I had the privilege of meeting a third-generation handweaver this morning at the Museum of Appalachia in East Tennessee. Stella Lamon had her loom set up in order to demonstrate the artform to schoolchildren and parents. She had a variety of woven placemats, tablerunners, and more that she'll continue to sell this weekend at the Museum's Homecoming festivities. Lamon proudly displayed a coverlet that her late mother, Stella Jane Nolan, had once woven in the pattern of the Tennessee Blazing Star. The coverlet is made of cotton material for the warp (the lengthwise fibers), and wool for the weft (the yarns that cross the warp). Lamon lives in the Sevierville community in the Great Smoky Mountains and proudly continues her family's tradition of handweaving. She explains that not only was weaving a way for families to provide for themselves during hard times, but it continues as a family business today.
