Tyler Coverlet 1935 - 1942

This charming Tyler Coverlet was woven by Arthur G. Merkley, who was born in 1855. Just imagine the patience and the love that went into making it! Two trees dominate the composition; one in cream against a navy ground, the other in reverse, like a photographic negative, or a mirror image. Each stitch feels deliberate, carefully placed, and yet the overall effect feels so alive, so full of folk charm. It's like Merkley is whispering, "Let's make a world together," stitch by stitch, you know? The design suggests a gentle symmetry, but it is by no means perfect, because the handmade rarely is. You can see the influence of patterns handed down through generations here, a conversation between what was and what could be. A pattern for a coverlet becomes a way of marking a life, with the care and the time it takes to make something like this. It feels deeply personal, an intimate act of creation.