Research & resources

The Coverlet Index

The Coverlet Index originated as an effort to create a “field guide” to the commonly recurring motifs and patterns in figured & fancy coverlets. Now it also includes weaver biographies and more.

Coverlet Documentation Project

An initiative to create an open-access digital repository of images and information about coverlets in collections across the country.

  • View the coverlets in our online collections - all folders labeled “CDP” (external link).

Coverlet Database

In 1986, Katherine Hawthorne and Clarita Anderson embarked on an endeavor to document Jacquard-woven coverlets. They amassed a database of over 14,000 textiles, which today we have expanded to 20,000 coverlets and counting.

Archives & Special Collections

The McCarl Gallery houses the personal research collections of Clarita Anderson, Katherine “Kay” Hawthorne, and Rita J. Adrosko.

  • Click here to read about the archives and access the finding aids.

Where can I learn more?

Where can I visit more?

An extensive list of coverlet collections has been created during the course of compiling and expanding the coverlet database and pattern index. We have turned that list into a map, to give a better idea of where these collections exist in the real world. Be sure to zoom out and explore - there are several on the west coast!

Have a collection or site to add to the list? Please send your addition(s) to emily.barth@stvincent.edu.