The History of Quilting

[Music] improving like all the crafts we enjoy today as hobbies had its beginnings as a necessity to provide comfort and make everyday life a little easier the process of quilting in the most general sense is the joining together of two pieces of material and a central filling by stitching the three layers together although the stitching originated for the practical purpose of holding the filling in place the intricacy and my Newton as' of this stitching soon became as much aesthetic as utilitarian let's look at the history of quilting to get a better idea of how this craft has made a very significant contribution to the well-being of mankind contrary to what you may think quilting did not start with our grandmother's or even our great-grandmother's in fact archaeologists have found examples of quilting done as long ago as 5000 BC and it's possible that people were quilting before then the art of quilting was practiced by the ancient Chinese Egyptians Greeks and my virtually all civilizations as cloth was developed the British Museum has a statue of means the Egyptian king who lived about 3400 BC which shows him wearing a quilted robe much of the quilting in Egypt at that time was done by men when a tomb was on earth in China in the 1900s scientists found it belonged to a Mongolian warlord who lived in the year one among its treasures was a rug quilted in a scroll design that is still in use today ancient quilted fabric was often plain so that any design was formed by the quilting stitches however applique and pieced work also have a long history dating to before the time of Christ for example the heads of Egyptian mummies were wrapped in fabric arranged to form a design a design we know today as log cabin when European soldiers travel to the Holy Land during the Crusades which went on from about 1,000 to 30 they found that the Arabs wore quilted clothing beneath their armor the quilted shirts gave the Arabs added protection and comfort in battle the craft of quilting was just one of the many new things the Crusaders brought back with them when they returned to their homes in Europe often these Arabic designs were mosaics and probably were the inspiration for the pattern we know today as grandmother's flower garden Marco Polo probably introduced quilts to Europe in about 1200 he found them on his famous trip to the Orient and returned home with prized examples by 1400 quilting was widely practiced throughout Europe and it was as popular in castles as in cottages some famous royal quilters included Catherine of Aragon who invented black embroidery Catherine de Medici and Marie Theresa of Austria Marie Antoinette's mother there can be seen at Hardwick Hall in England the quilts wrought by the skillful fingers of Mary Stewart Queen of Scots when she was imprisoned there for so long in his will William Shakespeare bequeathed all the quilts in bed clothing of the second-best bedroom in his home to his wife and Hathaway many historians believe his wife was an accomplished quilter and probably made the quilts herself great catastrophes sometimes have beneficial byproducts and the popularization of the quilt is said to have been largely brought about by such a calamity in Europe in the 14th century severely cold weather which came to be known as the great freeze lasted a number of winters and caused the major rivers such as the Thames the Rhine and the Rhone to freeze solidly partly out of necessity and partly to relieve themselves from the boredom resulting from prolonged confinement women busied themselves making quilted material for garments and bed coverings by the 1500s quilted clothing had become fashionable in Europe men wore quilted vests and jackets women wore fancy quilted petticoat long bail skirts shaped by bulky petticoats became popular this skirt split from waist to hem displaying the lavishly quilted colorful petticoats this Renaissance split skirt fashion persisted until about 1630 when women were still exhibiting their magnificent under gowns by holding up their long skirts when walking after 1670 skirts became fuller and reached to the ground once more generally splitting at the front again to reveal a richly worked petticoat which according to Samuel Pepys was often the most ornate and expensive items of dress elaborate methods were used to hold back the over skirt to make the most of the precious petticoats a particularly ornate method was to bunch up the over skirt like a bustle and fasten it in place with a ribbon attached to the shoulders of the bodice these quilted garments became so valuable that even a wealthy woman would be honoured to receive a worn under skirt as a gift while the design of the over skirts changed and eventually the split disappeared quilted petticoats remained popular well into the 19th century imagine living in a cold damp stone castle during the Renaissance warm quilted clothing must have been very appealing I know that on a trip to England and Scotland during March and April a few years ago I wondered how people managed to stay warm enough even in the small cottages I went through bed coverings were also quilted for warmth cottages as well as castles were drafty places to live quilt were used as blankets in addition beds were draped with quilted curtains to keep out the cold women made their own quilted clothes wall hangings and bed coverings common people and Nobles alike made quilts in time they would bring the craft of quilting to the new world by the time America was colonized in 1620 European women were thoroughly skilled in the art of quilting girls learned to sew when they were three or four years old and a girl off made her first quilt at the age of five when a young woman was ready for marriage it was customary for her to have completed 12 quilts as well as one extra quilt top of intricate design this one was