ShuttleBirds Post Script

My return to Black Mountain after the excursion to Shuttlebird's in Spokane was marked by days away from the computer.  There had been little to no internet access while on the train but I did have some at the stops I made or in the rail stations along the way.  There was more than a mountain of work waiting for me when I got back and my beautiful granddaughter came for a week-long visit that filled the free moments with baking cookies for Papa, splashing in the wading pool, making Pigs-in-Blankets for supper when we weren't eating cereal, yogurt and other yummies (although she told her parents that we never fed her) and playing the the notable girl-next-door.

While I was gone, I looked pretty much like this:  
But once back home, I was glad not to be carrying
the 50 pound backpack, cooler and computer
that had become my constant companions.

Black Mountain had not been sitting still while I was gone, either.  It was time to tally the hours our tatters had spent tatting, teaching and demonstrating around town.  It's remarkable what kind of time weekly meetings can produce.  In 1 year, Thread Bears totaled almost 400 hours of tatting as a group, more than 50 hours teaching each other and about 100 hours demonstrating in a variety of venues.

This past January, we saw the creating of a spin-off group (no pun intended) known as the Tuesday Tatters.  A number of the participants belong to both groups.  This means that participants logged an additional 200 hours or more tatting in 2014.  Pretty remarkable for a rural community.

And while this area is rural when compared to places I had been in the past month,  Western North Carolina is definitely a craft community.  There are craft and folk schools throughout the mountains, so it's not too much of a surprise that this could have happened.  This area is rich in spinners, weavers, dyers as well as quilters, knitters and lace-makers.  In Black Mountain alone there is a quilt shop, a yarn shop and a general fabric outlet that even carries some tatting supplies. Impressive for a community of less than 8000.

I am still trying to assimilate what I learned in Spokane.  Part of it revolves around friendship and camaraderie, part of it around technique, part of it is the learning process that involves being not only a student and participant, but also a teacher.  I thoroughly enjoyed every moment!  I hope to do it again sometime!