By now you will have heard of the death of Verda Elliott this past Monday. Verda was a fabulous weaver and a generous friend and mentor to many of us.
I first met Verda when she was well past middle age, but at that time she was still a great creative force in the weaving world and continued to be so for many years. Her work on the seventeen basic pattern types and on moiré weaves will stand as an important part of the weaving canon.
I wish I could find one of the many pictures I have of Verda, but they are proving hard to locate on my computer, so instead I will show you one of her drafts. In the 1990's Verda lived in Hendersonville, NC, just half an hour from me, and while she was there she started a study group which in its early days was a network drafting group but eventually morphed into a general investigation of all things drafting-related. Her energy was the inspiration and driving force behind this group.
In my study group file, I found the following draft, dated 1991; she created it in Design and Weave, a program no longer supported on present-day Mac and Windows computers. It uses a function called Ensemble, which Verda explains in her notes. Click to enlarge. It's a perfect example of her innovative thinking.
To say that Verda will be missed is an understatement. Of course her family and many friends will miss her. As long as there are weavers who delight in the mysteries of weave structure, and value the sharing of their discoveries, Verda will be with us.