Good Night Loon: More of My Mother's Quilts

 

Goodnight Loon

 

Here's another one of my Mom's quilts.  I'm not sure if she made this one herself, or purchased a store sample at Cutting Edge Quilt Shop when they closed a few years ago ...

Goodnight Loon - detail

The edges of the appliques have not been stitched down, so I'm guessing this was a shop sample, meant to be made in a hurry.  So probably not made my by mom, but part of her collection.  I don't remember seeing the pattern for this one, but then I could have missed it ...

This one has been hanging all summer at my Dad's house.  I just put it away for the season.  The loons should be flying to warmer climes about now.   

More loons to come ...

Another Woven Overshot Coverlet: Pink Black and White Beauty

Pink-white-gray-black Coverlet from circa 1810? (Maybe?)

I got this one off of eBay.  I'll admit: It was a rebound purchase.  I'd had my heart set on a different coverlet -- antique and definitely old, sewn in 3 panels.  Indigo blue and creme.  It was fresh from an estate sale and the price was so reasonable.  For days, I had the top bid, and I was sure it would be mine ...  and then in the last 30 seconds, I got sniped.  Someone (prob. with software designed for this very purpose) swiped it out from under me before I had time to raise my bid.  That was really crappy.   

So I went searching for another coverlet ...  and found this lovely specimen.  I put in the opening bid, fully expecting to lose this one, too. 

And then, I won!

$40 plus shipping and a little for taxes.  Shipping was a little high.  Not bad.  The seller says it's 1800s -- I'm not sure I believe that, as I don't think I've ever seen pink in an antique coverlet.  I don't think they had the dyes to do that then ...  But maybe? I'll have to research that a bit more.  Seller says it's in excellent shape -- No moth damage. Just a little tear along one edge.

I love the colors:  Dark gray, white and pink.

 

And an interesting weaving pattern, too.  

• Is it Fox Crossing? 
• Or Dogwood Blossom? 
• Or 9 Stars and Table?

I'm still trying to identify the pattern, so if you see it and recognize it, please tell me!

 

If you are interested, check out Kentucky Coverlets by Lou Tate.  The fulltext is online via Arizona State University in their On-Line Digital Archive of Documents on Weaving and Related Topics.  You can flip through a number of named patterns.  Bookmark the AZ site for future reference.  It's a goldmine of weaving info!

When this coverlet arrived, I opened the package and hung it on the back of the couch so I could see it during the week (The getting-to-know-you phase.)  It's a lovely coverlet, and I do think the seller was right -- It is old, but very well cared for. 

It's not as soft as the first one I bought, which I think might be a much more recent merino or alpaca. 

It is sewn in 2 panels with a stealth center seam sewn down the middle.  There is no ridge where the panels meet.  The only way you can tell is that the pattern doesn't quite meet up as you would expect (This may be why most people who do overshot today make towels or other 1-panel items where they don't worry about the consistency of making the panels meet up properly.) 

The pieces came together quite nicely in that center seam where the panels joined up.  I'm calling this side the top side, because the overshot is in relief on this side.

Here's the flip side or back side, because this showcases the white tabby that makes the weave structure stable. 

Turns out, Carol Strickler, in American Woven Coverlets, says they DID have a variety of colors to work with back in the 1800s--including pink.  The black has a green cast to it -- which is much more visible in sunlight.

Lesson Learned: I decided to wash it.  If it really is 200 years old, that's a lot of dust making me cough when I'm near it.  I know how to wash wool items, and I knew I could guard against felting the wool fibers.  What I did not account for was the singles breaking under the stress of the spin cycle.  

OR ...  Black dye (This one has a slight green caste to it) is notoriously hard on fibers, and that could be the cause of damage.  They might have been fragile to start with, or it had been laying folded along that line which might also have added stress to the fibers.

Part of the reason for buying / collecting a few coverlets is so I can see them up close and study them in preparation for making one of my own.

