Join us for 12 inspiring hours of fiber, creativity, and community at the HGA Fiber-A-Thon! This virtual, day-long fundraising event brings together artists, makers, and fiber enthusiasts from around the world for a celebration of the stories, techniques, and passions that connect us.
Tune in live on Zoom or watch via Facebook as we showcase the depth and diversity of the fiber art community. All sessions will be recorded and available later on YouTube, so you can participate live or revisit your favorite moments.
Fiber-A-Thon Schedule
2026 Schedule
This schedule is tentative and subject to change.
| 12 - 1 PM | Anthony DiRenzo | Using spreadsheets to design rep weave. Anthony uses Google Sheets to design and plan his projects, which allows him to test patterns before weaving. This has increased his satisfaction with these projects, saved on wasted warp, and the spreadsheet samples are (almost) as stunning as the final products! |
|---|---|---|
| Danaleah Schoenfuss | An overview of the recent "Weave In, Weave Out" - a fiber art exhibition in New York City where the audience and artists came together to create a shared experience of creativity and community, presented by the fiber artists of IntertwineArts. | |
| Susan M. Lazear | Susan will discuss creating a quick Top clothing pattern for Handwoven Cloth Using Garment Designer software (Windows or Mac) | |
| Suzi Ballenger | Preview of Suzi's soon-to-be-published book on M's + O's! | |
| 1 - 2 PM | Cecilia Ho | Cecilia will share various felting fiber arts projects from the past 17 years, including arts integration with school-age students, recreational workshops with senior adults, and fine craft exhibitions at museums & art festivals across the Southeast. |
| Philip E. Smith | Philip will talk about his work at the Bamiyan, Afghanistan weaving project. | |
| Karen LeBlanc & Veronica Stanley | Karen and Ronnie will share their experience at the Third Shift Festival in 2025, where, in their 12’ x 10’ circular tent, they installed two 8’ x 5’ deer-fencing panels for participants to weave on. Participants loved the opportunity to “play” on the deer fencing! We asked them to sign our participant book – we calculated ~ 150 participants during the night! The project engaged participants from all walks of life, all ages, and all abilities. At the end of the evening, we carefully removed the woven panels, rolled them up, and presented them to the festival staff. | |
| Travis J Meinolf | Travis will give a tour of his small weaving school and describe his journey from pushing a loom around the streets of San Francisco to running his own coop weaving studio, now in his fourth year!! | |
| Dan Steves | Dan will provide an update on last year's session about the legacy project focusing on developments since last year's sessions. | |
| 2 - 3 PM | April Greer | Where Fiber Begins: Living the Thread from Land to Yarn |
| Geri Forkner | After years of hoping to see it, Geri finally visited a full size copy of the famous Bayeux Tapestry in person. She’ll share what it’s really like to stand in front of this nearly 1,000-year-old stitched story—its incredible length, lively details, and the surprisingly down-to-earth techniques behind it. She’ll also talk about what impressed her most as a fiber artist and why this remarkable work still feels vivid and relevant today. | |
| Stacey Harvey-Brown | Guatemalan Backstrap Weaving | |
| Nadine Sanders | The singing weaver singing and playing weaving/spinning tunes | |
| Donna Kim | Donna will share her e-textile works and how can emerging technologies meet textile/fiber art to create interesting and new things. | |
| 3 - 4 PM | Heather Macali | Heather will share work she created while studying textiles and weaving and trace how her fiber practice has evolved since graduating. She will discuss how her path first led to a career in textile design and later to her current work as an educator, while also sharing examples from her current studio practice. She will also reflect on how the HGA scholarship supported her development as an artist. |
| Gail Clement | Gail will share the joys and challenges of teaching a traditional Japanese utilitarian stitching practice to US fiber artists. She will explains the misconceptions and myths about Sashiko and Boro textiles and shares strategies for developing a balanced and nuanced appreciation of this stitching practice. | |
| Carole Leroux | Carole will share her experience as an Intern at Convergence 2024 and as a full-time student at the Montreal College of Contemporary Textiles. | |
| Sofia Pozzi Jauregui | Sofia will share what she has been working on during her MFA, with the support of the HGA through a scholarship. | |
| Marilyn (Terri) P Simms | Weaving on the Move, Terri will share her love of weaving while traveling in her camper. | |
| 4 - 5 PM | Becka Rahn | Becka will share some information about her Convergence classes and a live demo. |
| Jadie Lee | Jadie Lee will share how HGA's Guild Development Retreat helped her small guild rebound. | |
| Maureen Macedo | Maureen will talk about alpaca fiber, possibly felting, or rug yarn making. | |
| Anthony DiRenzo | Anthony will share how he uses his role as New York Guild of Handweavers Newsletter Editor to build community. Inviting collaborators and sharing widely, they have increased their circulation and increased membership! A little bit of how-to, a little bit of how come. | |
| Anna Zinsmeister | Anna received the Mearl K. Gable II Grant in 2009 so she could take a class on drawloom weaving with Joanne Hall. She will show her work on the drawloom. | |
| 5 - 6 PM | Margery Erickson | The Business Side of Fiber Arts - One Weaver's Journey and a peak into what the 3-hour Convergence Session will include. |
