Saturday, June 29, 2013

Highlights of our Textile Center Tour

According to the Roman philosopher Cicero, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." He would love the Textile Center, they have both - and more. They have an fabulous library with books and magazines that are nothing short of inspirational. And they have a dye garden - flowers and plants that can be used to dye fabrics and fibers. But they also have galleries with displays of fiber arts and a gift shop with handcrafted items and classrooms with lots of light and a co-tenant (the Weaver's Guild) with thread and yarns for sale and a dye lab that you can learn to use and then rent.

Our tour started in the Textile Center Library where Nancy welcomed us with our library cards as well as a selection of treats. She showed us how to use the online catalog and told us about the library checkout policies. Then she went over how the collection is organized and pointed out the section where there are extra books and magazines for purchase. After that, she explained the layout of the Textile Center so we could take a self-directed tour of the other parts of the facility. We lingered and lingered after that - reading books and magazines, wondering through the galleries and shop and Weaver's Guild, relaxing in the sitting area.

It was a wonderful outing! I know that I personally enjoyed it so much that I completely forgot about getting any pictures for those of you who couldn't come; so the only photo I have is a picture of the book I checked out and the instructions about using the catalog for the rest of the members. (Which reminds me: members who weren't able to come, watch for an email from ctclist about your library card.)

We have very talented members, many of them multi-craftual: crocheting is just the start, many members also sew, spin, weave, knit, quilt, or do other crafts. It feels absolutely wonderful to be a part of the Textile Center where we get a chance to be around other like-minded fiber folk!