This photograph, taken by Doris Ulmann in 1933, shows Zillah Wilson seated out of doors in front of a spinning wheel, also called a great wheel. Zillah, and her sister, Fanny, were spinners and weavers from Highlands, North Carolina.
This fragment of a woolen shawl was hand woven by America Gahagan Brigman probably prior to 1890. Brigman lived in the Allen Creek community in Madison County, N.C., close to where Frances Goodrich served as a Presbyterian missionary and founded…
This wall hanging was handwoven by an unidentified weaver for Penland Weavers and Potters, of Penland, North Carolina, during the late 1930s. It is a reversible (summer & winter) pattern in a jacquard weave using the patterns Pine Tree and…
This watercolor template or pattern was done by Ettamae Deweese for the Spinning Wheel's weaving room in Asheville, N.C. around 1928. Clementine Douglas, manager of the shop, encouraged her weavers to create designs for the household textiles they…
This handwoven throw was made by Helen Wilmer Stone Viner (ca. 1891-1978) of Saluda, North Carolina during the 1930s and features natural dyed yarns. The entire piece is trmimed with a brown fringe. Helen Wilmer Stone was born in New Orleans,…
This handwoven throw was made by Helen Wilmer Stone Viner (ca. 1891-1978) of Saluda, North Carolina around 1930 and features natural dyed yarns. Helen Wilmer Stone was born in New Orleans, La., and came to North Carolina by way of Pine Mountain…
This mat was woven by Alice Pratt (1899-1990), a weaver from Buncombe County, North Carolina who was actively producing and selling her woven good from the 1930s until the latter half of the 20th century. This table mat was made more recently, but…
This shawl was hand woven by Mrs. Nelson (first name unknown) around 1900. The fiber is handspun wool arranged in bundles which are whip-stitched together. It has fringe on all three sides. The shawl was collected by Frances Goodrich and eventually…
These hand woven lunch napkins were produced between 1925 and 1942 by an unidentified weaver for sale through the Spinning Wheel shop in Asheville, N.C. The items are decorated with rural homestead figures using a laid in technique called…
These images of an African American woman was used as a pattern for hand woven linens produced and sold by the Spinning Wheel shop in Asheville, N.C. between 1925 and 1942. The Spinning Wheel was opened as a weaving studio and regional craft shop in…