A Brief History of Quilts

The Quilting Party

1861

Albumen print on card mount

This photograph depicts a staged scene of a common 1800s activity, the quilting bee.

LOC 2017647821     Photographed by George Stacy

Though it is largely unknown exactly when and where the art of quilting originated, quilts have been a part of American identity for more than 200 years. Scenes of women seated around a wooden frame for a community or family quilting bee are as deeply ingrained as Fourth of July parades and church socials in the idea of the old-fashioned American spirit. The typical patchwork textiles most tend to associate with the word quilt came about in the late 1700s. From there, quilting styles adapted to the changing times, reflective of the decades in which they were created.

• 1800-1830: Quilters embraced "white work," all-white textiles utilizing white thread and white fabric. These pieces drew inspiration from the neoclassical designs deemed worthy of the recently formed United States, and they were thought to reflect the proper womanhood virtues of purity, domesticity, and humility. 
• 1830-1860: New colorful patchwork patterns swept across the nation, including the Rising Sun or Star of Bethlehem.
• 1860-1870: The American Civil War forced quilters to focus on creating bedding for the cause.
• 1870-1880: With the post-war availability of inexpensive fabric, creators began making quilts simply to showcase their talents and skills.
• 1880-1890: Quilters across the nation turned to "crazy quilts," a style produced by combining fabric remnants into irregular arrangements and completed with decorative embroidery.
• 1890-1899: Though quilts were beginning to fall out of favor, the increased popularity of the sewing machine made quilting accessible to even the most amateur of creators.

[Bibliography: Horton, Laurel. "Quilts, General." In The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Volume 23: Folk Art, edited by Carol Crown and Cheryl Rivers, 167-172. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013.]