National Museum of the American Coverlet — Attraction in Bedford

This place is fascinating! I seek out the odd and obscure when I travel, but often museums on weirdly specific subjects can be just collections without explanation or off-the-wall ideas built to attract tourists. Not so with this. This is an actual museum with four rooms of exhibits, located in the old Bedford school building, which is of historic interest itself. The woman who runs the non-profit is incredibly knowledgable about the provenance of coverlets, the regional variations, the weaving techniques, the dyeing, and anything else you could think to ask. She's also incredibly dedicated, keeping the museum open all but a couple of days a year. She'll take you through the rooms and explain the weaving process using the antique looms they have for visuals and pointing out what makes each coverlet special. There's also a part on processing flax and she gave us some insights into the properties of wool vs. linen vs. cotton when weaving. If you like learning how things are made,...

You never know what you will get with oddball independent museums. I am a fan of the genre and generally willing to give them a go, but this is with the knowledge that they might be great, they might be terrible, or more likely they will be somewhere in between.

I was genuinely impressed by this one. I have no particular interest in the subject, but they do a terrific job. They have a large space to display not only the coverlets themselves but looms and other textile equipment. A loom capable of this sort of work is a technological marvel that is well worth a close inspection.

Recommended not merely for historical textile buffs, but for anyone who can imagine being...

The gem of our vacation! If you do any kind of handicraft, where you recognize the heart and soul of what goes into creating a piece of your work, you HAVE to stop in and explore the wonder of these treasures. A "lost" art, thankfully the folks here preserve the beauty of the masterful works of this 18th-19th century wonder. When I observed the intricacy of the pattern work, and then how those patterns can come together and form another pattern, I was in AWE! You could swear this was designed by some complex computer program, and today it would be. A fascinating visit you should be...