OK, I've been busy!

Really, I have. Since I last posted, I have traveled to:
Medina, Ohio to teach a tartan weaving class
and present a program for the Medina Guild meeting,
Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina to be a Guest Instructor for 2 days,
and Sandbridge Beach for a week with my family!

Whew.

It was all good. I managed to fly out of Dulles airport in spite of the ice and then snowstorm on a day when 40% of the flights were cancelled. The Medina Guild was delightful and I've started a new set of tartan weavers on the road to happy tartan weaving. I sang a program of sheep/spinning/weaving songs for the guild meeting and gave a brief talk about tartan history and design.

I had a great time staying at Laura's house and talking for 5 days - every once in a while, I meet a woman who is nearly my same age and there are chapters of life context that we already share and we can just plunge into the serious female life talk, like sisters. It was fun.

Here is a blurry Laura, feeding her sheep.

She & her husband live in a wonderful old house full of antiques, old stuff. They are 17th century re-enacters,and Laura is an accomplished seamstress. She showed me some truly beautiful clothes she has made - gowns, tartan trews for her husband, a truly hysterical wig made from merino roving! I had to confess that the dress I wear for 18th c. fairs has a zipper in the back... but it's always covered with shawls. I'm inspired to make a better costume now.




We visited the Shaker Museum in Shaker Heights, spent a happy hour in a terrific Goodwill store and she gave me a lesson on making shirred rugs. She has made several - there was one in my bedroom, and a chair pad on this rocker:

I will leave you with some tartan richness and do a separate post about Penland.