This, That, and Tessellation

I believe I say this often, but where in the world does the time go? My mother, and certainly other mothers worldwide, have said many times "The older you get the faster the years go". Well she was right. Karen and I began planning last Spring for Tommye Scanlin and Pat Williams to teach their Tapestry Weaving class at Sutherland the first weekend in November. Back in april is sure did seem a long way away. But now it is just around the corner and we could not be more thrilled to host this full class. Look for photos and a blog post after it is over! Every day I am at the studio many people wander through. Some are shopping, some just browsing, and some just like to talk. I enjoy meeting all the people and almost without fail ask where each lives. Some come with stories of friends or family members who were weavers, or how they took weaving in fine arts class in college oh so many years ago, and just touch the fabric. I generally spend time each day teaching those who visit exactly what weaving is, how it works, and then demonstrate the art. The other day several groups of people were wandering through and I was busy talking and did not see a couple looking over all the scarves. The gentleman moved along but his wife/girlfriend (or whatever) came over and was asking questions about the math involved in weaving. We discussed it a bit and then she told me her husband (or whatever) was a math teacher and was rather impressed to see tessellations in weaving. Well, let me tell you I had never heard this word. Had to look it up even. Here's what Wikipedia says about tessellation:: A tessellation or tiling of the plane is a pattern of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps. One may also speak of tessellations of parts of the plane or of other surfaces. So, here is what you need to picture in order to know what this means in real life:: honeycomb, subway tiles, bricks on a house. And this is what you need to picture in order to know what this means in weaving:: waffle weave, houndstooth, basket weave. Who knew?? Tessellation is all around us, all you have to do is look.