Dec 28, 2017: Of The Moment Rio Grande Blankets

The Hispanic villages along the Rio Grande were some of the most isolated and remote parts of Mexico after her independence from Spain, and this isolation continued into the 20th century after the area became a United States territory.
This remoteness led to an independence of spirit and the absence of trade led to the necessary creation of cottage industries, such as weaving.
While Navajo weaving is the most known in the Southwest, the blankets produced by Spanish American settlers in this region have their own distinct beauty. Woven using the same types of wool as the Navajo, these utilitarian textiles were made using a treadle loom which produced two long pieces which were then stitched together, and would have been found draped over the beds of adobe homesteads up and down the Rio Grande.
These blankets, often of the simplest, banded design, continued to be produced into the 1920s, and were the precursor to the Chimayo weaving tradition which continues to this day.