| Sally Orgren | Public Engagement Opportunities: Make the Most of Your Weaving Demo! | |
| Connie Lippert | Connie will talk about her upcoming Wedge Weave Session at Convergence. | |
| Barbara Cabral | Cambodian Textiles | |
| 6 - 7 PM | Jennifer Moore | Jennifer will give an overview of her journey in doubleweave over nearly 50 years. From her first initial course in college to graduate school in the early 90's to developing a system of color rotation in block doubleweave and teaching worldwide, doubleweave has been the driving force in my creativity and practice. |
| Mary A. Zicafoose | Mary just did a new installation and will share information about the exhibit and images. | |
| Svetlana Turov | Fiber Fine Art in Modern Interiors | |
| Kristin Crane | Kristin will preview her Convergence session, Creative Journaling for Weavers | |
| Suzanne Michaud Larson | Suzanne will talk for a few minutes about the Mountain Spinners and Weavers Guild and her experience with attending the HGA Guild Development Retreat, and then talk for a few minutes about the upcoming Arizona Fiber Arts Retreat coming up in April. | |
| 7 - 8 PM | Margery V. Erickson | Margery will give a tour of her studio. |
| Mishra Keller | Struggling with hand pain from crafting? Join Mishra Keller for a quick intro to the MELT Method to ease hand pain and keep creating pain-free. Plus, enjoy a live demo of the face treatment that helps relieve headaches! | |
| Erika Hewston | Photographing Your Art | |
| Pam James | Pam James explains why unraveling sweaters for weaving yarn is eco-friendly, budget-friendly and yields a variety of yarns you won't find anywhere else. | |
| Rosemarie Smith | From Handspun to Fabric | |
| 8 - 9 PM | Kwasi Asare | Kwasi will give a 10 minute presentation on the Miniature kente loom. |
| Mariel Collins | Mariel will share a slide show of her work in maximalist mending. | |
| Kwasi Asare | Kwasi will share an artwork and talk about its creation. | |
| Penny Lacroix | A quick highlight of Penny's Convergence classes! | |
| Yunita Ong | Yunita will present the Matrix Scarf, in the pattern of "digital rain". This won an award at Microsoft's internal employee craft fair, and was a simple but effective clasped warp pattern combined with a spot-on color combination. | |
| 9 - 10 PM | Dorothy Bailey | Dorothy will be talking about the goings-on at Catskill Merino Wool farm in Warwick, New York. |
| Katherine Ohara | Kate will be showing us her tiny 1-inch to 3-inch coil baskets made with fiber. | |
| Carolyn Oliver Haushaler | Carolyn will share general information about the American Kumihimo Society and their upcoming 2026 conference, Gathering Threads. | |
| Gigi Matthews | Gigi will talk about attending Convergence 2024 in Wichita - her first ever HGA conference - as an attendee, volunteer, panel host, and tourist! | |
| Marilyn (Terri) P Simms | Weaving on the Move, Terri will share her love of weaving while traveling in her camper. | |
| 10 - 11 PM | Sarah Berry | Growing flax for fiber in the Chicago region, including planting, harvesting, processing, spinning, and weaving |
| Patti Barker | Convergence Fashion Show & Workshop | |
| Meg Stump | Pin Loom Weaving | |
| Marilyn Romatka | Convergence Sessions | |
| Janis M. Johnson | Live from the Portland Handweavers Guild retreat! PHG's annual retreat has happened for many years (we can't remember how many). Join us to learn what we do there and how the event has evolved over the years. | |
| 11 PM - 12 AM | Gigi Matthews | Threading Community - Discover how the New York Guild of Handweavers sparked a multigenerational revival, welcoming makers from every decade of life. |
| Traycee Bosle | Connecting the Past with the Future | |
| Julia Blake | Splayed Hem | |
| Traycee Bosle | Cross Pollination | |
| Mandy Drumming | Behind the Scenes of Textiles & Tea |
Your support inspires fiber artists
12 Hours of Fiber Content
Show Your Support for the Community
Support HGA by participating in the Fiber-A-Thon.
Show your support for our fiber community by registering to share a story, give a talk, unbox a new product, offer a sale. We're open to hearing your creative ideas.
- Honor or memorialize another weaver by sharing their story (donate in their honor/memory and encourage others to do so as well)
- Share why you support HGA
- Challenge viewers to a donation match
- Show-and-tell of guild artwork
- Share a successful guild program
- Challenge your guild members to give each a small amount ($5, $10, $20... small amounts add up to make a big impact)
- Share how your guild was impacted by the Guild Development Retreat
- Share an artwork and talk about its creation
- Share your fiber journey
- Give a 10-minute Thread Talk
- Share a story about how your membership with HGA impacted you
- Share how a story in Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot personally affected you
- Share a weaving tip or best practice
- Give a 10-minute lesson
- Demo a new product
- Do an unboxing of a new product
- Offer a discount or special gift with purchase to anyone who donates to HGA (in the next hour or during the Fiber-a-Thon)
- Share how working with HGA has positively impacted your business
Why Your Support Matters
The Fiber-A-Thon raises critical funds for HGA, an international membership association devoted to educating, supporting, and inspiring the fiber art community. Your participation and donations help sustain HGA's programs - including education, grants, scholarships, and professional development opportunities - for fiber artists of all skill levels.
Spend the day with us, be inspired, and help ensure a vibrant future for fiber arts. every contribution makes a difference.
Help us Celebrate!
Have questions? Want to learn more?
Please contact a member of the staff at 678-730-0010 or HGA@WeaveSpinDye.org.
