Years ago, Jack and I were looking over an unpromising local garage sale in an older dirt floored garage. Nothing at all seemed of interest there, till I saw in the dirt floor, the unmistakable pattern of an overshot coverlet, just about the color of dust. I picked up the partly folded old thing and asked how much and took it home for $2. A shake and then a bath in a washer on cool followed by drying in the fresh open air showed a very old textile that has seen close to 200 years of service I judge. The edges have been hemmed on a machine, with a deeper hem at top and bottom, consistent with use as a drapery at some point. The natural linen weft is still sturdy, the woolen warp is very worn and faded to a lovely rosy color, perhaps the dye was cochineal. Three panels instead of the usual two, show it is truly hand woven without the assistance of a “flying shuttle”.
Out of a number of coverlets to choose among, this one pleases me most under the Christmas tree and has been used that way every year since we found it. The faded pink/red sets off the tree and old toys nicely. This year there are two small trees, one on the floor and one on a table, and I wanted the coverlet both places. I sat for hours undoing the stitches to separate one of the three 26 inch wide panels. I have had lots of practice “unstitching” old raggedy quilts and such to salvage early fabrics. but this one had the strongest thread and was back stitched all the way! If, in the future, someone wishes to remove the machine stitched hems and return the coverlet to its three panel self, that can be done simply by resewing one long hand done seam. I think of the weaver of this beautiful old textile, He or she could not have imagined the coverlet would still be relevant 200 years later.
The 8ft table Jack made remains the heart of the home.
