It’s been a beautiful summer here in Minnesota! While our Scandinavian Weavers group doesn’t meet during the summer months, individual weavers have been busy with all sorts of creative activities.

Holly Hildebrandt wove a tapestry for her wedding anniversary. “For our honeymoon back in 2021, we had to keep it more local than we would have liked because of Covid” she explains, “but ended up having the most magical time in Lutsen and Grand Marais. The North Shore has always been very special to both of us, having grown up in Duluth. We stayed on the ski hill in the middle of summer, when Moose Mountain was covered in wildflowers. This June we recreated our honeymoon and returned there. I got to work on the tapestry with the mountain in view and then again at the lake.”

Holly also took on a weaving commission for a friend’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. “The different colors represent significant life events – the births of the children, weddings, grandchildren, deaths of parents, places they lived, pets. My friend – their son – sent me a spreadsheet of events. I simply translated it into fiber,” Holly explains.

Holly says, “Their timeline created such a beautiful composition. Just such a neat way to visualize their lives together!”

Abbey Nielsen has been busy carving and painting heddles for traditional Norwegian band weaving. Can you pick a favorite?

Don’t these make you want to learn band weaving?

Abbey also wove some wonderfully nubby plain weave on her rigid heddle loom, displayed here among the summer flowers. 

Patty Johnson, who is a master of Swedish weaving, wove this lovely blue piece on her drawloom.

Patty also hosted a day of indigo dyeing at Color Crossing in Wisconsin. Mary Skoy took the opportunity to make a gift for a friend’s cabin.

Alla Hale spent the summer converting a shed in her backyard into her very own weaving studio. “My husband and I even dug a 50′ long 20″ deep trench to run electrical to the shed,” she says, “so that I can weave past sun-down.”

“I bought Jan Johnson‘s first loom from her, an 8-shaft Kessenich, to put in [the studio],” Alla reports. “I’m slowly gathering chairs, shelving, and other furnishings. I’m also considering what color to paint the interior. I am taking suggestions if people have opinions! I’ve been working on a rag rug that shows the elevation profile of Moose Mountain as my husband ran it during the Superior Ultra Marathon a few years back.” (Yes, that is the same Moose Mountain that inspired Holly. Minnesota is full of natural beauty!)

Judy Larson wove a set of towels 8/2 and 6/2 cotton, using a twill draft from Handwoven May/June 2021. “I even got one of my Swedish family visitors to weave a stripe!” she reports. “It was a great way to play with color combinations.”

Another summer project by Judy were these woven paraments. “I wanted to have the [Theo] Moorman graphics work with a monks-belt background,” Judy explains. “I figured out several ways it didn’t work before I was successful! The graphics are woven horizontally, so my monks-belt blocks actually go vertically. This was a project where being stubborn was both good and bad, but figuring it out was a great puzzle. Since I had added two shafts for the Moorman, the back also had a different look than usual monks-belt blocks.”

Lori Labs enjoyed weaving the “Viking Twill” towel pattern from Handwoven magazine as part of a Scandinavian Weavers group project. (See previous blog post). She wove these for her own home in beautiful shades of green and blue.

Fortunately, Lori’s dog Cash gave the towels his seal of approval!

Stay tuned for Part Two to see more summer weaving!

Many thanks to Norway House in Minneapolis for hosting our retrospective exhibit “Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest” and to the more than 1,000 guests who visited.

We were sad to see the colorful weavings come down from the walls but heartened by the many kinds comments written in the guest book. We were especially touched when guests reminisced about the weavers from the Scandinavian tradition in their own families:

“My maternal Swedish grandmother wove rag rugs.”

“My grandmother studied Scandinavian and specifically Norwegian weaving and it’s very cool to see her techniques here!”

“My mother was a spinner and weaver…She would have loved Vibrant Traditions. Going through your exhibit was like spending the day with my mother…”

“My father was a Weavers Guild member for many years. He is smiling.”

Remember, you can always visit this page on our blog to see photos of each weaving in the exhibit, along with artists’ statements.

