Weaving Pattern:
Tennessee Trouble

Tennessee Trouble weaving pattern
Tennessee Trouble weaving example

The pattern name of this black and white image is a variation of Tennessee Trouble. The back of this photograph is marked: "No.8. Spectacles, Madison Co., Ky. 'Missouri Trouble' in Kentucky but as that name goes with half a dozen different patterns I use the NC mountains name above, as more descriptive." Coverlet pattern names were never standardized thus a variation in pattern name is quite common from state to state and region to region. Frances Goodrich, founder of Allanstand Cottage Industries, collected the photograph. In "The Book of Handwoven Coverlets, " published in 1912 by Eliza Calvert Hall (1856-1935), this identical pattern appears identified by its' Kentucky name "Missouri Trouble." In North Carolina it is "Spectacles, " or "Mountain Flower." Goodrich's work reviving traditional weaving in the mountains of western North Carolina during the late 1890s and early 1900s led her to collect weaving patterns much in the same way that others of that era were collecting mountain songs. Goodrich kept extensive records of the weave patterns and variations that she came across in her travels. Her research may have provided background for or influenced what was woven and sold through her Allanstand Cottage Industries.


Return to Weaving Pattern index