Episode 51: Learn To Rest, Not To Quit with SHENEQUA

Henrietta SHELBY

September 08, 2019

I love your creative, artist story.

Anita Prickett

March 07, 2019

This is probably the 10th podcast I’ve listened to and I love them! I have been weaving since the early 1980’s on a loom my dad purchased from a friend. As a child, I had a toy loom I loved (and my daughter and granddaughter have used it too). My maternal great grandmother was a weaver and I have 2 overshot coverlets that have held my heart since I first saw them. It’s such a connection to my history and who she was. When I decided to use the Bernat loom my father purchased, I found a local place and took a class and, of course, fell in love with making fabric. At the time, there were few resources and they were limited in what they had for instruction and materials. The few people who wove often told people “You can’t” because that’s what their instructors said OR their own experience was so limited. I loved when Shenequa said she went home and did overshot when told she wasn’t ready as that is exactly what happened to me. I also loved when she wove fabric based on her grandmother’s blanket as that is in my plan with the coverlets. The opportunities for materials, loom choices, communication, and community have grown so much with the internet. Lis Gipson commented about the availability of materials in the past decade. When I started weaving I could find Harrisville Wool and some 8/2 cotton. I am so excited with what I can find now thanks to the internet.

Textiles have always given women ways to express themselves and their independence, even in Biblical times (Lydia was an independent merchant of purple clothe, Acts 16. In Proverbs 31 the woman selects wool and linen, working with eager hands)! These podcasts are so wonderful to listen to, and to hear how weaving and other fiber crafts continues in this tech world.