designated as her marriage quilt and was covered with a profusion of appliquéd roses bells and hearts when the pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in 1620 it is likely that they brought their quilts they needed those quilts the winter weather of New England would turn out to be very severe in fact without any guidebooks to tell them what to expect only half of the pilgrims survived the first winter in the new world colonial homes were unbelievably cold and drafty in winter even as late as 1717 one man wrote in his diary my ink freezes so that I can hardly write by a good fire people slept under layers of quilts trying to stay warm women quickly adapted quilting to their way of life in the colonies to provide enough warm bedding for their families they began wearing sewing bags at their waists in the bags were fabrics for quilt patches needles scissors and thread when a woman had a few minutes to spare she reached into the bag selected several pieces of fabric and seamed them together in time she had completed a quilt top quilting materials became a status symbol a sewing bag was often decorated with elaborate designs and the owner liked to be caught wearing it so that it could be admired a homemaker might plan her day so that she patched worn everyday quilts in the morning probably the origin of patchwork quilts in the afternoons when visitors called she would work on her best quilts which displayed her finest workmanship when evening came she sat and cut scraps from her scrap basket into squares triangles and other shapes to be arranged into patterns to be sewn into quilts no scrap of cloth was wasted no matter how small colonial Americans often wore an article of clothing for many years before it wore out they patched holes in a jacket or dress until it could hold no more patches then it was recycled it was cut up and put in the scrap basket each scrap had its own story early fabrics were homespun made from homegrown flax and wool these early quilts were stuffed with almost anything on hand including native grasses corn husks straw hay milkweed floss and even letters from home the British wanted the American colonies to purchase cloth and other goods from England so they restricted cloth making in America the American Revolution brought an end to British rule and trade restrictions by the early 1800s fabric had become more plentiful and quilt making grew to be an even more popular pastime gradually the hit or miss patching designs of the early colonial days were replaced with intricate applique and piece work patterns were given names such as pine tree delectable mountains log cabin postage stamp and Rose of Sharon historical events were commemorated with patterns like fifty four forty or fight Whig rose and Clay's choice farm equipment and household utensils were translated into such patterns as mill will churn - and Monkeywrench quilt patterns were enthusiastically exchanged and became known by different names in different communities the bear's paw design in Kentucky was called duck's foot in the mud where bears were not a threat to life and limb in Philadelphia Quaker communities this very same pattern became hand of friendship to add to the confusion a certain design in one community might have a completely different name in another part of the country and of course the Bible had a strong influence on early American quilters who design patterns named for biblical events and people such as Star of Bethlehem and crown of thorns also known as New York Beauty Tennessee beauty and Rocky Mountain Road remember what I said about quilts having different names in different parts of the country although piecing and applique can be done by one person quilting the finished product was often done by a group as a result our ancestors developed the famous community quilting bees women were not encouraged to congregating groups but colonial town fathers generously sanctioned a day for community quilting on that day women took their finished quilt tops along with baskets of food to the largest home or building in town the best quilters were invited to work at the frames while poor quilters and late comers were relegated to the kitchen to prepare the food late in the day husbands and children joined the group and a feast was shared by the whole community usually seven or eight quilts were finished at the be a popular product of the bee was the freedom quilt made to celebrate a young man's 21st birthday until his coming of age each male was obliged to give all of his earnings to his parents who used the money to help sustain the family at 21 he was free to control his own earnings however his freedom was often short-lived many freedom quilts were given directly to the young men's fiancees who also received bridal quilts the freedom quilt custom dried out in the 1800's but the quilting bee continues to this day the 19th century was the flowering of American quilt making many women made traditional quilts patterns for these quilts were handed down from mother to daughter the cloth and colors changed but the pattern designs stayed the same other women made their own designs and often these quilts had special themes when machinery of all kinds made its way into our country and westward expansion was made easy by the burgeoning railroads a new prosperity began to blossom the fashionable thing to do with this new prosperity especially for the women in cities and towns was to acquire machine-made goods this began to spell the demise of hand work including quilting quilting was more or less relegated to rural air and the sections of the country that were not enjoying their share of this prosperity the appearance of the sewing machine in the 1860s just about put an end to the cherished institution known as the quilting bee near the end of the 1800s quilt fashions like clothing fashions changed people