I love to quilt so much and it’s my passion. It started me thinking about just how long has quilting been around? I did some digging around and found a wonderful book by Schnuppe Von Gwinner called The History of the Patchwork Quilt: Origins, Traditions and Symbols of Textile Art. From it I learned some fascinating trivia about quilts.

According to Gwinner, the first known quilt was used by an Egyptian Queen and was made from gazelle leather that had been dyed. This quilt dates back to 980 B.C. !

Then in 5 BC there is documentation that Central Asia had saddle blanket quilts that were used in graves. According to Gwinner these quilts were made from leathers and furs and the permafrost preserved them to later be found by archeologists.

I found this interesting because if I had to guess, I would have placed the first quilts to the Colonial or Pioneer days. Perhaps I would have placed it a little earlier than that time period but not as far back as the B.C. period. So if anyone is curious about quilt, you now have a fun piece of trivia that you can share with them.

If you have been to the Smithsonian Institute you cannot help but to notice the Bible Quilts. They are absolutely stunning and have a very fascinating history. To this day there is still speculation and discussion as to the true meaning behind the Bible Quilts and the stories that are being told. It is a prime example of how quilts really do have a history and are a piece of art work that has come to life.

Harriet Powers is the quilter of the Bible quilts. She sewed them with appliqué and piecework to create squares of pictures for story telling. Some say that the stories represent religious influences. Others say that because the slave was illiterate that she used the quilts as a teaching tool. Still others speculate the stories are about a secret fraternal organization of her time. No-one will really know for sure. Read the rest of this entry »

The Great Depression was an era that created quite a challenge for women who desired to quilt. Not only was money very tight in households, but there were limited supplies nationwide. Women had to turn to creativity and resourcefulness in order to create beautiful quilts. Some popular quilts of today were actually born from The Great Depression.

Patterns such as the Star of Bethlehem, Wedding Ring, Grandmother’s Flower Garden and even Dresden Plate were actually the result of The Great Depression. Women magazines began offering similar quilting patterns for free with each issue to increase their readership. After all, most household budgets could not afford to purchase a magazine, yet alone several quilting patterns. Read the rest of this entry »

Long ago, quilts were strictly made by hand and out of necessity. Scraps of material were used to create quilts that would be used for curtains, bed covering, burials and more. Families had special or Keepsake quilts though that were created to pass down through the generations. You can go to a store or craft fair and purchase a quilt but it will not be the same as a Keepsake quilt.

Keepsake quilts pass not only the quilt but the rich family history with it. They are living memories of the past for many generations. For example, some quilts have pieces of cloth from special events such as maternity clothing pieces, christening gown swatches, past bed cover sections and more. Knowing where all the different sections of the quilts come from is a way of passing down the family history to each generation.

Some families have a generation Keepsake quilt. These quilts are never complete. Each generation works on them and adds sections to them. They then pass the quilt down to the next generation. These family heirlooms are gorgeous and a wonderful way to keep Read the rest of this entry »

Some folks have asked me this question, so here’s my answer:

Broderie Perse is a method of applying a fabric, originally the colorful Chintz type fabrics of Europe, onto a background by hand sewing. This was done in order to randomly decorate it or establish a pictorial scene upon the background.

The efforts were turned into coverlets or quilts and became most popular in the 17th Century and possibly earlier in some cases with Indian Broderie Perse findings. The Chintz fabrics were used due to the firm outlines of the figures woven into the fabric, the images were not usually blended into the next image, there was clear space around where the picture could be cut out, as if it were in a coloring book with a line around the outside.

Thus when cut just outside the lines of those images, say a flower or bird, the artist would then take the cut-out motif and apply it onto the background fabric of the Read the rest of this entry »