The Development of American Folk and Amish Quilts (part 1)
Making quilts has been a practice of American women since
the late 1700s as a practical means of providing warmth for the cold winters.
While many people believe that women have been quilting for art and pastime
since colonial days, this is actually not the case. Women in those early days
of America were expected to do the spinning and sewing of clothing and bedding,
but it was rarely done so in a decorative fashion or thought of as a hobby. It
wasn’t until the mid to late 1700s that women were experiencing better living
conditions and had a few moments of spare time in order to quilt for pastime or
personal expression. Many of these early quilts would look nothing like the
quilts of today because they were usually done using the quilting methods of
their home countries or created using their own individual methods.
The earliest quilts were usually whole-cloth quilts which
used a solid piece of fabric for the top, filling, and backing. Intricate
designs were then stitched into the solid pieces of fabric making the whole
quilt look as if it were decorated through texture, design, and shadow. These
quilts used single colors since they required one piece of fabric for the
entire quilt, however, they often used bold, rich colors. Intricate patterns
were used on these whole-cloth quilts which required skill and patience in
order to create large, equal patterns throughout the entire quilt. Popular
designs of the time included geometric shapes, flowers, feathers, animals, and
people.
Another popular quilting method of the time was called
"broderie perse," which was an appliqué technique using printed chintz flowers
and designs. Imported printed fabrics were in short supply in those early days
of quilting, so rather than using only solid whole-cloth quilts, women began
cutting out small pieces of the printed fabrics they managed to get a hold of
and would make designs out of them. The quilters would cut out flowers or
shapes from the printed fabrics and then stitch them to the top of the solid
fabrics to make them more intricate and colorful looking.
It wasn’t until the mid 1800s that the method of block
quilting was developed. Until this time, colored or patterned fabrics were not
readily available to most American women. However, once textile manufacturers
became automated and textile factories began producing large amounts and
different varieties of fabrics, the style of block quilting that we are
familiar with today started popping up all over the country. Early American
quilters began creating more intricate patterns or designs and began expressing
themselves more creatively through the art of quilting. Quilts began moving
from mere necessity for warmth to more artistic uses for decoration
It was at this time that many Mennonite groups began
embellishing their quilts using geometric shapes and more colorful designs. It
wasn’t until the late 1800s, after the newness of quilting began to fade, that
the Amish took to quilting. Many Amish groups rejected the idea of quilting
for décor initially because it was thought to be a useless task. Quilts were
to be used for warmth alone, not for art, so embellishing or decorating them
was considered an impractical use of their time. This is just one of the fundamental
differences that divide the Mennonites from the Amish. Mennonites are
considered less strict than the Amish when it comes to interpreting scripture
and intermingling with the world around them, so quilting for art was looked
down upon by the Amish in the earliest years of block quilting.
The Development of American Folk and Amish Quilts (part 2)
