America

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Americas Quilting History

• There are stories of how quilting was used to
  help the slaves escape through the Underground
  railroad. A log cabin quilt hanging in a window
  with a black center for the chimney hole was said
  to indicate a safe house.

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Flying Geese
Flying Geese
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• Controversy remains as to weather the quilts had
  hidden messages or where they just symbols to
  represent personal beliefs
• Did "Triangles in quilt design signify prayer
  messages or did  Flying Geese tell slaves to head
  north.   
• instructed slaves to travel in whatever direction
  the 2 darkest triangles were then pointed, making
  the way the quilt was displayed critical.   

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EUROPEAN AMERICAN QUILTING TRADITIONS
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Victorian crazy quilt
Single men often purchased quilts, as did
affluent women for the decoration of their homes
and beds.
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Quilts also served as a source of income for
many women on the frontier.
http//xroads.virginia.edu/UG97/quilt/etrads.html

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Amishcross within a cross
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• Strongest reason for the rise of quilt making in
  the American colonies is utility.
• Women needed to be able to use available
  materials, like the quilt pictured here made out
  of feed sacks, in order to save scarce money.

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• Often quilts were made in order to record a
  specific event or celebration -- the birth of a
  child, a wedding, a festival, an anniversary.
• Here is a contemporary quilt that records the
  celebration of the American Bicentennial.

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• Amish quilts
• Amish quilts didnt really catch on in Amish
  communities until the 1870s. Before then, the
  Amish shunned quilt making as too modern
• Amish quilts at first were very ordinary. The
  first Amish-made quilts were made in one solid
  color. That one color was often black, brown, or
  blue.
• Many people assume that all Amish quilts were
  always made completely by hand. That is not true.
  While some are handmade, many were pieced
  together by using a treadle sewing machine.
• a community consensus has had to be reached in
  many instances when deciding if certain colors
  like pink and white are acceptable to use.

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Amish QuiltStar of Bethlehem
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The aids quilt is not only the largest, but is
also the most affecting piece of folk art in the
world. It has more than 10,000 panels (each
memorializing a victim of Aids), made from
taffeta, vinyl and burlap, with wedding rings,
stuffed bears, and fragments of old family quilts
sewn into it.
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The Aids quilt on the Washington mall
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Quilts

• From traditional to art Quilt