Hi Puzzlers,
Does your family have a quilt that has been past down from generation to generation? My family has one that was made by my great-great-grandmother. It is made from square patches of brightly colored corduroy and has a solid blue backing. I have never weighed the quilt but it feels like it weighs 20 plus pounds. I can picture my great-great-grandmother sitting by the fire in her cabin quilting away. For many Americans this is the image that comes to mind when we think about quilting.
Unfortunately this image is a myth. Most colonial woman were so busy with sewing, spinning, food preservation, cooking, cleaning and caring for their large families they didn’t have time to quilt. Besides even the image of quilting by a fire is wrong. Fine quilting requires adequate lighting; colonial cabins were very dimly lit. There is however an exception, woman of wealthy families who could afford household help, would often have free time to work on decorative quilting. Very few examples of the average colonial quilt have survived. Those that have are generally fine quilts that were used by wealthy families for special occasions.
The most common colonial bed coverings were bed rugs and blankets. Bed rugs could be manufactured or handmade and coarse manufactured blankets were very affordable. Yes, that little factoid surprised me too! Early colonists were so frugal that there were very few “scraps” of fabric left to be used for quilting. It wouldn’t be until the 1840s, when the textile industries had grown enough, that fabric would be readily available.
The quilting by the fire myth got reinforcement in the 1920s and 1930s with the revival of interest in everything colonial. “Manufacturers and magazines took advantage of this fad by promoting as "Colonial Quilts" quilts that were actually made in the mid nineteenth-century.”
Wow! Another great fanciful image shot down. Oh well, I still love the fact that my great-great-grandmother made the quilt!
Does your family have a quilt that has been past down from generation to generation? My family has one that was made by my great-great-grandmother. It is made from square patches of brightly colored corduroy and has a solid blue backing. I have never weighed the quilt but it feels like it weighs 20 plus pounds. I can picture my great-great-grandmother sitting by the fire in her cabin quilting away. For many Americans this is the image that comes to mind when we think about quilting.
Unfortunately this image is a myth. Most colonial woman were so busy with sewing, spinning, food preservation, cooking, cleaning and caring for their large families they didn’t have time to quilt. Besides even the image of quilting by a fire is wrong. Fine quilting requires adequate lighting; colonial cabins were very dimly lit. There is however an exception, woman of wealthy families who could afford household help, would often have free time to work on decorative quilting. Very few examples of the average colonial quilt have survived. Those that have are generally fine quilts that were used by wealthy families for special occasions.
The most common colonial bed coverings were bed rugs and blankets. Bed rugs could be manufactured or handmade and coarse manufactured blankets were very affordable. Yes, that little factoid surprised me too! Early colonists were so frugal that there were very few “scraps” of fabric left to be used for quilting. It wouldn’t be until the 1840s, when the textile industries had grown enough, that fabric would be readily available.
The quilting by the fire myth got reinforcement in the 1920s and 1930s with the revival of interest in everything colonial. “Manufacturers and magazines took advantage of this fad by promoting as "Colonial Quilts" quilts that were actually made in the mid nineteenth-century.”
Wow! Another great fanciful image shot down. Oh well, I still love the fact that my great-great-grandmother made the quilt!
Happy Puzzling!
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