It all began when a group of seven women met one afternoon in November 1973 to discuss the formation of a club for people interested in spinning and weaving. Five decades on, the Tzouhalem Spinners & Weavers Guild is still going strong!
To mark this milestone, an exhibit of both past and present work is on display in downtown Duncan in the Cowichan Valley Museum, 130 Canada Avenue. Set up in one area of its Priscilla Lowe Gallery are items representing several events in our Guild’s history. They include a scrapbook with photos and newspaper clippings, teddy bears from the 1991 ANWG conference in Eugene, Oregon, a felt trout and woven paper name tags from the 2017 conference in Victoria, runners and placemats created in 1987 and 2023 for teacup exchanges, plus Christmas cards, a Friendship Blanket, and a binder of Shadow Weave samples for the Guild of Canadian Weavers’ newsletters.
Amazing Colours
There is no shortage of colour in the exhibit! A bathmat with its ice-dyed weft, really tiny cut pile carpets and bags woven from handspun silk, bold hues in a shawl dripping with fringe, and elegant bands on handmade hats.
Tools, Toys & Textures
In the glass display case adjacent to the history table is a drum carder — its spiny cloth safely out of reach from curious hands! Perched on an old spinning wheel sits an adorable monkey. Draped over a mannequin’s saori shift is a cloud-like cape of dog’s hair trimmed with beads. Nearby a knit shawl, hung so both sides of the handmade cloth can be admired. A rag rug, an overshot runner, and a deflected double weave scarf – all fine examples of the different warp and weft yarns weavers use to make each project special.
Daily Demonstrations
As the Museum is open every day from 11 ‘til 4 during the summer, guild members have been taking turns minding the exhibit. Each shift is an opportunity to chat with visitors, some local, others from further afield, to share a bit of information about the project they may be working on, and to answer questions about the group or a piece on display.
