Logan County weaving master Dianne Ruff enjoys friendships while preserving art form

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[July 11, 2022]     Recently at the Oasis, Dianne Ruff shared information about her artistry with wheat weaving.

Wheat weaving is a skill that seems to have started in ancient Egypt and is displayed in Egyptian tombs.

Ruff has been doing wheat weaving for the past 35 years, ever since attending her first wheat weaver’s convention. She said, “In 1987 my mother encouraged me to go with her to the National Association of Wheat Weavers Convention in Wichita, KS. At the convention they had classes on some of the different ways to plait (fold) wheat straw into different designs.” The ancient art of wheat weaving soon became her hobby.

The US is divided into three districts with a different district hosting the convention each year, so Ruff has traveled to several different locations to attend these conventions. Ruff said, “I have been to many cities for the conventions including San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Minneapolis, and Boston, among others. In the past 35 years, Ruff has only missed one convention.

Of all the conventions, Ruff says she probably enjoyed Boston most. In Boston, Ruff said, "there is so much history there and the people were especially friendly – always willing to help if we looked like we were lost.”

Through the wheat weaving conventions, Ruff has met many people. She loves going because she has made so many friends from around the world over the years.

Among Ruff’s travels, Ruff and her parents went to Missenden, England, a small town not far from London, in 1995. During that time, Ruff said, “We stayed at the Abby there and took classes from Master Wheat Weavers Veronica Main and Peter Shelley. In that class they taught us how to make threads out of wheat straw.”

In 1997, Ruff was fortunate enough to be able to return to England and take more classes. Through Ruff’s visits to England, she has developed friendships with Main and Shelley, who have taught her so much. Both Main and Shelley have been to conventions on several occasions, visited the U.S. and stayed at the Ruff’s place. Ruff considers them dear friends.

Those who Ruff has taken wheat weaving classes under come from several different countries. Ruff has met and taken classes under Nonie McFarland of Australia, Richard Kulbacki of Canada, Elaine Lindsay from Scotland, Raisa Ramanena from Belarus and Atie Nijenhuis-Britting from Holland.

In Ruff’s travels, a machine she saw while in England caught her eye. She said, “I asked them if could take pictures of the machine and measurements. They said yes, so I proceeded to get the measurements I needed, brought it all home and told my husband, Don, that I needed one!”



Ruff said, “Don built me one that worked perfectly. Since then, he has made 110 machines and we have sold them all over the world. He has machines in Canada, Australia, Holland, England, Belarus, Japan, Mexico, and in many of the states.”

The Ruffs, who were childhood sweethearts have been married for 55 years and Don has made many tools that help Dianne with her wheat weaving. Besides building the machines, Don makes all the tools needed for straw work, including a straw spinner.

 

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Associations that have been formed to preserve the art and traditions of wheat weaving. The Illinois Association of Wheat Weavers (IAWW) and National Association of Wheat Weavers (NAWW) are two associations Ruff is a part of that promote the art of wheat weaving. She is a member and current president of the IAWW, which is dedicated to preserving the historic art of wheat weaving and sharing the craft with future generations.

Ruff is a charter member and past president of the NAWW. NAWW is dedicated to developing, promoting, educating and teaching techniques of all forms of straw artistry to preserve the history and traditions associated with the centuries’ old folk art of corn dollies, wheat plaiting (wheat weaving), and other forms of straw art.

Techniques used in wheat weaving

The art of wheat weaving can be done by various techniques including plaiting, marquetry, Swiss straws, embroidery and tied straw.

The techniques Ruff shared in her presentation are described below:



Plaiting is the technique of folding and bending the straw repetitively into plait or woven patterns. Many different plaits were developed during the height of the straw hat industry.



Marquetry uses bits of flattened straw (sometimes dyed) to form intricate appliqué patterns. During the Napoleonic war, prisoners used straw from their bedding to create marquetry designs on items to trade.

Swiss Straws uses whole straw, split straw, or spun straw threads to create small decorative trimmings. Swiss straw was originally developed in Switzerland over a period of 300 years for the fashion industry to produce trimming for straw hats.

Embroidery used straw splits and spun straw threads to make traditional embroidery stitches on cloth. Throughout history it has been used to decorate clothing and items for use in churches.



Tied straw can be made into many shapes, which is done by tying straws together. Over the centuries, straws from wheat, oats, barley, rye and rice were used for making harvest tokens. Many of these were tied together.

Through sharing these techniques, Ruff and others may be able to ensure the ancient art form of wheat weaving continues to be preserved for years to come.

[Angela Reiners]

 

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