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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

Buildings as Craft

January 29, 2021 / FoL / Comments Off

Jeremy Topitzer of Lyonsville Carpenters sources material for and builds structures within his community. Timber framing, by design and nature of weight and substance, provides a deep sense of connection to place. Two years ago, Jeremy worked with Fabric of Life to host a workshop on building a timber frame structure at the Bassett Road property. He took the time before that workshop to share why he does what he does. Gratitude to Jennifer Martin, our former Program and Partnership Coordinator for capturing this conversation back then.

“I’ve been thinking how old barns sequester carbon” – keeping old buildings and their timbers functional, dry, and solid means that new materials are not needed to sustain the structure far into the future. And when they are damaged, restoring them continues to sequester carbon. And if a building does need to come down, then intact timbers can be saved and repurposed in another structure, ideally nearby. By striving to use original material, we can almost guarantee that it is local. Buildings in this region were built with what was available locally.

“As craftspeople, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to continue this methodology and mindset. I see the importance of recognizing the global picture of the craft we practice — whatever that may be.” Local timbers of spruce, pine, hemlock, oak, birch – they all have function and purpose in buildings meant to stand the test of time. Jeremy says that for him, studying the impact of his choices adds to a mindful business practice. What matters beyond me? Where does what I do fit in?”

The Big Picture.

Timber frames are rooted in age-old techniques, where each structure is designed according to need and site constraints. In contrast, most modern builders are using carpentry tools and building techniques which were developed from manufacturing processes of the 1950’s.

“I’m using tools and techniques that few other carpenters do. On a daily basis, I pull out a handsaw, plane, and chisel. It’s as important to preserve craft as it is to preserve buildings – the healthiest part of our culture is hand-craft – that which is passed down from human to human. While this may not be the most lucrative and is not often seen as saving the world, it is in the sense that you are humbling yourself to something. Lack of humility is the reason were in the mess we are in globally. Confining yourself to craft curtails egoism and in that way, through the practice of craft, you are helping to save the world.”

“Through restoration, I witness the craft of the framers before me. I am duplicating and imitating what other builders, whose buildings have stood the test of time, have done before me. I may be 200 years too late, but I’m still learning from them.”

Ashfield Barn, Hand hewn spruce, 1830ish. The East and South walls are getting extensive reconstruction.

The 2×6 stud framing that was added 60 years ago is now gone and the original horizontal wall girts will be reproduced. Scarf joint connects existing structure to new.

We achieved lift off and the rotten substructure was removed.

Cooking on the Wood Stove with Becky Ashenden

January 12, 2021 / FoL / 5 Comments

Becky is the founder and executive director of Fabric of Life, as well as the owner of the Vävstuga Weaving School. Sharing a meal with her is an opportunity to revisit the simple and joyful things of life, and to be reminded that things of beauty come in many forms – from the company you keep, to the local farmers and craftspersons around you, to traditional ways of cooking, that can make an evening meal fill your belly and warm your heart.

One of my favorite things about winter (there are many), is cooking on the wood stove. Cooking with a wood stove is an opportunity to slow down after a busy day and it helps to keep our home warm and cozy.

Here we have a mixture of green and yellow beans from our garden, along with a nice large onion from our amazing Natural Roots CSA in Conway all run by horsepower. And I have just thrown in some frozen cherry tomatoes. It’s so easy to pop these in the freezer during the summer months when you can’t keep up with eating them from the garden.

This is a pot of cooked up Einkorn (an ancient kind of wheat), from our treasured Pioneer Valley Heritage Grains CSA offering all sorts of locally grown dry harvest produce, including rice.

And I also have a large and lovely leek sizzling up in the cast-iron pan directly over the firebox where you get the highest heat. I added just some of the Einkorn to the leeks, I didn’t know I was going to do that but here it looks kind of pretty. I will save the rest of the Einkorn for another dish later in the week, maybe a pot of stew.

My friend and bandmate Addie of Real Pickles fame turned me on to preserving parsley ground up in the food processor with olive oil, and kept in the refrigerator (as long as you put enough olive oil on top to cover it to keep the air out). Parsley is super green and healthy, and adds a great flavor to pretty much any dish. Speaking of pickles, I have made my own spiced pickles here from our garden cucumbers, so I had a thought to slice them up and throw them in with the leeks and einkorn.

Now we have added a pound of local, certified organic grass fed beef from Wheelview Farm, also on the hot left side of the stove directly over the firebox. The fun thing about a woodstove, is that instead of turning the heat down, you just shove your pan to the right, and there is plenty of room for lots of pans. Or just have a trivet to put your pan on!

: One…

: Two…

: Three…

: Flipped!

All week I have been wanting to use potatoes and although I don’t yet know how this will tie in or what it will be a part of, or if they will be all by themselves, at least I have sliced them up with the cheese slicer. Nice thin little slices that cook up quickly. Into a pan they go, right on top of some nice hot peanut oil-sizzle sizzle. You can see that the darker colored ones might be cooked through by now, but it’s always a mystery what is happening on the backside. About those potatoes – I have discovered a tricky way to flip them all over it once rather than trying to pick at them one at a time with tongs. Simply slide them all into a fresh pan. Then I quickly flip them into the first pan which is still hot, so now they can continue to sizzle on the other side!

Although things are getting closer to being cooked I’m still not quite sure how this is going to end up. I’ve decided to put a nice large platter in the oven to warm it up, so it doesn’t cool the food off; I received this platter in trade many years ago at a craft fair for woven goods.

Originally I thought I was going to serve this meal in separate serving dishes but I’ve decided to use one of my beautiful large platters that are seldom used now. Here is a new approach that I came up with for serving just now. I make a nice painting with all of the food, starting by plopping the beans and onions and tomatoes into the middle of the platter. Make a new middle and add the ground beef. And make another hole in the middle of the beef and add the einkorn and leek mixture. And what to do with the potatoes? A nice fresh potato chip ruffle around the whole edge. How did I decide what order? It’s all about the color; I did not want the two greens next to each other, it’s much more dramatic to have the dark color in between.

And now the complete table setting, with placemats & napkins from my production weaving past, along with beautiful black stoneware plates that I purchased many years ago, along with amazing “New Mexico” blue glass tumblers by Josh Simpson, also done as a weaving trade many years ago, as well as the stoneware water pitcher.

There you have it, a whole platter of very simple food really, mostly from our very own garden. I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between eating all of these healthy vegetables and experiencing a healthy feeling in the entire body. And the addition of a beautiful and simple table setting that reminds me of the wonderful craftspersons and friends that I have met over the years adds to the feeling of health and joy as we share this meal.

Fabric of Life

helping traditional skills flourish in our modern world

Category: Uncategorized

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

Buildings as Craft

Cooking on the Wood Stove with Becky Ashenden

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