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2019 was an exciting program season for us – filled with new relationships and numerous opportunities for learning and laughing!

 

House Concert with David Kaynor, George Wilson, and Becky Ashenden

We had a fabulous turn out for our House Concert with David Kaynor and George Wilson with an enthusiastic sold-out audience basking in driving fiddle tunes and a few wonderful songs by George’s daughter Nellie. Get a taste of it through our YouTube links here:

Ole Time Southern Music – Song: Bill Cheatum Jan 26, 2019
Swedish Tunes – Hambo Song Jan 26, 2019
Sweet Journeys – a George Wilson Original Waltz Jan 26, 2019

The evening continued with two big pots of soup and snacks followed by a well-attended lively jam session that went on until nearly midnight.

 

Cape Breton Music and Culture

Our Cape Breton Ceilidh with Troy and Andrea was a wonderful afternoon to be remembered. Upon arrival, our 50+ guests helped themselves to a traditional chowder and settled in around festive tables supplied with plenty of oatcakes and squares to go around. Troy and Andrea raised the energy to the roof of Wheel-View’s Farm Store and Farm Museum which turned out to be an excellent location for this party. Roger gave us a fine display of fiddle/violin bows in the process of being made, an involved and delicate process requiring much skill and patience. A demonstration of an authentic “West Mabou Square Set” topped off the afternoon after a wonderful solo step dance demo by Andrea.

 

Logs to Lumber

On March 23rd and 24th, we hosted our first Timber Harvest at Fabric of Life. Eight adventurous participants joined us to learn about how a tree becomes lumber. With the help of our neighbors at Foxbard Farm, we selected several trees – hemlock, pine, and black birch – to build a Timber Frame structure.

We felled, limbed, hauled and sawed our way to 16 sturdy timbers, 15 roof rafters, 2,500 board feet of plank siding and roofing, and 4 round log beams. Jay Clarke of JTeam Sawmill created a pile of sawdust over 2 foot high by 20 foot long in the making of our lumber!

 

Timber Frame Construction

Timber framing is a time honored tradition of building with trees and is most commonly a vernacular building method, given their heft. Jeremy Topitzer of Lyonsville Carpenters instructed and led a Timber Frame Construction course in late May. The course was held at the “home” to Fabric of Life, located on a gorgeous and peaceful rural property on Bassett Road in Shelburne, MA. The weather cooperated fully and the sprawling lawn of maple shade trees afforded perfect conditions throughout our four day course. As Jeremy likes to say, “Perfect is good enough.”

 

BARNFEST 2019

The weather was perfect for our annual celebration and festival, where fabulous fun was had by all. But don’t take our word for it. Read the words of these happy attendees…

I’ve been wanting to thank you for such a great day at the BARNFEST! I thought maybe [my grandkids] would hang in there for an hour or two, and we were there for three hours, happy and engaged the whole time. They spun wool, practiced weaving, made a single-string guitar, danced, made butter, and played in Carolyn’s tubs of corn for probably a half hour! Hannah spontaneously said “I love it here!” as we were walking out of the barn at one point. She is definitely interested in doing the Fiber Frolic….
Laurie, Happy Grandma

I had a wonderful time at Barnfest, learning to fiddle with Annika, watching the weaving of blanket, tablecloth and dish towel, family dancing with Rachelle, waltzing with Bart, making butter, eating together with everyone on the blankets in the yard, listening to singing with Henry and musicians, contra dancing with everyone, Balkan dancing when I could figure out the steps, and everything else the day had to offer!  What a lovely event, beautiful place, and gorgeous day! Such a pleasure to meet so many wonderful folk as we mingled throughout the day!
Doris, Feeling Gratitude and Delight

Insights from Lynn Dole, our committed parking volunteer:

I was impressed by how long people stayed. One of the first people whom I saw leaving I spoke with, thanking her for coming. She said, “Oh no! I’m just putting things in my car!” and I know she stayed for several more hours. I saw her several more times in the course of the day. 

I had many interactions with folks as they came in and out of the parking area. Lots of really positive comments. Some people were attending for the second time and they commented on how much more there was this year. I was really impressed with how persistent people were in seeking us out as they got lost en route and were very proud to say, “We found it!”

 

Väv Immersion

See Tammy’s blog for a detailed journey through the 2016 Väv Immersion class or Kiri’s blog for several posts about the 2019 Väv Immersion class. Imagine being immersed in a beautiful rural environment weaving by day and delving into other textile wonders at night for an extended period of time. Inspired by the weaving class Becky took in Sweden in 1981, this comprehensive course includes challenging projects, extensive theory classes as well as an experience to be remembered for a lifetime. Acquire a deep foundational knowledge and capability of this age old craft as you live and learn in a rural setting at the Farmhouse in Shelburne, MA, with weekly visits to our partner organization, Vävstuga Weaving School in Shelburne Falls, MA.

 

Broomcorn Workshop

Our broom class on October 5 was a grand success. Fourteen students walked away with several adorable little brooms each. Eva Gaultney (current Väv Immersion student) was a delight to all as she walked everyone through the steps of selecting broom corn, and assembling a string of up to three brooms (a whisk broom, pan scrubber & cake tester) in one piece to be cut apart later with big clippers. Learning to use the special broom making knives, kick winders, & jerk string gave a real sense of the broom maker’s trade. We hope to offer this popular class again next year. Stay tuned!

Participants learned the process of broom making and weave their own shaker combo broom. They were able to make one broom through binding broom corn and then weave broom stalks. That skill was repeated three times and then the broom was cut into three parts. There was a cake tester, pot scrubber, and a hand broom. Cake testers were used to check the done-ness of a cake by removing one broom straw from the broom and inserting it into the cake. A pot scrubber is used on pots or cast iron to scrub away cooked on food. The hand broom is used to sweep away small messes.