Quilt History: history has it that the first quilts in America were the Indian chintz and Palamplores, which were made from whole cloth, and later were made from expensive chintzes and calicos which were cut into large pieces and appliquéd into Tree Of Life patterns for quilts, bedspreads and bed hangings.
When colorfast cottons which were a much cheaper type of material were introduced in America at the end of the eighteenth century the quilting tradition became very popular. The English, Welsh and Dutch settlers are responsible for introducing the quilting tradition to the new world.
Quilting played a major part in the pre-civil war south. The slaves were hired to make quilts for the master and his family and sometimes these slaves worked along with the mistress of the house to make these quilts, or sometimes the slaves did all the household chores leaving the mistress of the house free to do her quilting.
Most of the quilts that were made by the slaves had a lot of African design quality in them., these slaves knew how to dye fabric using vegetable dyes and could make almost any color material one can imagine from these dyes. While in the north with the increase of the abolitionist movement quilts were sold to raise money for their cause, and it is said that the women who did these needlework craft began to inscribe their needle cases with the words "May the work of our needles prick the conscience of the slaveholder".
The Underground Railroad quilt, Jacob's ladder, and Slave Chain were among the quilts that were included in the abolitionist causes. Whether it is an actual fact or a myth, no one really knows, but the story goes that wherever quilts were hung on the Underground Railroad that was supposed to be a secret sign to let the slaves know that it was a safe spot. The Harriet Powers Bible Quilt was a very famous quilt and it now lies in the Smithsonian Institute.
This quilt caused quite a controversy when foreign companies wanted to license the image of the quilt for reproduction purposes and importation into foreign countries. Harriet Powers was a slave when she made this famous Bible Quilt. The Blue and White quilt were very popular in the 1890s. Almost everyone who was doing quilting in those days had a couple of blue and white quilts in their collection.
Many of these blue and white quilts can be found in the Drunkard's Path quilt patterns, although the reason behind this is not quite clear as they in no way represent this cause, in fact Blue and White were the colors of the very powerful group known as the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The Blue and White quilts are still very popular even today, but they will never have that same impact on quilting as they had in those days.
Crazy Quilts were very popular in the 1880s. These quilts are not your typical quilt as they have no batting or filler and are not quilted but rather they are invisibly sewn together. Crazy quilts are made from all sorts of scrap materials and can take a very long time to be completed, first the base foundation has to be completed and then the decorations have to be attached to the quilt, which can include beads, flowered designs and elaborate embroidery.
These quilts were often made from silk materials which was the fad at the time. By the time the 1960s arrived the art of quilting had dwindled to almost non existent, and there were not many quilting fabrics available nor were there many women who were interested in this art.
This all changed in 1971 when the Whitney Museum of American Arts held an exhibition called "Abstract Design in American Quilts" by Jonathan Holstein, which was a huge success and one of the most popular exhibitions the museum has ever displayed which got world wide publicity, and was responsible for the revival of the interest in the quilting art. Chintz Appliqué - This quilt began in the 1700s when the chintz fabric was most popular.
The chintz fabrics were imported to France and England from the East Indies. These materials consisted of glazed, block printed fabrics with such designs as Tree of Life, flowers and figures. Because these fabrics were very expensive and rare to acquire, they were never used as a whole cloth to make a quilt, but instead they were cut up into patterns which were appliquéd onto background materials which were made from cheaper fabrics.
These Chintz Appliqué - Broderie Perse styles quilts, Tree of Life, Medallion, and all-over designs, are still displayed in museums up to this date. During the civil war many a soldier would go off to war with a quilt that was sent to him from home. Women all over the world were making quilts to send to the soldiers who were sent to war to fight for their country and many fundraisers were held in order for them to get the required materials that they needed to make these quilts.
These quilts were also sent to the hospitals to be used as bedding for the wounded soldiers and also to those men doing battles in the field. When the war was finally over these quilts were made from fabric of the uniforms of soldier who lost their lives in battle and also from those who were fortunate enough to have survived the war. Quilts were also made for the soldiers of W.W.I and W.W.II.
Quilt Bees can be described as a quilting party, or a social gathering, where every one would dress is their fanciest outfits and gather around the quilt bee where there fingers would be moving and so would their tongues with lots of gossip, and when it came late evening and the days quilting was completed, the men would then join the ladies for a fancy dinner and dance.
These quilt bees were a much anticipated event, because it was a grand opportunity for the entire community to get together and converse while they quilt. Even the children were included in this event as sometimes they would be required to keep the needles threaded.
