White Virginia Cloth Blanket

45% cotton, 55% Wool

This blanket is woven of cotton warp & woolen weft which is one of many types of fabrics often referred to as Virginia cloth during the 18th century. Because looms were made wide enough for an adult to throw a shuttle across (approximately 35”), to make this a full blanket, 2 widths have been machine sewn together resulting in a center seam blanket roughly 70” by 83”. Being partly cotton, this blanket is not as warm as more expensive import blankets but is suitable for the working poor & enslaved people of colonial America.

please note that most blankets weren’t center seam as they were woven on looms made for weaving blankets.

Originally, this reproduction was woven for the slave quarters of George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon ended up with more than they needed, this was the overstock.