Resources

Some of Cameron's favorite textile and education resources that range from hyper-local to international in scope.  

California Fibers is a juried group that supports artistic growth and professional advancement for contemporary Southern California fiber artists. California Fibers has an extensive exhibition history in the USA and abroad. Cameron is a long-time member and a past president of California Fibers.

Catskill Weaving School was founded by artist and weaver Samantha Bittman. She offers both in-person and on-line weaving and weaving-related workshops. There are excellent on-line workshops on weave drafting. Textile Topics, an on-line lecture series, was recently launched. The first series focuses on color as it pertains to textiles.

ClothRoads is a global textile marketplace where you can travel to a world of authentic textile culture. ClothRoads offers  beautiful products made by artisans from around the world, along with compelling stories about these artisans and their cultures. ClothRoads also has a great newsletter  "Monthly Calendar of World Textile Events." 

Craft in America Center  is an exhibition and learning space in Los Angeles, and gives voice to many types of contemporary crafts - including textiles -  with exhibits, events and a reference library.  Cameron is one of the artists featured in their Craft Video Dictionary, has participated in several of their exhibitions, and was a recent teaching artist in their Craft in Schools program.

Craft Contemporary in Los Angeles explores the leading edge of craft, art and design, including textiles, and coordinates hands-on workshops that tie in to their exhibits.

Eugene Textile Center is one of the few remaining full-service weaving stores on the west coast, and worth a field trip. Located in Eugene, Oregon, ETC offers classes and equipment, plus a wide array of coned yarns that can purchased on their website. Cameron taught “Hands On Color” at ETC July 26-28, 2024.

Fiber Art Now is a quarterly magazine for contemporary fiber art and textiles. But they are much more than a magazine, and have a robust presence as advocates for contemporary fiber. Their mission is to connect and inspire the contemporary fiber arts and textile community.

Fowler Museum Textile Council is an interest specific member group for the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles that offers unique opportunities to explore the museum’s world-renown textile collections, attend lectures, visit private collections and attend members-only exhibition previews and walkthroughs. Cameron is on their advisory board.

Froebel USA is a site dedicated to the educational philosophy of Friedrich Froebel, who sought to empower human creative potential through hands-on exploratory learning. Froebel USA seeks to re-establish the original aim of Froebel's work as a K-12 design education curriculum "facilitating a new era of human progress where creativity and design become the most valued commodity in our economy." 

Gist Yarn & Fiber is a source for coned yarns  with fibers and colors that weavers will love. The founder of Gist, Sarah Resnick, also has a regular podcast where she interviews members of the weaving community.  The thread that winds through everything she does is "a passion for building systems that directly support farmers, manufacturers, and artists to bring value and beauty into the world."  

Halcyon Yarn is a well-established  source for weaving yarns and more.  Cameron suggests Halcyon as one mail-order option because they offer excellent service, a wide range of products, and donate 5% of your yarn purchase to your weaving guild if the guild has signed up and is mentioned when you place your order. 

Handweaving.net is a digital resource for all weavers containing weave drafts, historic documents, weaving tools and more. They recently added a feature called Draft Editor, which allows you to create new drafts from scratch or edit any existing draft.

Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 is a national initiative to showcase the importance of the handmade, both throughout our history and in contemporary life. It will focus on exhibitions, a documentary film series, digital content, a book, education, and engagement. Cameron supports this initiative through exhibits and programming with California Fibers and Launch LA, both official participants in Handwork.

Haptic & Hue “explores the way in which cloth speaks to us and the impact it has on our lives.” Their series of podcasts is exceptional.

Heddlecraft is a digital magazine designed for weavers who desire a better understanding of weaving and weave structures, and have an interest in creating unique designs and patterns. Each thematic issue focuses on a particular topic.

The Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. is a national organization dedicated to promoting the textile arts. They provide a forum for handweavers, handspinners, and related fiber artists, host a biennial conference and publish Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot magazine. They also produce Textiles & Tea, a series of weekly conversations with “some of the most respected fiber artists in the field today.”

The Long Thread Media Podcast shares “the stories of cloth, thread and their makers.” Another exceptional series of conversations.

Los Angeles Fibershed is a proactive organization working with the concept of bioregionalism. With a focus on fiber, they seek to develop a more intimate relationship with the landscape by listening, sharing knowledge and practicing problem solving in support of the changing bioregion.

