When did quilting become popular in America?
Early American Quilt Patterns: 1650-1850 When the Dutch and English settlers introduced quilting to the United States, quilters maintained a practical approach to their craft. Since daily chores included spinning and weaving, there was little time left for quilting, much less artistic quilting.
Where did quilts come from?
The earliest whole cloth quilts found in America were brought from Europe. Initially, quilts were owned by the wealthy in America who had the means to purchase imported quilts.
How many quilts were made between 1750 and 1850?
In the 100 years between 1750 and 1850 thousands of quilts were pieced and patched, and many of them are preserved. Many of these quilts were so elaborate that years were spent making and quilting them.
When did quilting become a hobby?
Whole cloth quilts, broderie perse and medallion quilts were the styles of quilts made during the early 19th century, but from 1840 onward the use of piecework and blocks, often made from printed fabric, became much more common. Quilting is now a popular hobby, with an estimated base of twenty-one million quilters.
Who brought quilting to America?
With the arrival of the English and Dutch settlers in North America, quilting took on a new life and flourished. The term "quilt" comes from the Latin culcita, meaning a stuffed sack. The word has come to have 2 meanings. It is used as noun, meaning the 3-layer stitched bedcovering.
Where did quilting originate from?
Quilting originated in Sweden in the fifteenth century with heavily stitched and appliquéd quilts made for the very wealthy. These quilts, created from silk, wool, and felt, were intended to be both decorative and functional and were found in churches and in the homes of nobility.
When was the first evidence of quilting?
No one is exactly sure when quilting began, but from evidence found in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, Egypt. It seems that people wore quilted clothing as many as 5000 years ago.
Is quilting uniquely American?
Quilting is a unique American tradition because it has been developed as a union of different ethnic and cultural traditions. Developed as a "houseware" and as an art form along with the development of our country, quilting has been preserved as a symbol in our tradition as a country.
How did quilting come to America?
United States. Quilt making was common in the late 17th century and early years of the 18th century. Colonial quilts were not made of leftover scraps or worn clothing as a humble bedcovering during this period but were decorative items that displayed the fine needlework of the maker, such as the Baltimore album quilts.
What is the oldest known quilt?
The crazy quilt design is likely the oldest quilt pattern, according to the National Park Service and other research. It is believed that textiles resembling a crazy quilt were discovered in early Egyptian tombs, as well as in European courts pre-dating the 17th century.
What is the most traditional quilting technique?
Pieced or Patchwork Quilts Pieced, or patchwork, quilting is the most basic and common type of quilting. As its name suggests, these quilts are constructed by sewing pieces of fabric together. Patchwork quilts can use any type of block and any construction technique.
How did they make quilts in the 1800s?
Before 1800 quilts were made with two large sheets of fabric with a layer of cotton or wool padding between them. These whole cloth covers were then quilted. The two large sheets of fabric were fastened together with small stitches in an elaborate pattern of flowers or vines.
Where did patchwork, quilting originate?
Patchwork dates back around 5,000 years to early age China and Egyptian tombs. Most often used to make quilts, the patchwork technique can also be used to make bags, wall-hangings and other items of clothing. Patchwork quilts have become a popular piece of global history, being found in all cultures across the world.
What is a group of quilters called?
In years past, a quilting bee was a group of quilters getting together to work on the same quilt, usually tying or hand quilting to speed up the process of completing a quilt.
What is the symbolism of a quilt?
Quilts represent connections, family, stability, and expression of the creative spirit that allowed women to overcome hardships. Quilts are recognized as symbols of these feminine and family values.
Did quilts have only practical purposes for the slaves who made them?
While they can serve the function of keeping bodies warm in cold weather, they also serve the function of telling African American narratives in keeping with African artistic traditions. During slavery, women patch-worked quilts out of scraps of fabric to keep themselves and their families warm.
Where did patchwork quilting originate?
Patchwork dates back around 5,000 years to early age China and Egyptian tombs. Most often used to make quilts, the patchwork technique can also be used to make bags, wall-hangings and other items of clothing. Patchwork quilts have become a popular piece of global history, being found in all cultures across the world.
What is the symbolism of a quilt?
Quilts represent connections, family, stability, and expression of the creative spirit that allowed women to overcome hardships. Quilts are recognized as symbols of these feminine and family values.
What is the history of African American quilting?
The history of quilting in Black American culture began as early as the 17th century, with enslaved women threading, sewing, and quilting together patchwork blankets made with scraps of fabric from slave owners' households — purely for the purpose of keeping themselves and their families warm throughout the night.
