Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Weave Pattern: Tennessee Blazing Star variation

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Item
  • The pattern name of this color image is a variation of the Tennessee Blazing Star. Several distinctive qualities of this commercially woven coverlet indicate that an unidentified source or weaver produced it in the early twentieth century. Warp threads are sett at thirty ends per inch in a natural cream cotton/linen single-ply thread. The pattern weft is sett at thirty ends per inch in a two-ply cotton thread using colors that resemble various natural dyes including madder orange, walnut brown, and a golden coreopsis or goldenrod color. A commercially made coverlet, like this one, is often woven as one wide strip or panel; this one measures 83.5 inches in width. In contrast, hand woven coverlets are composed of two or more strips, each averaging 20 to 40 inches in width, or the distance a weaver can comfortably throw a shuttle from selvedge to selvedge. Also the bedcover is hemmed on all sides, a trait not commonly found on handwoven coverlets. The pattern is woven consistently at a forty-five degree angle in the pattern structure. It is often difficult for a handweaver working on a handmade loom to achieve such consistency in weaving. The donor's family worked in the Tanner cotton mills in Rutherford County, North Carolina. This location may indicate the likely source of this coverlet.
Object
  • The pattern name of this color image is a variation of the Tennessee Blazing Star. Several distinctive qualities of this commercially woven coverlet indicate that an unidentified source or weaver produced it in the early twentieth century. Warp threads are sett at thirty ends per inch in a natural cream cotton/linen single-ply thread. The pattern weft is sett at thirty ends per inch in a two-ply cotton thread using colors that resemble various natural dyes including madder orange, walnut brown, and a golden coreopsis or goldenrod color. A commercially made coverlet, like this one, is often woven as one wide strip or panel; this one measures 83.5 inches in width. In contrast, hand woven coverlets are composed of two or more strips, each averaging 20 to 40 inches in width, or the distance a weaver can comfortably throw a shuttle from selvedge to selvedge. Also the bedcover is hemmed on all sides, a trait not commonly found on handwoven coverlets. The pattern is woven consistently at a forty-five degree angle in the pattern structure. It is often difficult for a handweaver working on a handmade loom to achieve such consistency in weaving. The donor's family worked in the Tanner cotton mills in Rutherford County, North Carolina. This location may indicate the likely source of this coverlet.