This summer the wall hanging I entered in the annual National Exhibition of Folk-Art in the Norwegian Tradition at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum won “Best of Show.” It was a great surprise and honor! However, I have to confess that while the front is lovely, the back of the piece has hanging threads from the pattern that are not woven back in! Having been taught by conscientious Norwegian teachers, I KNOW that the back should be as lovely as the front. I was just busy this year. I intended to line the whole back before taking it to Iowa, but forgot until it was too late. So I had to accept a scolding from Ingebjorg, who told me the story of her friend who wove a tapestry and left loose threads on the back. The beautiful tapestry was displayed in an exhibit and attracted a buyer, who was willing to pay lots of kroner, thousands of dollars. However, when the buyer saw the unruly-looking back with loose threads – you guessed it – he lost interest. So now I feel even more guilty! But since I am keeping my messy-backed piece for myself, I’ll bet I just might not get around to those threads…..
