I have been exploring the wedge weave technique since learning it in 1999. Wedge weave is a Navaho weave originating from about 1870 to 1890. All weaving I have ever studied and previously practiced is done in a plane horizontal to the loom. In contrast, wedge weave is woven diagonally to the lines of the loom, forcing the warp (longitudinal threads that dress the loom) out of the vertical, which causes the edges to scallop. This trait, which I find exciting, is actually the reason that the Navaho didn’t practice it longer. Traders and tourists refused to buy it because of its misshapen appearance.

I obtain my colors with natural dyes – mainly indigo, madder, goldenrod and marigold.

Through my work, I attempt to celebrate nature and to connect to the Native American spirit that reveres the natural world – a world that is being lost as a result of climate change and altering the genetic makeup of plants and animals. Is that really what we want?

Connie took one year of weaving classes as an elective in 1975 while an art major at Auburn University. Since that time, weaving has been an important part of her life. Initially attracted to weft face weaves, she made boundweave rugs and wallhangings for years. In 1999 she took a workshop that touched on wedge weave. Since the workshop, she has concentrated on the wedge weave technique. In 2003 her work was in Craft National, Craft National 37, Fiber Directions and Hanging by a Thread where she received third place. Her work is represented in museum, corporate, academic and private collections and has been published in Handwoven, Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot, and Fiberarts Design Book 7 (spring 2004).