Vibrant Traditions: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest

If you haven’t visited Norway House yet, plan to stop by. We especially recommend their weekly Hygge Happy Hour! (Thursdays from 4:00 to 8:00 PM.) Follow along on social media to learn more about the many programs , classes, and exhibits.

https://www.norwayhouse.org/

Everyone visiting the new exhibition at Norway House, “Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest,” is struck by the intensity of color and texture on the walls lined with weavings. Carstens Smith, Education Coordinator at Norway House, stood in the center of the gallery and said seriously, “You really have to come in person. You can’t capture it fully on film or video.” So you should come!

Another reason the exhibit is so striking is the amazing work of the team that installed the show. Three days were scheduled to fit the 49 submitted pieces into the gallery. Three veterans of many exhibition installations — Beth McLaughlin, Phyllis Waggoner, and Susan Larson-Fleming — took the lead, laid out the weavings, and hung them beautifully by the end of the first day! Beth Detlie and Peg Hansen provided crucial support; they prepped the tangled hanging devices and made runs to the hardware store for supplies. 

On Wednesday Melba Granlund came in to set up her warp-weighted loom, the centerpiece amid the visual feast of textiles.

The installation team did a magnificent job of arranging weavings that worked together, and enhanced each other in terms of color, size and texture. They used every inch of space to advantage. The result is exuberant.

In this narrow area between two windows, Nancy Ellison’s shaggy rya is a stark contrast to Patty Johnson’s complex piece woven on a drawloom.

Nancy’s seat cover was woven in rya, or pile technique, and she used unspun locks of wool in the natural colors of her Icelandic sheep for the knotted pile. The piece is thick and rough in texture. It is a stark contrast to Patty Johnson’s refined weaving below it, with smooth linen yarn and woven on a complex loom where pulleys pull up threads to create the floral pattern.

Description of Nancy Ellison’s “Sitting Cozy“
Description of Patty Johnson’s “Traditional Flowers“
All the pieces in the show

Variety is a hallmark of “Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest.” Come to Norway House to see all the techniques and materials and colors used by members of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group. Let us know your favorites!

Vibrant Traditions: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest

Norway House and the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota present an exhibit of 49 contemporary and traditional weavings in the Scandinavian tradition

Norway House
913 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404
January 31 – April 6, 2025 

Free for members of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and Norway House; all others $5.
See the Norway House website for the building hours of operation.

Bio: Judy Larson began weaving when her mother got her great-grandmother’s loom out of the grainery 22 years ago. She was given a used loom, and began her learning journey, always ready to take on a challenge. Primarily a rug weaver, she enjoys using fabrics in creative ways and exploring Scandinavian weaving traditions. Retired from teaching elementary school, she now teaches weaving and enjoys sharing her passion with weavers of all ages. Judy Larson now has a weaving studio at Color Crossing in Roberts, Wisconsin where she weaves on an 8-foot Cranbrook loom and a 10-foot Glimakra loom. She incorporates several different techniques such as shaft switching, taquete, and rosepath into her weavings. She is the leader of the Rag Rug group at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, and is active in the Scanweavers and New and Occasional Weavers study groups. Weaving encourages her to play with color, texture, design, pattern, and materials. There is enough challenge and new learning to keep her busy for years, creating pieces that are uniquely hers, while still being functional. Combining design, color, and durability always leads to wonderful surprises, even when carefully planned out, which keeps weaving both amazing and satisfying.

Description: Experimenting with Rölakan techniques, I connected many small pieces of leftover quilting fabrics into dark, medium, and light wefts. The wedge design enhanced the color interactions, and made the design very intriguing as the weaving progressed.

About the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group: If you have a question about weaving, the Scanweavers group has someone who knows the answer, or someone who knows where to research that answer. The collective knowledge of these weavers is a treasure trove!

Email: chjulars77@gmail.com

Meet the artists of the Vibrant Tradition exhibit! The title of each piece is linked to a page giving details on the artist and her work.