Quilt History is the site you should turn to first for information on our quilting heritage. The List discusses antique quilts, methods and fabrics used and the life. The history of quilts began long before European settlers arrived in the New World. People in nearly every part of the world had used padded fabrics for clothing.
Louisiana Quilt Documentation Project - About Quilts: An Overview. PAST AND CURRENT PROJECTSBy Susan Roach. Quilts are wonderfully complex textiles with techniques that have a long history in many different countries. As a result, the process of making a quilt is a complex one with its own language, terms, and standards. As artifacts, whether made for decorative or utilitarian functions, quilts are worthy treasures that deserve care and preservation. A Brief History of Quilting. A brief overview of quilting origins, terms, and documented survivals will help to place quiltmaking in its historical perspective. The word quilt originates from the Latin culcita, meaning stuffed sack, mattress, or cushion, and comes to English from the French cuilte. Various spellings have occurred since the 1. Orlofsky xiii). Although the individual quiltmaker as artist was long ignored in most art history treatments of quilting, the long history of quilting and patchwork spanning many centuries and cultures has received considerable attention. Much of the popular quilting literature touches only briefly on this long history. Detailed examinations of the history of quilting and the quilt are Colby's Quilting, and Patchwork Quilts, Orlofsky's Quilts in America, and Finley's Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. Another essential resource is Uncoverings: Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, published periodically. Actually, three separate techniques, each having a long history, characterize the typical American quilt. Quilts typically consist of three layers—a cloth sandwich: 1) a top of either solid fabric or patchwork, 2) a filler or batting of cotton, polyester, wool, or blanket; and 3) a lining (or backing or bottom) usually of a solid fabric (for illustrations, see Quilt Terms below). Quilting itself is the process of sewing together the layers by hand or machine with a running stitch. An alternate method of securing the layers is tacking (or tufting). Patchwork is the term generally applied to needlework which uses scraps of fabric either as pieces in a mosaic joined edge- to- edge by stitching (also called piecing) or as decoration applied to the surface of a plain background fabric (usually called appliqu. Colby suggests that appliqu. Likewise, quilting was also probably used for protection rather than decoration (3- 4). Quilting, appliqu. Quilting origins can be traced to China, north Africa, and the near East. Quilted clothing, for example, was used in China, where it was worn for warmth as well as protection in battle. Frequently noted as one of the earliest evidences of quilting is an Egyptian small, carved ivory figure of a king from the first dynasty of 3. B. The king's cloak or mantle exhibits diamond- shaped motifs, which many have interpreted as quilting (Colby 4). One of the earliest surviving examples of quilted work is that of a rug, dated 1. B. D., found in a Scythian Siberian tomb. The rug is elaborately quilted and appliqu. The earliest surviving example of appliqu. C., is an Egyptian ceremonial funerary canopy of a gazelle hide appliqu. Survivals of pieced work from 6th and 9th century India in the form of large banners show that patchwork today is little altered from its ancient precedents (Colby 2. Orlofsky 6). In fact, India, where quilted items are still made today, also has a long tradition of bed quilts as evidenced by a 1. Portuguese traveler in India, who noted the . Military use of quilted garments under armor was probably the chief function of quilting during the Middle Ages (Colby 1. Colby and Orlofsky both discuss the first noted reference to an early patchwork bed cover that occurs in a 1. French poem Les Lais del Desire Groelent et Melion, which refers to the preparation of a nuptial bed which was covered with a . The earliest surviving bed quilt, from 1. Sicily, is made from linen with wool batting and quilted with narrative scenes from the legend of Tristan (Orlofsky 3). Colby cites the earliest surviving English pieced quilting is a set of bed furnishings from Levens Hall, dated by family history as having been made in 1. The quilt and bed curtains use 1. Indian chintzes. According to Holstein, the availability of the Indian chintzes in England stimulated the further development of pieced quilts in the 1. In 1. 62. 0, almost 1. Levens Hall quilt, English settlers arrived in America. Although there is no record that they brought quilts with them, most scholars feel sure that quilts would have been brought along on the first ships (Holstein 2. The first evidence of quilts in New England is given in household inventories from 1. Orlofsky 1. 