19th C. > Transitional Period > Previous Blanket | Next Blanket

Transitional blanket
Date:	Circa 1875-1885

“To me, this pattern is like a 1920s Christmas window in Macy’s or some urban storefront—all these ornaments hanging down. That’s not what the weaver intended, of course, but Michael and I use metaphors from pop culture to communicate how we feel and how we think they felt, to relate to weavers as human beings instead of silent faces in photographs.” —Sierra Ornelas

“This design reminds me of old 1980s video games like Pac Man—simple and blocky, and the colors weren’t too dynamic. The dark and light strips are like the maze walls and the characters inside are your enemies. You have to go into these areas and defeat your enemy.” —Michael Ornelas

“What was the weaver thinking when she unraveled red flannel cloth to weave this blanket around 1880? Unfortunately no records tell us. Perhaps she was intent on creating her own personal version of ‘beauty all around.’” —Ann Hedlund

---

Tapestry weave, interlocked joins

1.435 x 2.04 m; Tassels 0.070 m
80.315 x 56.496 in.; Tassels 2.756 in.

Catalog No. E-3272

Gift of Elizabeth Crozer Campbell, 1956; collected by donor’s father.

Function	Fiber	Type	Ply-Spin-Twist			Color	Dye	Count *
Warp	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	White	None	9
Weft	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	White	None	51
Weft	Wool	Raveled	--	Z	--	Orange-Red	Synthetic	51
Weft	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	Yellow	Synthetic	51
Weft	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	Dk Blue	Indigo	51
Weft	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	Green	Synthetic	51
Weft	Wool	Handspun	--	Z	--	Lt Blue	Indigo	51
Ecord	Wool	Handspun	3	z	S	Dk Blue	Indigo	2
* threads/inch