Sandwich Historical Society
4 Maple Street * PO Box 244
Center Sandwich, NH 03227
603.284.6269
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"OUR WOMEN OF SANDWICH"
(2020 Summer Virtual Exhibit)

Picture

ROBERTA AYOTTE


Picture

Roberta and Robert Ayotte ~ 1975


Roberta Ayotte moved to Sandwich in 1967. She and her husband Bob bought the [former] Quimby School and opened "Handweaving and Much More; " a weaving studio and gift shop they operated over 25 years.  ~ Roberta was a very talented weaver who created thousands of yards of handwoven fabric during her hard-working career here in Sandwich.
 
Sue Rowan
July 2020 
Picture

Hand-woven Vest 
Circa 1975


Hailing from Worcester, MA, Roberta met Robert at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI in 1954.  Four years later, they graduated (Roberta received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Textile Design and Robert a BFA in Industrial Design) and were married.  They purchased the former Quimby School in 1966 and left Mays Landing, NJ to begin their life in Sandwich, NH.
Picture

Ad in the Country Journal ~ 1974


Together they opened “Ayotte’s Designery” – a full-time hand-weaving studio and showroom, which they operated for 30 years.  During this time, they wrote and published, “Handweaving with Robert and Roberta,” a sixteen book home study course that sold worldwide.   Copies of their first book were mailed in January 1972.  Their work and the Designery were featured in Handwoven & Craftsmen and Yankee magazines.
 
In 1995 Robert and Roberta sold the property and moved to Sun City, AZ.  Robert passed away in 2015; however, a quick search on Google shows that Roberta is still active in her craft in Sun City, AZ.
 
If you are interested in learning more about Roberta (and Robert) and the “Ayotte Designery,” the 73rd Excursion (1992) features the couple and their business. 

​The New Hampshire Historical Society also has a hand-woven pillow made by Roberta c. 1960.   Click the link to view the pillow.
 www.nhhistory.org/object/313279/pillow

Did you know?
- 1966:  Roberta was honored with the title, “Outstanding Young Woman of America
- 1977:  Roberta was in the “Who’s Who of American Women and;
- 1978:  "World’s Who’s Who of Women"
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