Quilting - A History of Practicality and Friendship

The European and American quilting tradition was started as a way to add warmth and weight to the undergarments for armor. From that beginning the tradition diverged slightly.

Some European, Victorian age, quilters used every scrap of cloth they had left over from other projects in piecing together what was know as a crazy quilt. Many of these were often used as decorative showpieces for their homes.

American quilters on the other hand, of necessity, created quilts that were more utilitarian in design. They used what material that they had on hand, such as feed sacks, for their fabric blocks to save money. Their aim was to keep their families warm on cold nights and, at times, to make a living selling quilts to single men.

There is no one design that dominates the quilting tradition. Often it is religion, region, or the eventual purpose for the finished product that influenced the design a woman would chose for her quilt. For example quilts were often used to record family, local and even national history when paper and ink were not available.

Other quilt designs were used to express friendship and care to close friends or family. One such design was actually named the friendship quilt. A group of quilters would decide to sew a quilt for a special person. Each participant would make one or more pieces of the quilt. Then the quilt would be pieced together when the group gathered in a quilting circle or bee.

A variation of the friendship quilt is what is known as a signature or autograph quilt. Signatures of friends, family, or from the community are collected on individual quilt pieces. The quilt is then sewn together by an individual quilter or a sewing group for the purpose of commemorating an important event in the recipient's life.

Not all autograph quilts were, or are, made for the purpose of friendship. Some were made with fund raising in mind. Signatures of important people would be collected on the quilt blocks, usually one apiece, and then the blocks would be made into a quilt to be raffled or auctioned off. At other times funds were raised by having the community pay a fee for the privilege of signing a block, or piece of fabric for themselves.

Another use of a quilt design for raising money was the crazy quilt. Quilters would write to famous people for scraps from their clothing for incorporating into their quilt. Then the finished product would be auctioned off for a good cause.

Thus those that practiced the art of quilting have found many more uses for their skills than just providing warmth or weight to clothing. Fund raising and remembrance also are an important part of the quilting tradition.