0). In addition to the English settlers who brought quilting traditions to the colonies, the Dutch brought their tradition of quilted clothing to New Amsterdam (Orlofsky 1. The earliest surviving American quilt, the Saltonstall Quilt from Massachusetts, is dated 1. Harvard College catalog (Orlofsky 1. Pieced from small pieces of silk, velvet, and brocade, and put together in two- and four- patch patterns, this quilt evidences the necessity to use even the smallest fabric remnants because of the scarcity of fabric. Although many of the early surviving American quilts are created in the central medallion- style popular in England, Holstein notes that these American quilts are often marked in general by a simplification of imported forms, less detailed embellishment, and often more open surfaces (3. America's distinctive pieced quilt tradition, using the . Holstein theorizes that this block- style piecing technique, in which pieces are cut into geometric, straight- edged forms, was the most efficient way to use surplus fabric (4. Finley (4. 8), also theorizing on the development of quilt designs, suggests that although originally untrimmed scraps were fitted together in no particular pattern, soon scraps were trimmed to uniform size and sewed together end- to- end without an attempt to form a pattern. Finley develops a typology of quilt patterns and suggests that many possible variations were developed from one- patch, two- patch, four- patch, and nine- patch patterns. Contemporary quilt researcher Barbara Brackman has developed the most complete source on quilt patterns and has catalogued both pieced and appliqu. Since decorative quilts, no doubt, received special care and have been reported in estate inventories and since utilitarian quilts were used until they fell apart, it is not surprising that the few surviving quilts represent the decorative tradition rather than the utilitarian tradition. Thus, there is little historically to document the utilitarian tradition in quiltmaking. At any rate, a number of patchwork and quilting patterns were developed and popularized in America and migrated and changed with the settlers as they spread along the East coast, to the West, and South. Pattern names reflected religion, politics, and nature, as well as geometric designs. These pattern names were often changed from region to region of the United States, which means that some of our Louisiana quilts may have very different names from those in the various quilt pattern sources. Quiltmaking in Louisiana today remains strong with many practitioners, ranging from traditional quilters who learned from their families and community members, to contemporary revivalist quilters who employ new quilting techniques learned in guilds and workshops, to academically trained fiber artists who create original works using quilting techniques. Regardless of how the craft was learned, these artists all share a love of fabric and handwork in an expressive art that has spanned the ages. References: Brackman, Barbara. Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Antique Quilts. Charlottesville, Va., 1. America's Printed Fabrics: 1. Lafayette, Ca.: C & T Publishing, 2. Encyclopedia of Applique: An Illustrated, Numerical Index to Traditional and Modern Patterns. Mc. Lean, Va.: EPM Publications, Inc. Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. Paducah, Ky.: American Quilter's Society, 1. Colby, Averil. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. Lippincott Co., 1. Holstein, Jonathan. American Pieced Quilts. New York: Viking Press, 1. Orlofsky, Patsy and Myron. New York: Mc. Graw Hill Book Co., 1. Uncoverings: Research Papers of the American Quilt Study Group, (Quilt journal) Lincoln, Nebraska. Vlach, John Michael. Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1. Quilt Terms and Techniques: Some Definitions. Quilt terms and techniques are part of the special quilting language frequently used by quilters. Some of the terms vary from region to region, but they are the basic information used in documenting the details of a quilt. The process of making a quilt is quite complex and may vary. Typically, the quilt maker makes a top, selects a batting and backing for the top, and quilts the layers together using a frame, hoop (or even a bed) to hold the three layers when spread out for quilting by hand (Figures 1. A and B). Quilting may also be done on the sewing machine. These terms below used to describe quilts will aid in understanding the special qualities of quilts and in completing the Louisiana Quilt Documentation Form (page 2). In documenting a quilt, it is important to record the following information as accurately as possible: Type of Item. Quilts are called quilts even though they might not be quilted or even completed, so it is important to examine the quilt to see if it is a cloth sandwich, with a top, a back (or backing or lining), and batting (stuffing or filling) inside the two layers. If it has all three, it is a typical quilt. If it is one layer and the stitching appears on the other side, it is a quilt top. Some textiles also called quilts may actually have only one or two layers. The following measures should be taken if applicable: Block: If the basic construction unit is a . In some cases, the borders on different sides may vary; this can be noted also. Quilt type. This categorizes the quilt top.
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