Coverlet And Counterpane Drafts

Frances L. Goodrich’s Coverlet and Counterpane Drafts

Authors: Barbara Miller & Deb Schillo

This collection of nineteenth and early twentieth-century weaving drafts from the Southern Highlands region of Appalachia.  Text includes 112 overshot drafts and drawdowns, and 31 drafts and drawdowns for the all-white summertime cotton bedspreads called counterpanes. Color photos of the original samples are shown side by side with valuable modern translations of the drafts, which enable today’s weavers to make them.

A vibrant example of our weaving heritage, these drafts were originally gathered in the nine states of the Southern Highlands region between 1892 and 1918 by the legendary Frances L. Goodrich. Handwoven counterpanes and coverlets were important possessions, and often were the only item of beauty in the women’s otherwise impoverished living conditions. These are drafts Goodrich carefully collected but did not include in her classic Brown Book. Dozens of vintage photographs of Goodrich, the communities she served, and the women who invented the drafts help bring this part of our American craft heritage to life.

In 1890, Frances L. Goodrich came to the southern mountains in North Carolina from a life of culture to live and work among people who had little opportunity for education or social enrichment. Through her work for the Presbyterian Home Mission Board, she grew to love and respect these neighbors who worked so hard and had so little.

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