Why are quilts called quilts?
The word 'quilt' – linked to the Latin word 'culcita', meaning a bolster or cushion – seems to have first been used in England in the 13th century. The earliest quilting was used to make bed covers: very fine quilts are often mentioned in medieval inventories and frequently became family heirlooms.
When did applique quilting come into favor?
Applique for quilting came into favor around the mid-1700s and reached its climax about 1850. Only the wealthy could afford the expensive imported fabric and had the leisure time for this type of quilt making that displayed the fine needlework of the maker.
What did early quilters use their imagination for?
They used their imagination and ingenuity to combine patchwork, applique, and embroidery in endless combinations. One early variation was the Medallion quilt, a relatively simple design with dramatic impact, that was particularly popular through the early 1800s.
What is the difference between a patchwork quilt and an applique quilt?
The patchwork quilt was a "utility" quilt, in contrast to the applique quilt which was a "best" or show quilt, upon which time and material was lavished.
What is a whole cloth quilt?
Those early quilts provide a glimpse into the history of quilting as well as the history of the United States. Exquisite whole cloth quilt. Whole cloth quilts, broderie perse and medallion quilts were popular styles of quilts made during the early 1800s. The whole cloth quilt, also known as counterpane, is usually made of single pieces ...
How many utility quilts did a girl make in the 1800s?
This collection consisted of 12 utility quilts, undoubtedly pieced, and 1 masterpiece quilt, which was either a pieced or applique quilt, for her bridal bed. After her engagement, she would take final steps to turn her tops into finished quilts.
What is an applique quilt?
The applique quilt, or "laid-on" quilt, usually has a top made of whole cloth with smaller pieces of contrasting fabrics cut into shapes or forms that are applied or stitched down. These quilts were considered more elegant than the humble pieced type.
What is a quilt?
A quilt is a cloth sandwich, with a top, which is usually the decorated part, a back, and a filler in the middle. Under the general term of patchwork are of 3 different types of quilts: (1) the plain or whole cloth quilt, (2) applique quilts, and (3) pieced or patchwork quilts. The quilt, as we know it in America, ...
When did quilting become popular?
Whole cloth quilts, broderie perse and medallion quilts were the styles of quilts made during the early 19th century, but from 1840 onward the use of piecework and blocks, often made from printed fabric, became much more common. Quilting is now a popular hobby, with an estimated base of twenty-one million quilters.
Where was the quilt made?
Whole-cloth quilt, 18th century, Netherlands. Textile made in India. In Europe, quilting appears to have been introduced by Crusaders in the 12th century (Colby 1971) in the form of the aketon or gambeson, a quilted garment worn under armour which later developed into the doublet, which remained an essential part of fashionable men's clothing ...
Why are quilts important to Amish women?
The Amish communities have always encouraged activities that promote community and family closeness so quilting became a fundamental part of social life for the women of the community. Quilts are created for everyday use or to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, raising funds for the church or community cause. Since the "English" (the name for non-Amish people) discovered Amish work in the late 1960s, quilting has become a source of income for many. Their quilts have become collectors' items all over the world.
What is a whole cloth quilt?
Early wholecloth bed quilts which may appear to be a solid piece of fabric are actually composed of strips of fabric, since early looms could not produce widths of cloth large enough to cover an entire bed surface. Early quilts that feature the same fabric for the entire quilt top, whether that top is made of dyed wool or pieces of (the same) printed cotton fabric, are referred to as wholecloth quilts. Early wholecloth quilts have three layers: a quilt top, a filling (in early quilts the filler was often wool), and a backing. The three layers are held together via quilting stitches worked by hand, in an age before sewing machines were marketed. In wholecloth quilts, the quilting stitches themselves serve as the only decoration. The earliest whole cloth quilts found in America were brought from Europe. Initially, quilts were owned by the wealthy in America who had the means to purchase imported quilts.
What were colonial quilts made of?
Colonial quilts were not made of leftover scraps or worn clothing as a humble bedcovering during this period but were decorative items that displayed the fine needlework of the maker, such as the Baltimore album quilts. Only the wealthy had the leisure time for quilt making, so such quilting was done by only a few.
What is the term for a quilt that is stuffed with stuffing?
Some were made even more exquisite by the use of stuffed and corded quilting, a method sometimes called trapunto . Trapunto is an Italian word used to describe the technique of slipping extra stuffing into certain areas of a quilt to create areas of raised motifs that stand in relief.
