The Flesberg Study Group concluded their exploration with an exhibit of Flesberg weaving in the Gustafson Gallery at Luther College’s Center for the Arts, October 10 – 22, 2005. 

From the catalog: 

In the summer of 2003, the Vesterheim Museum/Norwegian Textile Guild Textile Study Tour to Norway visited Lågdal Folk Museum in Numedal.While there, tour members were shown coverlets from the small community of Flesberg. These coverlets proved to be a combination of typical Norwegian three-shaft krokbragd and the rosepath threading more commonly used in Sweden.Immediate interest developed among tour members, and inquiries were made about this local tradition.Fortuitously, meticulous documention had already been undertaken.

In the course of a four-year project that began in 1991, the Flesberg Farm Women’s Organization (Flesberg Bondekvinnelag) researched their community coverlet tradition, gathering a collection of 30 historic textiles from farms in their area.In 1994 they created a booklet of samples and drafts based on these 30 coverlets, each named after the farm with which it was associated.They called their local tradition, and their booklet, Flesbergplegg.

In 2004, the Flesberg Farm Women’s Organization was kind enough to share their traditions and their booklet with Vesterheim Museum and the Norwegian Textile Guild, providing a basis for the Flesberg Study Group. The group of 27 weavers studied the Flesberg patterns independently for more than a year, and is pleased to present a selection of their results, both traditional and contemporary, in the Exhibit of the Flesberg Study Group.

It was a varied and colorful exhibit, and one that added new textile fans. Kate Martinson, a professor of Textiles at Luther College who mounted the exhibit, was impressed. “Our students were intrigued by the complexity of the patterns and the color work. For me that was a great thing, as colleagues were not kind to or supportive of fibers.”

The titles of three pieces referenced the pattern names from the Norwegian booklet, which were taken from the Flesberg-area farms where the historical coverlets were researched.  

Norma Smayda
“‘Ørstein’ Norwegian blanket chest cover”
19” x 33”.  Warp: 12/6 natural cotton. Weft: Rauma åklegarn, Klippens åsborya. Sett: 6.3 epi (25/10 cm)

Norma Smayda
“Ørstein, Håvardsrud, Væråsmogen”
19” x 23”. Warp: 12/6 natural cotton. Weft: Rauma åklegarn, Klippens åsborya. Sett: 6.3 epi (25/10 cm)

Robbie LaFleur
“Norwegian Sunshine II” 
28” x 37″. Warp: linen. Weft: jute yarn and silk fabric strips. Sett: 6 epi

Katharine Dickerson 
“Futon Cover for a Yurt”
75” x 115”. Warp: linen. Weft: wool. Sett: 8 epi

Jan Mostrom
“Flesberg Rag Rug”
27 “x 45”. Warp: 12/6 brown seine twine warp. Weft: 1⁄2” homespun cotton fabric strips. Sett: 5 epi.

Notes:  I used a temple when weaving and added weight to my beater.  I beat on an open shed and then again on a closed shed.  After taking the rug off the loom, I used a sweater shaver to remove frayed threads.

Syvilla Tweed Bolson
“Flesbergplegg Variations”
23” x 48”. Warp: Swedish cotton seine. Weft: Norwegian spelsau wool. Sett: 6 epi

Wendy Sundquist
“Small purse”
6” x 9.5”. Warp: 12/6 black cotton. Weft:  wool yarn. Sett: 6 epi 

Notes:  I have always been fascinated with small purses.  These purses seem to have originated in the days when garments had no pockets and an external pocket or bag was required to hold small personal items.  This piece is constructed with a Flesberg panel attached to a ‘vadmal’ inner bag.  It is lined with a duponi silk fabric.  The strap is card woven, not unlike some of the early straps on ‘pocket bags’.  It is finished with a sterling silver clasp.

Jan Kroyer
“Adaptation of Flesberg # 28, Wingestad #3”
15” x 27”. Warp: cotton. Weft: wool (Åklegarn). Sett: 6 epi 

Barbara Stam
“Nordic Nights”
19″ x 20.5″. Warp: 70/3 linen (navy). Weft: 50/50 silk and wool (navy, beige, light blue). Sett: 12 epi. 

Notes:  My studies and experiments in the Flesberg technique were aimed towards a functional garment.  It was a challenge to find a fine but strong warp and an appropriate sett that would show the Flesberg designs but not be excessively heavy.  I also discovered that color choice made a huge difference in the visibility of the designs.  This vest uses portions of drafts # 16 (border I), #20 (border I), #25, #27 (border II) and #28 (border II).

Nancy Ellison 
8” x 12”. Warp: 12/6 black cotton.  Weft: wool in natural sheep colors. Sett: 6 epi. 

Notes:  After raising natural colored sheep for 27 years, I have a fascination of using various shades of sheep colors and enjoy them more than dyed colors.  My Shetland and Icelandic sheep have similarities to Norwegian breeds.  Some of the yarn I spun by hand, some had been spun by a mill.  One of the yarns I spun from Villsau wool I got in Norway while on a Vesterheim textile tour.  I spun the yarn on one of the antique Norwegian spinning wheels in my collection.  I used drafts from the numbers one and seven study group patterns.