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  • 21
    21.March.Tuesday

    10:00 -12:00
    2023/03/21
    TGSW Resource Centre
    915 Dupont Ave, room 205

    Visit the Resource Centre to browse the Library, use the equipment (warping board, bobbin winder, fine drum carder, spinning wheels, floor loom…) and socialize!

    The third Tuesday each month will be a Spinning Clinic. Please let us know if you plan to attend.

    Please note that there is a flight of stairs to access this space, so it is not easily accessible.

  • 23
    23.March.Thursday

    All day
    2023/03/23-2023/03/25
    TGSW Resource Centre
    915 Dupont Ave, room 205

    After a year of meeting at various venues around the city, the Guild is moving back to The Meeting House in Riverdale Farm! Starting in April we will hold our monthly meetings there, host weekly spinning drop-ins on Thursday afternoons (12:30 – 3 pm; come and spin, knit, or do other portable textile work), and have access to our stored print resources. This move will save us the considerable expense of renting space for our book carts, and will provide a stable, familiar, affordable, and welcoming venue for us to gather in person.

    We need help with the following:

    • Come to the Resource Centre and buy some of the books we are culling to make space on the book carts. Lovely books, low prices! Contact Miriam to arrange a time.
    • Check out books and magazines you have been thinking of borrowing—so that we don’t have to transport them—then return the items to the Farm before our summer break.
    • Help us pack! The books and magazines must be packed into tote bags (keeping them more or less together with their neighbours for easier sorting). If you can lend us some sturdy bags or help with the packing, contact Miriam to plan a time. (Label your bags and we will get them back to you.)
    • Drive the books etc. to the Farm. We may be able to bring our vehicles all the way to The Meeting House by special arrangement.
    • Borrow the Guild’s Ashford Traditional or Lendrum spinning wheel and house it for a while. If these aren’t borrowed, we will offer to lend them to the Farm, but again, the move would be easier without this.

    Please sign up by emailing us here and let us know how you can help. Thank you!

  • 23
    23.March.Thursday

    10:00 -11:00
    2023/03/23
    Ontario Science Centre
    770 Don Mills Rd., North York, ON M3C 1T3

    Did you know that our Guild has a very close relationship with the OSC and, most particularly, with the Jacquard loom that is housed there? For decades, Guild members have volunteered their time to care for the loom and demonstrate its working to Science Centre visitors. Guild member Heather Brady is one of these volunteers, and has offered to lead a customized tour for members to see the historic loom in action. The first tour is planned for 10:30 – 11:30am on Thursday, March 23. If there’s sufficient interest, a second tour might be possible…. To reserve you spot on the tour, please contact Heather directly.

REGULAR MEETINGS

MONTHLY GUILD MEETINGS Beginning April 2023 we will resume holding  in-person meetings at Riverdale Farm. We will continue to hold some meetings virtually. Our Member’s Meetings are held from September-June, with a break for the summer. Check out the Calendar for up-to-date information.
If you are interested in spinning or weaving, you are welcome to join us as a guest at one of our monthly meetings.
When: 2nd Wednesday of the month, 7:30 – 9:00 pm for in-person meetings; 7:00 – 8:30 pm for virtual meetings
Where: In-person meetings are held in the Meeting House at Riverdale Farm- come in the gate and keep going past the sheep.

TEXTILE/SPINNING DROP-IN 
Guild members join Riverdale Farm staff to host textile drop-ins at the Farm once a week in the afternoons. All are welcome to watch, chat, learn, or bring a project to work on– it’s totally free! Occasionally we have themes, such as a regular Spinning Clinic. At some of the drop-ins, the Farm provides some equipment, including Lendrum spinning wheels, for visitors to use. If you want to take your yarn home, bring a Lendrum bobbin. Equipment is not available to borrow at all drop-ins.
When: Summer 2023: Tuesday afternoons, 1 – 3 pm (through September 2023) at the Simpson House Porch.
Where: Riverdale Farm, 201 Winchester St., Toronto, M4X 1B8

IN THE COMMUNITY

The Guild generally participates in the following Riverdale Farm events , demonstrating fibre processing, spinning, weaving, and other textile skills to the public. After a hiatus during the pandemic, we look forward to resuming these events this Spring.

FAMILY DAY
Riverdale Farm is a great place to spend Family Day, with lots of fun activities taking place, including weaving and spinning demonstrations and activities that the whole family can enjoy.

SHEEP CELEBRATION
Riverdale Farm opens its doors with the farm’s popular Spring Festival at which Guild members use the fleece shorn from the farm sheep to demonstrate the skills needed to wash the wool, prepare it for spinning, make yarn, dye it, and weave it into cloth. Come and watch the process, from sheep shearing on!

FALL FESTIVALS
See the Guild in action on the second weekend in September at the Riverdale Farm Fall Festival, and at the Cabbagetown Festival too!

More information on Riverdale Farm.