 

Look at those lovely pink singles!  They have a little sparkle to them in person -- That was the reason I loved Patty Reedy's fleece at Rainbow Fleece Farm.  Her sheep / fleece had a luster to them that sparkled -- kind of like this does, in the right light.  It's hard to see it in these pictures, but trust me: It's there!  All these years, I've been plying the yarn I spin in effort to make it stronger, when I could have left them as singles in preparation for making a coverlet like this.  

The singles did plump up a bit after washing and drying -- as I would have expected. That only makes for a warmer coverlet, right? The wonders of wool!  [As a side note, I think the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival 2022 is happening this weekend.  I have so much fiber waiting to be spun, that I dared not even try attending this year. ]

Even after washing, this coverlet is still in remarkably good shape, and still makes me happy to look at it.  And it's CLEAN now.

I soaked / washed it with the above Wool Wash (a product purchased at Fleet Farm used for livestock with woolly coats. As far as I can tell, it's the same ingredient, Sodium Laurel Sulphate, that is repackaged and sold as Orvus Quilt Paste Soap for a much higher price in smaller quantities.   Orvus Paste Shampoo is the equivalent now.  I don't see Show Paste Shampoo on their website now.  I'm sure I only paid something like $8-12 for this big bottle that has lasted me many years!

This shot compares the front to the back where the white dominates vs the pink and black.  

You can tell that the pink has faded a bit on the pink dominant side.  Is that sub fade?

I am beginning to understand that owning and caring for these antique textiles is a responsibility if I want them to survive for coming generations.  Then again, there is something to be said about USING beloved textiles--quilts included.

Here is the parade of additional pictures for your viewing pleasure:

 

The following shots are courtesy of the seller.  I wanted to keep them for documentation's sake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 My new love!

Mastercrafts Weaving by The BBC

Mastercrafts Weaving, Part 1 of 4

Last weekend, I binge watched the BBC Series on Mastercrafts Weaving.  This series came out back in 2010, but I only just learned about it ...  and of course I was hooked!

It was a fun little diversion to see others learning about and excited about weaving.

 

 

Mastercrafts Weaving, Part 2 of 4

Mastercrafts Weaving, Part 3 of 4

 Mastercrafts Weaving, 4 of 4

One of the participants was not very well suited to the perfection required for weaving -- To be fair, I think she would have been much more comfortable in a Saori weaving workshop, where she'd have been able to free-wheel a bit more and reframe mistakes a design element.

The other two took the basics they learned in the first few days and ran with it for the remaining 6 weeks, producing yards of fabric.

At one point, the guy who'd been laid off of his white collar office job (which means he was comfortable with computers) started using weaving apps  (like iWeaveIt).  One of the other participants thought he was cheating to be using a computer, and not trying to work it out himself.  The Master Weaver running the shop explained that using a computer app for weaving was most certainly NOT cheating. It was a tool to explore more complex weave structures and colors.   

All the way through, I was rooting for Holly ...  She seemed like a natural at weaving.   I hope she is still at it!

Check out the entire series covering not only weaving, but also green wood craft, thatching, blacksmithing, stained glass, and stone masonry.  The only equivalent in the US might be A Craftsman's Legacy

Antique Woven Coverlets -- The Real Thing

Antique Red Coverlet at The Star Gallery in Oshkosh.

 

My friend Karla took me on a field trip this week to visit her friend's Star Gallery Antique Shop here in Oshkosh.  She wanted me to see some of her antique wool coverlets.  She has the real thing, and Karla wanted me to see how they compare to the light-weight remakes I've been purchasing online.

The ones in The Star Gallery were in excellent condition. Very heavy compared to my much lighter weight Godwin Guild re-makes.  Most of hers were the Jacquard-factory loomed type -- These are the much fancier ones woven by men in factories, of the type I would not be able to re-create on my 4-shaft floor loom at home.  These are so thick and heavy, you might compare them to moving blankets or rugs (though much more pliable than you might think of a rug).  No wonder they cost more ...  On a cold winter's night, of course you'd want the heft and weight -- the sheer BTUs of a heavier bed covering.  But then, you would not want to use that in the sweltering months of summer, so I suspect the lighter ones have their place too.

