Coverlet (Blanket) c. 1936

This blanket, or coverlet, was made by Ralph Atkinson sometime between 1855 and 1995. Looking at the red, blue, and brown squares, I imagine the artist hunched over their work, a symphony of repetition and variation unfolding with each thread. Each stitch, a tiny decision, a little wobble in the grand design. Was the artist thinking of some mathematical puzzle, or maybe just the warmth it would bring? I love the homespun quality of the weave. It reminds me that making is a form of thinking, a conversation between hand, eye, and material. Each color block hums with its own distinct frequency, a testament to the artist's hand and vision. Think of artists like Anni Albers who explored similar tensions between color and form in weaving. These makers are all in conversation, all trying to figure out what it means to be human, one gesture at a time.