I think it’s always good to learn new things; it keeps one humble! So off I went to a Swedish Wheat Weaving Class at the Milan Village Art School this past weekend. Boy, did I have a frustrating day and came home with sore cramped fingers/hands! First off you soak the wheat in water and bleach and then start to painstakingly connect the individual strands of wheat in different latticework/plat type patterns. As I worked I was often distracted by the beautiful varying colors in the different strands of wheat (white, cream, taupe, tan, green and yellow). When completed, dried and adorned with ribbon they look quite nice. I brought home 9 samples that will be on display through the fall and then I will give them away to family and friends. They are often adorned with red ribbon, a nod to the red poppies that grow along with the wheat in the fields. One particular design is specifically made as a house warming gift that symbolizes the hope that you always have bread in your home and if you are able to use some of your annual crop for wheat weaving it is a reminder that you had a good wheat harvest. Of course, this was the hardest pattern requiring significant assistance from the instructor.
Over the centuries, most agrarian cultures have adopted some form of craft using what is grown in the field and wheat weaving, known as straw art in Europe, is one of the oldest such folk arts still being taught today especially in areas with a lot of Swedes, think Minnesota! Wheat weaving art was traditionally and still is used for celebrations, harvest festivals, hung as crosses in churches and in mobiles at Christmastime. Another such area folk art I am fond of is seed painting the intricacies of which are on display annually at the Minnesota State Fair. The design, time and patience it must take to produce such art is mind boggling to me. As such, I will refrain from signing up for a seed art class, although a well thought out pattern and one day’s toil would probably yield a lovely piece and look quite nice hung alongside one of my wheat weaving samples. Yikes!