Lunatic Fringe Yarns is best known for their “tubular spectrum” mercerized cottons, based on the Munsell color wheel, and now offer 45 beautiful colors in several sizes. They have an extensive range of other products as well, so be sure and check them out! Several of their 3/2 cotton colors are used in ARTSgarage weaving workshops.

Maiwa is many things - a school of textiles, a supporter of artisan crafts, a retailer and a maker of inspirational documentaries. They recently added a range of beautiful linen yarns to their on-line retail offerings. Based in Vancouver, BC, I wish they had a branch in Los Angeles!

Material Encounters “is a space for deep, slow thinking about the social, ecological and material worlds… and seeks to engage with material as a tangible, tactile element as well as its metaphorical, shape-shifting aspects.”

Material Intelligence is a recent online publication. “Each issue takes a deep dive into one commonplace material, used in all kinds of making…An offering to an increasingly digital age, Material Intelligence celebrates the human capacity to understand and shape the physical world around us. “

MidAtlantic Fiber Association represents and supports a community of fiber arts guilds in the greater Mid-Atlantic region and reaches well beyond their region through robust on-line programming and a biennial fiber conference. Cameron will present a keynote address and teach a workshop at their June 26-29, 2025 conference.

Southern California Guild of Handweavers is dedicated to advancing the knowledge and practice of handweaving and textile related crafts. They offer programs and workshops with nationally-known instructors. They also rent looms to members, a very helpful service to weavers just starting out.

The Surface Art Association is a Los Angeles area organization that seeks to inspire creativity, encourage innovation and further the rich tradition of textile and surface art. They offer programs and workshops with nationally-known instructors.

Surface Design Association is a national organization for textile practitioners in a variety of fiber media. They host a biennial conference and publish the Surface Design Journal.

TextileArtist.org is a website for textile artists and art enthusiasts to be inspired, learn from the best, promote their work and communicate with like-minded creatives.

The Textile Blog and Inspirational Magazine are the result of John Hopper’s passion for contemporary textiles. He has a great eye and an inquiring mind, and is increasingly being asked to jury international fiber exhibits. 

Textile Arts Los Angeles is an exciting organization that cultivates and promotes textile art-making and design in the Los Angeles area, bringing together people to facilitate dialogue, share resources and create community.  If you live in Southern California and like contemporary textiles, this is, quite simply,  a "do not miss" opportunity. Their Facebook group is quite active as well.  Join. Right. Now. Cameron is on their advisory board.

Textile Museum Associates of Southern California is the Los Angeles based support group for The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. They present programs on hand made textiles and carpets from ancient to contemporary.  

Vreisis Limited Sally Fox is a pioneer in the reintroduction of  organic naturally colored cottons into our marketplace. She is based in Northern California and is active in Fibershed. Her yarns and fibers are beautiful.

Weave a Real Peace  (WARP) is an international networking organization based in the United States. WARP offers a forum for those who strive to support long-standing textile traditions as a means for cultural preservation and economic development by fostering a global network of  interested supporters. 

Weaver House is a Philadelphia- based yarn shop, textile studio and weaving school founded by artist and weaver Rachel Snack. In addition to other offerings, they have a unique range of yarns made from unusual materials such as banana, kudzu, nettle and more, available to order from their website.

WEBS is a source for a wide variety of coned yarns for weaving. Their 3/2 Valley Cotton is a basic yarn used in ARTSgarage weaving workshops. They hosted several of Cameron’s lectures in 2021-22.

Woolworks! Teaching to the Standards with Fiber Arts is a terrific book from Harrisville Designs packed with ideas and projects that teach math, chemistry, history and geography through textiles. Cameron has a copy in her library and uses it regularly.

Yarn Barn is another excellent  mail-order source for coned weaving yarns and equipment. They carry every single size and color of Supreme Cotton, a lustrous perle cotton yarn spun in the United States, plus most colors of  Brown Sheep sport-weight wool used in ARTSgarage weaving workshops. 

Yarn Bombing Los Angeles is a fiber arts community that engages people both worldwide and locally. YBLA collaborates with city governments, museums, art spaces and public spaces to create thought-provoking community-generated public art installations.