no longer wanted to make peace tore appliquéd quilts they made a new style of quilt called the crazy quilt crazy quilts were sewn from bits of fancy cloth and were covered with decorative thread work or embroidery soft velvet shiny satin and rich brocade were used instead of solid colored Cotton's and calicoes in time however people lost interest in crazy quilts and quilt making itself lost its popularity it looked for a while that quilt making would become another lost art that was only practiced by a few obscure people in places unknown the end of World War one signaled the beginning of an era of affluence and optimism unparalleled in America's history for the first time increased applications of Technology blessed the middle class with both leisure time and the money to enjoy it being entertained was suddenly everyone's prerogative motion pictures and radio found a spot in everyone's heart keeping up with the Joneses became of paramount importance the age of consumerism had begun yet during the decade of the 1920s when machines made almost anything possible an odd nostalgia surfaced collecting antiques became all the rage and the art of quilting experienced an unprecedented renaissance then came the crash which put this country into the worst economic condition it ever experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s however interest in quilting was revived how it came alive again is interesting the depression put many people out of work to help create jobs for these people the government started a special program called WPA or Works Progress Administration if you can say you can remember the WPA your really dating yourself under the WPA roads and buildings were built forests were planted books and plays were written and the arts and crafts were encouraged and supported in general craftspeople were encouraged to make and sell their crafts the art of quilt-making came back to life just as in Pioneer days though the choice of fabric was limited because no one had the money for new or fancy cloth quilts made of cotton and calico became popular again in the 1960s a tremendous upsurge of interest in quilting began and is continuing displays classes workshops and literature about quilting have enjoyed great popularity more Americans have become aware of this valuable heritage the value of family quilts is greatly enhanced and lucky are those who have kept their grandmother's quilts quilts are proudly displayed in many museums as true works of art and in fact the American quilting society has built a museum in Paducah Kentucky under the direction of Meredith Schroeder president and her husband Bill it is entirely devoted to quilts and quilting so far we have given all the credit for patchwork quilts to women probably because they have created most of the quilts that have been made there are men involved in this craft too some of them are well-known for example when Calvin Coolidge our 30th president was a boy he was ill for a long time to take his mind off his illness his mother taught him to cut and sew fabric squares he chose a pattern called baby blocks later the blocks that he had pieced together were made into a quilt the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne Vermont has a complicated and beautiful quilt made by a soldier who fought in the Civil War injured in the war he made the quilt while confined to his bed part of this quilt is made of triangles sewn together the rest is made up of cloth shapes of people horses birds hearts and stars this old quilt has an unusual original design and it has held up well for more than a hundred years today one of our finest quilt made is a man named Michael James who produces beautiful colorful abstract quilt designs so much for the men in our craft and so much for the history of this wonderful fascinating satisfying craft don't worry about being inexperienced when you start quilting our pioneering ancestors didn't don't be afraid to let your hands guide you even if they make a few mistakes they are not really mistakes you see their humility marks my husband carves birds and when he makes a little mistake he says the only one who will know is another bird carver or another bird you can think of yourself as a kind of inventor as you go along turn your imagination and creativity loose in the end your quilt will be that much more beautiful because you designed and sewed it yourself let me finish by reading a beautiful passage from Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall to me it sums up what quilting and life is all about how much piece and a quilt is like living a life many a time I've set and listened to parson page preaching about predestination and freewill and I've said to myself if I could just get up there and the pulpit was one of my quilts I could make life a heap plainer than Parsons making it with his big words you see to make a quilt you start out with just so much kalcker you don't go to the store and pick it out and buy it but the neighbors give you a piece here and there and you'll find you have a piece left over every time you've cut out a dress and you just take whatever happens to come that's predestination but when it comes to cutting out the quilt why you're free to choose your own pattern you give the same kind of pieces to two persons we want to make a nine patch and the other one will make a wild goose chase so there will be two quilts made of the same pieces just as different as can be that's the way of living the Lord sends us two pieces we can cut them out put them together pretty much to suit ourselves there's a heap more in the cut now and the sewing than there is in the calico [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: John Locke

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Length: 21min 1sec (1261 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 23 2019