What are Amish quilts?
Amish quilts are appreciated for their bold graphic designs, distinctive colour combinations, and exceptional stitching. Quilting became a favoured activity of the Anabaptist sect after emigrating to the United States and Canada from Germany and Switzerland over 250 years ago. The earliest known Amish quilts, dating from 1849, are whole-cloth works in solid colours. Pattern-pieced bed coverings didn't appear until the 1870s. Particular patterns and fabrics are identified with specific Amish communities; for example, pre-1940s quilts from Lancaster County were almost always made of wool while those sewn in Ohio during the same period were commonly made of cotton.
Why was quilting important to women?
This is how the idea of the “quilting bee” originated, and it became especially important as Americans pushed westward and rural life on the prairie was born. Women would not have as much of an opportunity to socialize with their neighbors if they were far away, so quilting became a way to combat the loneliness of life on the frontier. Quilting was also a comforting hobby for women as they left their familiar lives behind for a new life and new adventures as they traveled west with their families.
Is quilting a popular hobby?
Quilting today is a popular hobby for many women (and some men, of course!) but do you know the history behind the craft? Quilting in America has a long and rich heritage, ranging from the founding of our nation to the present day. When we think of historical quilting we probably picture something along the lines of Little House on the Prairie, but the true history of quilting in America might surprise you!
When did quilting become popular?
Quilting became extremely popular in the UK in the 17 th century. The professional quilting industry thrived in major cities and made large quilts, as well as quilted garments for the nobility.
How was quilting invented?
Historians cannot be sure when exactly quilting was invented, but they do know that the history of quilting goes back at least to medieval times.
What is the oldest quilt pattern?
Traditional quilt patterns used by American pioneers included the nine patch, log cabin, pinwheel, eight-pointed star, and friendship quilt.
Why was quilting used in medieval times?
Quilting was also used to make clothing in medieval times. It was a preferred method of making garments because quilting clothes were light and warm.
Why do people make quilts?
People made quilts and quilted garments to keep warm, as well as to mark special occasions or for a dowry.
Why do we use quilts?
The earliest use of quilting was to make bed covers, just as we continue to make quilts to keep or beds warm today. We know this because quilts are frequently mentioned in the recorded inventories of medieval households. Many of these quilts became family heirlooms and were passed down through generations.
What is patchwork quilting?
Related to but distinct from quilting, patchwork is a needlework technique that involves sewing pieces of fabric together to form what is essentially a new textile.
When did quilting begin?
Quilt making was uncommon in America in the late eighteenth century and early years of the nineteenth. Most women were busy spinning, weaving and sewing in order to clothe their family. Commercial blankets or woven coverlets were a more economical bedcovering for most people.
When did quilting become widespread?
By the 1840s the textile industry had grown to the point that commercial fabrics were affordable to almost every family. As a result quilt making became widespread. A great variety of cotton prints could be bought for the making of clothing and even specifically for making a quilt.
What was printed fabric used for?
Printed fabric was expensive even for those who were well off. By cutting out birds, flowers and other motifs from printed fabric and sewing them onto a large homespun cloth a beautiful bedspread could be made. The technique was also used on some early medallion quilts as in the example linked below.
What is the technique of slipping extra stuffing into certain areas of a quilt to bring out the quilting in?
Some were made even more exquisite by a method called trapunto. Trapunto is the technique of slipping extra stuffing into certain areas of a quilt to bring out the quilting in that area. For example trapunto can make the area inside a feather or flower making that part of the quilt a little thicker.
How did sewing affect quilting?
First of all women could make clothing for their family in much less time leaving more time for quilt making and secondly they could use their sewing machines to make all or part of their quilts. More often the sewing machine was used to piece quilts but occasionally the quilting was done with the sewing machine.
What is a quilt made of?
Quilts made of a solid piece of fabric are referred to as Whole Cloth Quilts. The three layers of top, batting and backing were quilted together. The quilting itself became the decoration.
What were the styles of quilts made during the early 1800s?
Instead they were decorative items that displayed the fine needlework of the maker. Whole cloth quilts, broderie perse and medallion quilts were the styles of quilts made during the early 1800s. Quilts made of a solid piece of fabric are referred to as Whole Cloth Quilts.
Where did the American Quilt Study Group originate?
There were quilt guilds forming all over the United States, and they always needed somebody to give a talk on quilt history or antiques. So that’s how we started out. We’re members of the American Quilt Study Group, which is a national organization originally based in Mill Valley, California. So I went to California a lot for meetings. I ended up being on that board when it was in San Francisco.
