2020 update about Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes, or Bertha as we fondly call her: It has impressed the four authors with how popular this book has been, and continues to be. Partly this is witnessed by the royalties from sales that the Weavers Guild of RI receives biannually.
Even more interesting has been the number of letters we receive from weavers across the US and beyond. Often the weaver will include a sample of her weaving, and once a kitchen towel, as thanks for writing this book. Also we frequently see the book referenced in articles in the weaving journals.
The most surprising occurrence happened a year ago. I received an email from a woman in Maine who had a used table loom I might want. She had tried to give it away in Maine, but no one was interested. My first impulse was to say thank you but I had no room in the school for another loom. Then I read her email more closely. She is the great granddaughter of Mrs. MacAllister, who was a good friend of Bertha’s. We quoted Mrs. MacAllister several times in our book.
So we set a date for her to deliver the loom. She and her sister arrived with the loom and a few boxes of assorted weaving stuff, and we spent the better part of the morning sharing stories. They had a photograph we did not have, and we had one to give them. I have a sample book of weaving by Mrs. MacAllister, and they could point to some of the plaids and remember an uncle with a jacket made of that cloth woven by Mrs. MacAllister, etc.
The table loom was dressed with a linen warp, with enough woven to make into a small runner. It has been woven off, washed and pressed and will go to the sisters as a remembrance from their great grandmother.
Bertha’s legacy goes on ….
Norma Smayda October 2020
Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns
At the March 23, 2009 WGRI Meeting, the authors introduced their new book.
WGRI Authors (left to right) Katie Schelleng, Gretchen White, Jody Brown, and Norma Smayda