My aunt Alison Morton, who has died aged 74 following a stroke, was widely regarded as one of the finest linen-weavers – the last in a family of four generations involved in textiles, which included her father, the director of Edinburgh Weavers.
She was born at Stanegarth farmhouse near Bampton, south of Penrith, in Cumbria, the daughter of Alastair Morton, a textile designer, artist and weaver, and Mary (nee Cherry). Alison attended Hawkshead village school and then was sent as a boarder to Calder girls’ school, Seascale, which she remembered as an unhappy time.
After a year at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, she studied woven textiles at Manchester College of Art and Design (now Manchester Metropolitan University) for four years. She enjoyed her time in Manchester and made several enduring friendships. She then worked for five years in industry at Meirion Mill in mid-Wales before setting up her own workshop in Corris in 1976.
Initially she wove woollen textiles but in 1982 she was introduced to flax processing and linen weaving. In 1987 she moved with her then partner, Roger Whitfield, to Machynlleth, Mid-Wales. From that time she almost exclusively wove utility linen.
Alison moved to Ludlow, Shropshire in 1997 and set up a workshop in her house with her two looms. She showed at Chelsea Craft Fair for several years and participated in many mixed shows including at the Silk Top Hat Gallery in Ludlow and the Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire. She hosted annual Open Studio Weekends and in 2012 recorded a contribution to the British Library National Life Stories Collection.
In 2000 she was awarded a grant by the Theo Moorman Trust which enabled her to travel in Sweden for six weeks researching linen weaving and design. She was invited to become a trustee in 2007 and initiated a series of Weaver’s Knot events when previous grant holders met for study days at such places as the V&A Archive or the Whitworth Gallery.
Cycling was an important part of Alison’s life, especially her long summer camping journeys in Scotland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states using North Sea ferries, avoiding any air travel. She was a longstanding member of the Green party. She was forthright, principled, kind and great fun, with a wide range of friends. An adventurous cook and baker, she hosted memorable mid-winter feasts.
She is survived by her half-brother, Andrew, her half-sisters, Joslyn and Rachel, and me.