She did have 2 that I thought were prob. woven at home ...  and these two were also much heavier than the more recently woven Godwin Guild recreation coverlets I have.

Both the blue and red coverlets were examples I thought I could prob. make myself with the very square and geometric patterning.  The blue wool was quite a bit thicker and heavier than the white background which might have been linen or cotton.  A very sturdy coverlet that is wearing well over time.

You can see one of the fancier Jacquard coverlets underneath this one, with sun and flower motifs in the design.  Those punch cards made it so much easier to keep track of the design, and allowed for much more complicated patterns.  It was one of the first computers, after all!

Both of these coverlets were priced between $200-$400. More than I was ready to pay, but now I see the value of the better quality and heavier materials.

Red and white coverlet I purchased a few months ago.

The Red one at The Star Gallery (photographed at the top of this post) made me think that the red coverlet I bought in June might indeed be the real thing after all.  It feels more like these heavier coverlets, which may be why the one I purchased felt so strange at first.  The wool has the same scratchier feel, and it's got a similar weight and heft to it, though not the patchwork feel.

I am learning more as I go ...  

Meanwhile, I just purchased a copy of Carol Strickler's American Woven Coverlets. It's so interesting!

Newly Dyed Sock Yarn: Purple and Blue Gradient

Fresh from the crock pot.  Since I finished those red socks last week, I had to dye more yarn, so I could start the next pair for winter.   Always need a portable handwork project.

This is the basic procedure to dye sock yarn:

Let the 2 balls of wool yarn pre-soak in room temp water for 30 minutes.  

I am using Red Hart Chic Sheep Merino wool yarn by Marly Bird.  This was a light gray (linen) color, instead of white to start with.

 Mix the dye color:

• 1/2 tsp. Wilton's Blue Dye (food coloring)
  
• Plus 6 drops pink
• 12 drops red
• 1 drop black

1/4 cup vinegar 

Add this to the crock pot full of water. 

Squeeze out the yarn balls that had been soaking and add them to the dye pot. I had them "bound" in onion bags to act as a resist and to keep them from unraveling in the dye pot.  This also gives a little more variation in the color varigations.

Turn the crock pot on high for 1 hour; Then turn down to low for a few hours until the color is taken up by the yarn, and the water runs clear.  You may need to add more vinegar later on to encourage the yarn to take up more of the dye.  Once the water runs clear, turn the crock pot off and let cool -- I usually let it sit overnight and check it in the morning.

Here are my still wet balls of yarn -- purple on the outside and blue on the inside.

This is probably the most tedious part of the whole process: unwinding the wet balls onto the niddy-noddy so they can dry.  The wet yarn tangles as the balls unwind.  But it's worth doing because you can clearly see how the colors change through the length of yarn.

Once on the niddy-noddy, I let the hanks hang until dry.

These came out beautifully!

If you want to learn more about dying wool yarn with acid dyes (aka food coloring), check out ChemKnits.  Although she does not use a slow cooker (that I've seen), she offers a wealth of knowledge on this topic!

Red Socks No. 2

Red Socks #2

I made another pair of red socks with my little round knitting looms:

CinDWood 56-peg loom

 

That was my handwork project while we were in France last month.  When we started the trip, I still had to do both heels, over the ankle and the "rims."  It helps to have a set of the round knitting looms, then I can keep the pair of socks at more or less the same stage in the making.

I used Chic Sheep Yarn by Mary Bird. It makes a thicker sock -- good for winter and cold nights.  

I so liked the red socks I made for my dad a few years ago, that I made a pair for myself.  ;-)

What  color to dye for the next pair?  Denim Blue?  Sky Blue?  Black Cherry?  They are in the crock pot now ...

