AIS:Bee Warburton Medal, A Story
- Subject: AIS:Bee Warburton Medal, A Story
- From: w*
- Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 10:25:45 -0600
- Priority: normal
From: "wmoores" <wmoores@watervalley.net>
The picture of the Bee Warburton Medal on page twenty-one of the
January 2000 BAIS brought back pleasant memories of both the lady
herself and the weaver of Bee's hatband.
Probably, some readers might have noticed the irises on the hatband
and didn't give them a second glance. Or, some of you out there may
have woven treasures from the looms of Rudi Fuchs, long-time
irisarian and professor of weaving at the University of North Texas
in Denton. Anyway, there is a story here.
Rudi started the iris series by weaving a bolt of iris fabric and
then cutting out squares and making his own Christmas cards by gluing
the fabric to the front of the card. These became such a delight
back in the seventies that Rudi had to start his Christmas card
project in July in order to meet the demand and have them ready
before Christmas. Each year until his death in 1985, Rudi wove a
different fabric for his cards.
On the surface, Bee's hatband looks insignificant, but for those who
know, it tells the story of the labor of love Rudi put into each
article of weaving he did. Now, I don't know if Rudi wove this
'ribbon' especially for Bee's hat, but I do know that he wove
numerous tapestries (hangings) for many iris lovers. I have two of
these plus the cards, a poncho, vest, a bath mat, and a pillow.
The material for Ben Hager's iris coat was probably the most famous
item Rudi wove. Rudi sent Ben the material and Ben took it to a
tailor to be made into a coat. Ben wore the coat to the next AIS
convention, but the coat was not the hit Rudi had exected. Rudi had
discovered that the tailor had made the coat with the fabric showing
the wrong side out. After the convention, Ben took the coat back to
the tailor and made him re-do it. It was perfection, then.
I know Rudi would be pleased with the Bee Warburton Medal. This
little piece of weaving on Bee's hat commemorates Rudi as much as it
does Bee.
Walter Moores
Enid Lake, MS 7/8
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