If you have ever been lucky enough to own a quilt handed down to you from a grandmother, great grandmother, or someone even farther back in your family tree, you understand how fascinating and valued they are. Over the years many myths have grown up around this quintessentially American craft. Quilt museums have researched some of the most popular with some surprising results.
To a large extent quilts shape our understanding of this country's beginnings. We imagine hard working Colonial women lovingly stitching bed covers from scraps of old clothes and remnants of discarded materials, underscoring the virtue of thrift. Many believe some quilts held secret messages during the period of slavery, offering instructions for runaway slaves hunting the Underground Railroad.
A commonly held belief is that pioneer women kept scrap bags filled with remnants ready to be turned into quilts. This suits the notion that all pioneers were ingenious and did not mind the manual labor it took to create necessities for everyday life. In fact, pioneer quilters didn't use scraps, but whole cloth instead. The cloth available to them was expensive and imported. It took the Industrial Revolution to make quilting from scraps feasible.
It is commonly believed that colonial women made quilts. This fits our picture of Americans with limited resources but plenty of resilience. Historians have found this to be fairly rare. In colonial times, textiles were expensive commodities. It was only after industry technology made mass produced cloth affordable that cutting up material and sewing it back together made economic sense.
Another common belief is that quilting is an activity exclusive to women. Even feminists have embraced the idea that quilts demonstrate the ability of women to make something out of nothing and to create a community through the common act of quilting. In fact, there are a number of men who are professional quilters and create unique quilting patterns. Their works are on view in museums along with their female counterparts.
Many believe quilting is an exclusively American craft. American quilting is distinctive and has characteristics that make it unique. There are designs early American quilters borrowed from England and France though. One of them is the mosaic patchwork pattern many quilters still use today. Mongolia is the site of some of the earliest quilted textiles. They have been traced back to the first century.
One of the most persistent myths surrounding the American quilting phenomenon is that it played a powerful part in the Underground Railroad. The belief is that quilters sewed code into their creations to guide fugitive slaves to safe havens along the their way to freedom. There seems to be no real evidence of this. Historians say it's most likely a folk tale derived from a particular family.
Quilts become family treasures. They have a history all their own. The most famous myths are sometimes true and sometimes not. Either way families will continue to cherish quilts and pass them on to new generations.
To a large extent quilts shape our understanding of this country's beginnings. We imagine hard working Colonial women lovingly stitching bed covers from scraps of old clothes and remnants of discarded materials, underscoring the virtue of thrift. Many believe some quilts held secret messages during the period of slavery, offering instructions for runaway slaves hunting the Underground Railroad.
A commonly held belief is that pioneer women kept scrap bags filled with remnants ready to be turned into quilts. This suits the notion that all pioneers were ingenious and did not mind the manual labor it took to create necessities for everyday life. In fact, pioneer quilters didn't use scraps, but whole cloth instead. The cloth available to them was expensive and imported. It took the Industrial Revolution to make quilting from scraps feasible.
It is commonly believed that colonial women made quilts. This fits our picture of Americans with limited resources but plenty of resilience. Historians have found this to be fairly rare. In colonial times, textiles were expensive commodities. It was only after industry technology made mass produced cloth affordable that cutting up material and sewing it back together made economic sense.
Another common belief is that quilting is an activity exclusive to women. Even feminists have embraced the idea that quilts demonstrate the ability of women to make something out of nothing and to create a community through the common act of quilting. In fact, there are a number of men who are professional quilters and create unique quilting patterns. Their works are on view in museums along with their female counterparts.
Many believe quilting is an exclusively American craft. American quilting is distinctive and has characteristics that make it unique. There are designs early American quilters borrowed from England and France though. One of them is the mosaic patchwork pattern many quilters still use today. Mongolia is the site of some of the earliest quilted textiles. They have been traced back to the first century.
One of the most persistent myths surrounding the American quilting phenomenon is that it played a powerful part in the Underground Railroad. The belief is that quilters sewed code into their creations to guide fugitive slaves to safe havens along the their way to freedom. There seems to be no real evidence of this. Historians say it's most likely a folk tale derived from a particular family.
Quilts become family treasures. They have a history all their own. The most famous myths are sometimes true and sometimes not. Either way families will continue to cherish quilts and pass them on to new generations.
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