Pinilian blankets are one of the most notable woven textiles in the Cordillera region. The Tinguian or Itneg mainly use pinilian textiles to make blankets called ules or owes. These blankets are made by stitching together two or more woven panels with detailed designs that include anthropomorphic, botanical, celestial, geometric, and zoomorphic motifs. Pastor-Roces (1991) explains that pinilian is the process of turning a weaver's design ideas into two-dimensional patterns on textile. This weaving technique creates embroidery-like patterns that float in relief on the cloth’s surface (Pastor-Roces, 1991). The word "pinilian" comes from "pili," meaning "choose" or "select," and refers to the special weaving technique used.


This blanket features repeating sun-like motifs called sinan-init, which depict Apo Init or Apo ni Tulao, the sun god in Tinguian or Itneg epics (Respicio, 2015). The panels are joined using stylized embroideries known as the kuko-palay (fingernails and rice stalks) joinery, also referred to as sinan-ramay (finger-like) joinery. A similar motif is identified as kawa-kawa in Ilocano (spider) or sinan-akawa in Tinguian (spider-like) (Respicio, 2015). Additionally, the borders of the textile are embroidered with white threads, forming half-figure representations of the kuko (fingernails) motif.