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Weave pattern: Seven Stars

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  • This watercolor drawdown and two drafts illustrate a weave pattern known as Seven Stars, also known as Sea Star. To record a pattern, a weaver creates a draft and/or a drawdown. A draft looks much like a strip of musical notation; a drawdown is a visual grid that illustrates a single weaving block. The drawdowns were made by Frances Louisa Goodrich (1856-1944), who recorded weaving patterns she collected in and around Asheville, North Carolina. Goodrich painted the complicated pattern on unlined paper and glued it to fabric for strength. The draft shown with the drawdown is labeled, “Seven Stars or Sea Star.” The two separate drafts, each labeled “The Sea Star,” were given to Goodrich by Elmeda Walker and C. C. Angel. On one draft is written, “The Sea Star. Same as 7 Star;” on the other, there is the note that Sea Star was like "7 Stars but in 7 instead of 6 & 10."