Woven by SPs adoptive grandmother and her older sister in Belarus around 1950. Shown at WSGN meeting in May 2013. Designed entirely by the young women and woven from hand spun and hand dyed linen on a loom with 24 shafts, these were then sewn up the middle to make them wider. The loom was set up in a shed, a common practice at the time that persisted through the 1970s and 80s. Weavers spun in the winter and wove in the summer because their small cottages could not accommodate the larger looms. These were in active use on double beds until the older sister passed away in 2005, and would have languished in a Russian apartment if not for SPs friend, who encouraged her mom to haul them back to the USA so SP could share them with WSGN members. Grandma remembers standing at the back of the loom, holding up shafts and standing on the backs of treadles, as her sister threw the shuttle. Each coverlet was woven over a two day period. !
Posted on: Thu, 27 Feb 2014 17:21:13 +0000
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