Vintage (Maybe Even Antique?) Red and White Woven Coverlet

Red and White Vintage Woven Coverlet

I purchased this beauty on ETSY recently, and I've been trying to identify the pattern and weave structure. I poured through my pattern weaving books for 4-shafts, and never really came up with anything that seemed to match.  I know it's overshot by the smaller background threads, and the thicker red pattern thread.

I am learning as I collect ...  Woven coverlets were typically made in the home by women.  A home weaver typically made only 1 or 2 in her lifetime, after spinning the fibers herself.  Materials were cotton or linen for warp, and wool for the pattern weft. Cotton for the stabilizing weft.  Often they would grow the cotton and raise the sheep, process the fiber and spin it into usable yarn so they could weave.

I stumbled on the following 2 videos about Ozark coverlets ...  I learned a lot, and will likely get the book, Ozark Coverlets because it actually contains the pattern drafts if I wanted to recreate any of the featured coverlets.  Other books on the subject do not seem to go as far as including the patterns.

Uncovering Ozark Coverlets -- But Wait, There's More! - Shiloh Museum of Ozark History (2020)

Marty Benson and Laura Redford, founders of the Ozark Coverlet Project to document historic woven coverlets found in the region's museums and private collections, share their latest discoveries. Recorded October 16, 2019.

 

Uncovering Ozark Coverlets - Shiloh Museum of Ozark History (c2019)

Marty Benson and Laura Redford, members of the Northwest Arkansas Handweavers Guild, share findings from their study of some three dozen hand-woven coverlets in the Shiloh Museum collection. Benson and Redford are experienced weavers and weaving instructors with an interest in history and historic textiles, and both are volunteers at the Shiloh Museum. Recorded January 15, 2014.

This book seems hard to find at the moment.  Out of stock at all the usual book sellers.  

Maybe the weaving shops have copies?  I did find a single used copy for about $38 and have been studying it ... 

Back to trying to figure out this pattern ...

I know it's overshot -- which was very popular in the 1800s ... not saying it's that old, though ...  when women had to weave all the linens for the household because you could not go to Target or Walmart, or even Sears in an earlier day to purchase them ready made.

Here's a shot of the center seam, showing that it was woven in panels and then pieced together to make it wider --- Which is what I'll have to do if I want to make coverlets on my beloved Kessenich Floor Loom who's weaving width is only 29 inches.

It's quite heavy, and the red yarn is scratchy -- I'm assuming it's wool, but I haven't done a burn test to know for sure.  I'm so used to the wool I spin today being soft and cuddly (That's alpaca!).    I poured through the weaving pattern books I have for 4-shaft looms, but didn't really see anything that matched.

I finally had to post pictures on a FB Group and crowd-source the answer.  Results were mixed (lots of things that didn't make sense amid some things that sort of did, but not quite), so I finally asked my local weaving friend (who has an engineering mind, and the source of my Kessenich 4-shaft loom) and she narrowed it down to Rosepath in a 2/2 twill weave structure--maybe Italian Diamond(?), and it looks like the weaver had fun with treadling and stretched out some of the designs to be whatever she wanted: "Weaver's Delight."  It has two panels sewn together, and she did a marvelous job of matching things up so it wasn't just random.  She must have planned it to match in the 2nd panel so well.  Kind of exciting to learn new things, amid old things!  

Another weaver suggested that it is Rosepath woven in an overshot technique.  She recommended that I read the Rosepath chapter in the Davidson book, as well as the beginning fo the Overshot chapter, and how to build Overshot from regular 4-harness patterns.  Apparently, you can elongate any pattern by adding tabby.

So when put the question out on two of the FaceBook Weaving Groups I'm part of,  I got back quite a variety of answers earlier in the summer ...  Finally, Janet Dawson spied it and went so far as to work up a draft for it, including the wif file.   I was going to try it on the wkd, but she did it for me.  Easy for her to do!  I would have  struggled ...

My friend Lynda C. thought it was a Rosepath, possibly the Italian Diamonds draft from A Hand Weaver's Pattern Directory by Marguarite P. Davison, p. 127.