SVTG History

Member Profile – June 2025    Julie Davis: ” Behind the Scenes”

In this article, Sandra Smith, a newer resident of the Slocan Valley and member of the Guild has captured the story of Julie Davis, a longtime valley resident and founding member of the Threads Guild. Since the early eighties, Julie has been active in most of the building upgrades and many activities past and present. During the first 2 decades she actively participated in the making of raffle quilts, our main fundraiser.  For the next 2 decades, our main fundraiser has been the Yard & Yardage Spring sale.  Julie has coordinated the Tea Room throughout this time.
At the beginning of the Guild, Julie recognised the importance of keeping a record of the activities.  She photographed and made albums to preserve this history.
As a long time Board Member and for her decades of “Behind the Scenes” contributions, she had been honored with a Lifetime Member recognition.
 
Member Profile: Julie Davis
Article by : Sandra Smith


Member Profile – September 2023 
Brenda Elder: Painting with wool and holding everything together

In this article Moe Lyons has captured the story of founding member Brenda Elder.  Brenda has lived across the Slocan River from the Guild at Perry Siding for 50 years. She has been active in the Threads Guild since its conception and has been recognized for her service as a Lifetime Member. Brenda has a passion for fibre arts which include quilting, knitting, dyeing and rug punching, but participates in many other workshops.  Dyeing her own yarns and fabrics has enable her to express her love of colour and facilitates her ‘painting with wool’.  As a board member she has been involved in many improvement and maintenance projects on the building, and is an integral part of the fundraising.  Walking to the mailbox, located beside the Guild, gives her frequent opportunities to check on its ‘health’. Brenda is part of the warp, holding everything together…as the weft of yearly activities and members create the beautiful tapestry that is the Guild.

Member Profile:  Brenda Elder
Article by Moe Lyons

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Thanks to the CKCA for their financial support of  our 2021-2022  History Project

 

CONTENTS

..History Articles by local writers….

    Weaving the Social Web by Moe Lyons  

    JC Bradford - Artist, Teacher, Guild Mentor by Joel Russ

    Patterns of settlement by Rita Moir

    History of the Threads Guild building in two parts by Rita Moir 
    
    "It is always fun!" by Moe Lyons

    The Heart and Core of the Threads Guild by Lesley Mayfield
    
    Pat Morrison: All About the Women... by Moe Lyons

..Celebrating 40 years of Society Status….

..Slocan Valley Threads Guild beginnings...

History Articles by local writers…

“This year the History Committee has been busy going through files, sorting through pictures, and coming up with ideas for interesting articles. Local authors and photographers have been engaged to help document some of our intriguing stories from the last 40 years. Here is one written by Moe Lyons, a description of all the various activities the Guild is involved with that support our community. Stay tuned for more to come.”

Weaving the Social Web: Threads Guild Community Contributions
Article by Moe Lyons, November 2021

In this second article for our CKCA History Project, longtime Slocan Valley resident Joel Russ interviewed over 20 people to capture the life story of founding member JC Bradford. Since this was done posthumously, it was invaluable that Joel’s friendship with JC created a passion in him for accuracy. We appreciate his efforts.

JC Bradford – Artist, Teacher, Guild Mentor: JC Bradford Profile
Article by Joel Russ, January 4, 2022

Rita Moir, longtime Slocan Valley resident, well established author, Guild supporter, has written the following article. This is the third in the CKCA history series.She tells the stories of one of the Guild’s most successful fundraisers, the raffle quilts. These were all designed and handmade by Guild members with raffle tickets being sold throughout the community.

Patterns of settlement: the story of the Threads Guild quilts
Article by Rita Moir, February 2022

The following two-part article is the fourth in the CKCA History Project.Local author Rita Moir has researched and compiled fascinating stories and history of the Threads Guild building. Part One begins with the first Perry’s School from 1908-1921, and follows with the second school, built on the current site, until its destruction by arson in 1937.Part Two begins with the third building on the site in 1937-8 through 1981 when the SVTG acquired the building, until the present day.

A Thread Through History: The story of three schools and the Threads  Guild building (PART ONE)
Article by Rita Moir, February 2022

A Thread Through History: The story of three schools and the Threads Guild building (PART TWO)
Article by Rita Moir, February 2022

Long time valley resident and much respected crafts woman Sheila Griffiths is profiled in this article by Moe Lyons. Sheila is a founding member of the Slocan Valley Threads Guild and a lifetime member, following her myriad of contributions over the years. She has designed and worked with others on fundraising quilts, measured and priced many yards of fabric for Y&Y, and shared her enthusiasm and skills in many craft pursuits.

Sheila Griffiths:  “It is always fun!”
Article by Moe Lyons, March 2022

In this article written by Lesley Mayfield she explores the culture of living in the Slocan Valley in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Young women had already banded together to share fibre arts activities, and the creation of the Threads Guild formalized and solidified their reasons for coming together- to share both skills and camaraderie. The article tells the tale of how the society has endured, grown and thrived through 40 years, staying true to its goals of fostering the fibre arts community.

The Heart and Core of the Threads Guild
Article by Lesley Mayfield, March 2022

The following is the eighth and final article in the CKCA History Project.Written by local Slocan Valley author Moe Lyons, the article profiles another one of the Guild’s long time members , Pat Morrison. She has been a supportive member of the Guild for many years and as you will see, is an extremely talented bead worker, seamstress and crocheter.

Pat Morrison: All About the Women…..
Article by Moe Lyons in collaboration with Pat Morrison, May 2022

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Celebrating 40 years of Society Status…

2021 saw the guild celebrating  our 40th year of being a Society. 

At our hall we held a  fall fundraiser ‘Yarn and Yardage‘ following BC Covid-19 Protocol since the community was invited to the outdoor event. It was a great success. Here is an article to read all about it.   Yarn and Yardage article

This History Page is a part of the celebrations along with a fine article about our Society in the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council Fall/Winter 2021-22 Publication ARTiculate  ‘Connecting threads for 40 years article‘

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Slocan Valley Threads Guild beginnings…

  In 1981 one of the first events the newly incorporated Threads Guild Society participated in, was a Sheep to Shawl competition at the Doukhobor Cultural Centre in Ootischenia.  Two other groups from the area also competed, the Nelson Wednesday Weavers and The Selkirk Weavers Guild who won the competition.

To compete, each team had to: Shear a sheep, card the fleece, spin the yarn, and weave a scarf on a table loom. Each team was judged on a combination of time, quality, and difficulty of the design.

The Guild hosted the same event in May of the next year — it was the first big event in the Guild at its present location.  Members also competed in a subsequent event in Nelson the following year.

  • Begin with shearing the sheep.

  • Then on to separating, cleaning, and carding.

  • Then on to spinning and weaving the wool.

  • Finally, the tough task of choosing a winning shawl.

Historical Glimpse  Banner

We know how fortunate we are to have this beautiful ‘clubhouse’ in which to craft. Our 1937 one-room schoolhouse building has enjoyed many upgrades since becoming a fibre arts center in 1981. We’re excited to be on the brink of going back inside.

Clockwise from front left you are seeing Jane Armstrong, Brenda Elder, Lesley Mayfield, Sharon Block, Julie Davis, and JC Bradford hand stitching a quilt for one of our raffles to raise funds for the Guild. We would like to introduce Jane Armstrong, in case you didn’t get a chance to know her. Jane lived in Appledale between 2005 and 2010. She operated a knitting machine and ran a small business featuring her knitting. She was responsible for the exterior of the building getting painted in 2008.
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