FHW "early war" blanket...

[WoodenNutmeg]

I managed to find myself a Family Heirloom Weavers (FHW) "early war" blanket. In my opinion, it is quite a thing of beauty. After receiving it, I became curious as to who else might own one? From what I understand, the blanket was offered around 2004 by FHW and was a limited run? The body is gray and black wool, intermixed with shoddy in a diagonal weave, black end stripes, and has black "US" letters woven in the center. Can anyone tell me more about this piece; for example, how it came to be, or, anything about an original it might be based on? I have already put an inquiry into FHW, but thought I would also raise the question(s) here.

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Bryan,

Can you post a close up pic of the blanket? It sounds like the 3/3 twill blanket that Pat made. If I can see it, I can confirm if it is. I don't remember Pat saying that it was copied from an original example, but I would encourage you to confirm that with him once you are sure which blanket you have.

[WoodenNutmeg]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Blanket image....

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Bryan,

First please turn on your auto signature so you don't forget to sign your posts. It helped me not to forget myself.

Next, yes you have Pat's 3/3 twill federal blanket. I have one as well. It has two different colors of yarn used to make it. One warp color that is a darker gray, and the weft yarn which is a light gray/cream color. I have examined a number of original blankets, military issued and civilian, that have this feature of different color warp and weft. More frequently than not, I find the weft yarns to be a larger size (less picks/yarns per inch) than the warp yarns. The 3/3 twill in this blanket is one that Pat told me he had seen in original blankets and fabrics. It has a correct return selvage that you don't find on all better quality reproductions. Botton line in my book, it's a good blanket to use in the hobby. You will need to call Pat to find out if he copied it from an original blanket if that is important to you.

[fire_zouave]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Besides the Keagy-Noble blanket and the FHW "emergency" blanket, what other federal blankets have the correct selvedge?

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Of the ones made over the years that I am aware of:

Dave Jurgela
Woodburn-Mount
Keagy-Noble
FHW blankets
and I'm almost certain Charlie Childs are as I talked to his weaver some years ago.

There may be others with a correct selvage. The following do not have a correct selvage, but are excellent blanket reproductions, and the selvage is almost indistinguishable to the untrained eye:

Augie Weisert
Abraham Thomas
Julius Jones
N*ck Seke*a's current 5lb federal

[WoodenNutmeg]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Well, while I admit that I do love my new FHW "early war" blanket, nothing can replace my appreciation for my Julius Jones, which will always come first; with my Abraham Thomas following right behind. Thanks for the info, Matt. Moreover, thank you for the quality products!

[J.H.Berger]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Matt, can you explain with pics if possible how this selfedge should look like or what exactely it is? I am considering having some blankets being made for us.
Best regards from Germany

[August77]

Jan,

You want blankets made using shuttle looms. Basically, the warp yarns run vertical on a frame and a wooden shuttle is batted back and forth horizontally between these yarns. The shuttle carries the weft yarn back and forth using a single strand of yarn. Attached is a picture of how this fabric, or in this case, the blanket should look. Now, they have looms that actually shoot the weft yarns across the warp with air. The problem with this is there's no way to get the yarn back like in the shuttle looms, so it's basically shot across between the warp and then snipped. Somehow, and I'm not 100% sure on the technology, the ends that are left sticking out of the sides are folded and tucked back into the fabric. If you place your thumb and pointer finger about 2" in from the side of a blanket and pull your fingers off the edge, you can feel this 'tuck' at about 1/2" or 5/8" from the edge. It can be slightly visible as well, but you'll need to look real close. The weave looks different along the edge from the whole of the blanket.

Note: Please don't get me wrong, all the blankets Matt Woodburn posted are excellent reproductions and wish I had one of each. What we're talking about here is very minuscule.

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Jan,

Everything in the post above from the good people at E.J. Thomas Sutlery is spot on. Another way to tell if the fabric has a return selvage or tuck selvage if the eye or finger test is inconclusive (sometimes necessary if the fabric has been napped/felted and the weave is indistinguishable) is to see if you can get an unfinished end of the fabric. Pull one weft yarn away from the fabric. A return selvage fabric will continue to unravel and work its way back and you could do this until the entire fabric was yarn. A tuck selvage fabric will have one yarn come off the end the width of the fabric with a small, ~1/2 inch, amount of yarn on both ends that folds back into the fabric. But only that one yarn will come off the fabric as it's not the one long weft yarn that makes up the entire blanket. Hope this is as helpful as the post above.

[J.H.Berger]

Re: FHW "early war" blanket...

Ah I understand, thank you fellows!