Tag Archives: blanket

A South African tapestry with painted birds: Beautiful, comfy, and educational

When I first saw the tapestry it looked like a nice comfortable blanket you’d want to wrap yourself in on a cold winter evening. It was obvious that this particular blanket was not intended for cuddling or keeping warm but rather for displaying and viewing. The blanket was nicely painted with indigenous South African birds, a simple and engaging design, and subdued but vibrant colors. The initial thought was to treat this blanket like most tapestries and rugs which is to float them on a mat board in a shadowbox frame. Considering how squared up the blanket was it seemed unnecessary to make a shadowbox, other than personal desires and aesthetics. The customer was adamant about protecting and preserving the blanket as best as we could without compromising the overall look and feel of the blanket. Most conventional fabrics need to be sewn down in a methodical manner to ensure it will not fall and bunch up over time, resulting in unflattering wrinkles and shadows. Because this blanket measured well on all sides it was decided that we should “sandwich” the blanket between a UV protected acrylic and an acid-free backing which would enclose the blanket in an optimum environment. This would also help the blanket stay flat and clearly visible with the acrylic firmly pressed against it on all sides. There was no worry of sticking or possible damage because we were using a framer’s grade acrylic which is fairly unbreakable and flexible. If we decided to go with a UV protected glass, the glass could potentially damage the fabric because of possible condensation and breakage.