Why did women quilt in the 1930s?
The 1930s had it all, I think, because the marketers, the magazines, the newspapers, and the thread companies realized that women were going back to crafts, going back to handwork. They provided a lot of patterns, shortcuts, and lively fabrics. What came out and what we remember about Depression-era quilts is that there were a lot of them made and they all have a similar color range. It’s pretty easy to tell which ones are which.
How did crazy quilts get their name?
The format of a crazy quilt looks like it’s broken, like broken pieces of, say, china. And that’s where the name came from, the crazes on a piece of china , where it looks like it’s cracked but it’s not. In the early years, those odd-shaped pieces of fabrics used in crazy quilts were velvets, silks, taffeta, and ribbons, and they would attach these pieces to a base fabric. Let’s say the base piece is about 12 inches by 12 inches. So you could really work on this project in your lap or at a table, and you attach these various pieces. And then you embroider over the edges of all those pieces; you could get instructional booklets on dozens of embroidered designs. They’re called edging designs. So you finish one little, maybe, 12-by-12-inch block. You make another and another and another. And finally you might do 9 to 12 of those blocks. You join them together to make a top.
Why did crazy quilts die out?
They were bizarre. And that’s why they died out. Some people were still making them in the 1920s, but the stitches weren’t well done. As the crazy quilts went out, about 1910, there bloomed a new 20th-century style: a quilt with a white background and beautiful appliqué flowers. Those were Marie Webster’s quilts. She revived the format of 19th-century quilts—a center medallion and borders around the quilts. They were decorative, handmade, and looked really different than crazy quilts and 19th-century pieced quilts.
What was the book about Civil War quilts called?
It’s a very personal reflection of what was going on in those people’s lives in 1933. Later, I wrote a book about Civil War quilts called Southern Quilts: Surviving Relics of the Civil War. My latest one is on doll quilts, Childhood Treasures. So that’s where I am.
What was the first book about quilts during the Great Depression?
The book, called Soft Covers for Hard Times: Quilt Making in the Great Depression put my name on the map because it was the first fully fleshed out book about quilts of the Depression. It wasn’t just about rough-and-tumble feed sack quilts, utilitarian quilts. It was also about the marketing of quilts, the distribution of quilt patterns across the country in newspapers, quilt contests, and the Colonial Revival style in quilts during the Depression.
What is the name of the quilt Mary Lindsey Husky made in 1940?
Mary Lindsey Husky’s circa-1940 quilt called “Grandmother’s Fan ” is all-cotton. Quilts were my entrée to the South, the history of the South, and, in particular, the Civil War.
Overview
United States
Quilt making was common in the late 17th century and early years of the 18th century. Colonial quilts were not made of leftover scraps or worn clothing as a humble bedcovering during this period but were decorative items that displayed the fine needlework of the maker, such as the Baltimore album quilts. Only the wealthy had the leisure time for quilt making, so such quilting was done by onl…
Europe
In Europe, quilting appears to have been introduced by Crusaders in the 12th century (Colby 1971) in the form of the aketon or gambeson, a quilted garment worn under armour which later developed into the doublet, which remained an essential part of fashionable men's clothing for 300 years until the early 1600s.
One of the earliest existing decorative works is the Tristan Quilt, made around …
Russia
The oldest surviving example of a quilted piece is a linen carpet found in a Mongolian cave, dated to between 100 BCE and 200 CE. It is now kept at the Saint Petersburg department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Archaeology Section.
United Kingdom (and colonial Australia)
The National Gallery of Australia has a 3-by-3-metre (9.8 by 9.8 ft) quilt known as the Rajah Quilt. It was created by about 30 convict women as they were transported from Woolwich, England to Hobart, Tasmania in 1841. The quilt was rediscovered in Scotland in 1989. It is a medallion quilt with Broderie perse at its centre.
See also
• Duvet
• List of quilters
• NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
• Patchwork quilt
• Quilt art
Further reading
• "Dunton Quilting Collection". Archives and Manuscripts Collections. The Baltimore Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
• Brackman, Barbara (1989). Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Antique Quilts. Howell Press. ISBN 9780939009275.
• Eddy, Celia (2005). Quilted Planet: A Source Book of Quilts from Around the World. ISBN 9781845330095.
External links
• Baltimore Album quilts at the Maryland Historical Society
• The American Quilt Study Group
• America's Quilting History
• New Pathways Into Quilt History