People have
used quilts for many, many years.
They’ve been used for clothes, bedding, and even as armor. .The oldest quilted
clothing ever found covered a carved ivory figure of a pharaoh of the Egyptian
First Dynasty around 3400 B.C. In 1924 archaeologists discovered a quilted
floor covering in Mongolia that they estimate date from the first century B.C
to the second century A.D. Crusaders
brought quilts to Europe during the Crusades.
Knights wore them under their armor for comfort and sometimes used them
to protect their armor from the elements.
When
colonists came to the new world they brought knowledge of quilting with
them. The oldest quilt in America dates
from 1704. It’s a pieced quilt known as
the Saltonstall quilt. We know exactly
how old it is because during colonial days, people sometimes pieced newspaper
to see how the quilt would do before they used their expensive fabric. One quilter put the paper between the two
outer layers, and when the outer cover wore away, a dated newspaper was underneath.
Quilts were
of great significance in the New World.
Conditions were harsh without central heat, so quilts kept people
warm. They were also used as wall
hangings in drafty homes. Most of the
quilts were utilitarian, not works of art.
They were mostly pieced quilts too.
Fabric was too precious to waste, so every scrap was saved and used for
something else, including quilts. Of
course, as time went on and people grew more prosperous, they could purchase
new fabric. They could put their artistic
tendencies to work too. Quilts became
works of art.
They
satisfied an important social impulse as well.
Women loved getting together to quilt at quilting bees.
For a time,
quilting lost popularity, but during recent years it has made a big resurgence.
Not only do many people make quilts at
home, you can also buy them at many department and specialty stores.
Wow, those quilts are beautiful.
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