcoming, and warm learning environment.

If you’d like to learn more about this craft, feel free to explore the video she shared with us for our Virtual Barnfest in 2020, and be sure to read more about Eva below. She truly is a wonderful teacher and joyful, knowledgeable, and warm-hearted individual.

How did you come to learn the craft of making brooms from broomcorn?

I learned how to make brooms from master broommaker, Chris Robbins while I attended Berea College. It was my labor position only for a year, but I tried to learn all that I could from Chris.

What is it that you appreciate and enjoy about the process and the end product?

I loved working with my hands, and I felt that I was helping to preserve a unique traditional craft. The movement of weaving over and under the broom stalk is almost meditative for me now. I enjoy coming up with new designs and techniques to try, and once you figure out a couple tricks and understand the basics of working with broomcorn and stalks, then most of the time your imagination is the limit.

What do you enjoy about teaching other people to make these brooms?

I enjoy teaching other people how to make brooms because I want them to feel that this is an approachable craft. It is also fun to teach this craft with the material that originated in this area (broomcorn was first grown in Hadley, MA). I hope I can nurture an interest in the hopes that it may grow and help preserve this tradition/craft.

I like teaching how to make the combo broom because you learn the basic technique, and then you get to practice it twice more. The student will find that the first broom is following along with the instruction, the second is more self lead with occasional cues/reminders, and the third is often independent. I find that this is the best way for the student to pick up the techniques, finally feel comfortable with the technique, and hopefully feel they can continue independently. It is quick and you have a cute and functional set of handmade brooms.

Why are excited to be doing this workshop at Fabric of Life?

I am excited to help in Fabric of Life’s mission to help traditional skills flourish in this modern world.

What level of skill is required for this workshop? Is it possible for children (10 and older) to attend with a grown-up to help?

This is a beginner workshop, no previous experience in broommaking is required. Children 10 and older can participate, but being accompanied by an adult for supervision or assistance may be needed since a sharp knife is used in the process.

Check our program calendar for upcoming broom making workshops!

In Their Own Words: Väv Immersion Weaving Alumni

May 6, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

When Eva, Kiri, and Christine arrived to the Väv Immersion program, they came with an open mind and a willingness to learn from a master in the Scandinavian weaving tradition and from each other. They didn’t expect that they would be met with the opportunity to build a deeper understanding of Scandinavian culture, forge friendships that would carry them beyond their time together in the program, or be celebrated in their mistakes on the looms with such joy and enthusiasm.

While the technical aspects of what one learns from Immersion are far and wide, our alumni often comment that their experience in this time of learning was rooted in the incredible opportunity to build relationships with each other, experience a slower and more mindful way of living, examine the value of being able to create functional and beautiful objects for daily life, and step away from their personal worlds to reflect on what was meaningful to them and to then bring that back into their lives in new and revitalized ways after the program ended.

We’re honored to have a few moments of reflection from some alumni of our Väv Immersion program, speaking to what their experience of Immersion was, what they took away from it, and what they’re doing now.

Kiri Fagen-Ulmschneider (she/her/hers), from our third cohort, is a weaver who makes beautiful and useful things. She is based in Illinois and is building her ‘everything fiber-related’ business on Etsy. She was also gracious enough to share a studio tour with us over the summer, and has a blog that she regularly updates, which includes entries from her time of attending Immersion. You can find her on Instagram @kirimade.

Christine Tsai (she/her/hers), from our second cohort, has continued her weaving as a hobby and is developing her skills and working on how to express things through cloth. She considers it a never-ending exploration of a lifetime that she is excited to be engaging in. You can find her on Instagram @weavingbug.

Eva Gaultney (she/her/hers), from our third cohort, made the move from her home in the South to western Massachusetts after her time with the Immersion program ended. These days she is working closely with Becky Ashenden as a teacher-in-training, and while the pandemic prevented her from the classroom experience, she has been studying historic textiles and learning how to replicate them on the loom, while eagerly awaiting the opportunity to be a part of teaching in-person. She is part of a production weaving initiative to develop wool blankets from local sources, is studying how looms are built and working on how to make them even better, teaching Broomcorn classes for Fabric of Life, and will spend time this growing season learning how to manage the garden at Bassett Road Homestead as part of an educational opportunity with Fabric of Life. You can find her on Instagram @athreadforweavingstuff.

Learn More about Väv Immersion

Fabric of Life

helping traditional skills flourish in our modern world

Book Reading with Peggy Hart

Singing Ukulele Retreat

Meet our Singing Ukulele Instructors

About Fabric of Life

Fabric of Life Hosts Retreat for Black Weavers

A Late Swarm of Honeybees

The Making of a Perfect Swarm

What’s the Big Deal?

Want to Expand Your Bee Knowledge?

Pa’s Rag Rug

How Barbara Revitalized Her Garden

Ang Roell of They Keep Bees

Kira Keck: Life After the Väv Immersion Weaving Intensive

Eva Gaultney: On Broom-Making

In Their Own Words: Väv Immersion Weaving Alumni

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