A friend recently told me about an old "quilt" she and her husband had discovered among some items belonging to his grandmother. Because they know I am a quilt maker, they thought I could give them some information and advice. They said it had a date, 1843, on it and a name and town. When I saw it, I discovered it wasn't a quilt but a double-woven coverlet. I have shown it to some others and one friend, who is a weaver, said it looked like it might actually date from 1843 because of the pattern, colors, fiber content, etc. The pattern is a complicated one woven in two sections each the width of the loom and stitched together. The colors are pale tan and deep indigo (common in the 1800's). The fiber content appears to be linen and wool. She said it could have been made by an itinerant weaver for a family or individual. The name "BEDY.ANN.CHAMPNEY" and "OSWEGO.N.Y." are also woven into the coverlet. She thought it was in remarkably good shape for a textile that old.
I've passed this information along to the owners and have urged them to take it to an expert on woven coverlets for advice and an appraisal. They have no information about it and hope they can find out more about it.
It's a beautiful mystery and I hope the owners can get some answers.
Is an interesting story.
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