Workshop Dates and Times: November 20-21, 2026, 10 AM - 4 PM

This two-day workshop focuses on weaving from 1876 to 1976. This workshop is a hands-on extension of the lecture “Near History: Weaving from 1876 to 1976,” giving participants the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of history and weave some of the fabrics discussed previously. The workshop will be weaving interspersed with talking about the various structures used, and is in a round-robin format. In a round-robin, each student prepares a loom with an assigned structure. During the workshop, students have the opportunity to weave on each of the other looms to create their very own swatch. At the end of the workshop, the warps are cut off, the samples separated, and the students receive their swatches to save in their personal sample book. Participants will warp their looms in advance from drafts sent to them and will be expected to have their own sample woven.

Skill Level: any

Maximum Number of Participants: 25

Materials Fee: $25, payable to the instructor. This fee covers a class notebook, page protectors to hold the woven samples, copies of all the drafts, including class analysis ones and all the drafts on the looms, tags to mark each person’s weaving, and a bibliography.

Instructor: Marjie Thompson

Marjie Thompson enjoys being “stuck”in the pre-20th century weaving world. Her focus is the textiles produced both at home and by the professional weavers. Marjie enjoys adapting these weaves to contemporary colors and uses. She was the coordinator of the Complex Weavers “Early Weaving Books and Manuscripts” study group, past president of NEWS, a past Dean of the Weavers’ Guild of Boston, past president of Complex Weavers, an active guild member Weavers’Guild of Boston, past president of the New Hampshire Weavers’ Guild, and a member of many study groups including Cross Country Weavers. Her woven pieces have received the HGA award, Handwoven’s Weaving for the Home Award, and Marjie is one of a handful of weavers awarded the “Weaver of Distinction” title from NEWS in both the gallery and fashion shows. She is the co-author of Forgotten Pennsylvania Textiles of the 18th and 19th Centuries, The Huck Pattern Collection, Miniature Patterns for Weaving by Josephine Estes, and the editor of The Gartner Manuscript. Her articles have appeared in Weavers, Handwoven, Complex Weavers Journal, Shuttle, Spindle, & Dyepot, and The Spinning Wheel Sleuth’s Loom Supplement.