America’s 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.

Flying Geese

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.

EUROPEAN AMERICAN QUILTING TRADITIONS

Victorian crazy quilt Single men often purchased quilts, as did affluent women for the decoration of their homes and beds.

s.virginia.e du/~UG97/ quilt/etrads. html Quilts also served as a source of income for many women on the frontier.

Amish cross within a cross

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.

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.

Amish quilts Amish quilts didn’t 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.

Amish Quilt Star of Bethlehem

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.

The Aids quilt on the Washington mall

Quilts From traditional to art Quilt

“The Quilts of Gee’s Bend” features more than sixty quilts made between 1930 and 2000 by four generations of quilt makers, resulting in a body of work that is bold, colorful, and unique.

The New York Times called “some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced,”

The quilters lived in a isolated river-bend community-- formerly part of the Pettway Plantation—A cohesive artistic tradition, shared by many generations of African American women,

What gives the quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, their particular power? One look gives you a sense of their originality and graphic impact. The Gee’s Bend quilters inventively combine materials to form bold, abstract compositions that reveal a genius for color and geometry. These quilts, sometimes pieced from worn clothing, were originally made for practical use, often piled in layers on beds for warmth. Thethe quilters lived in a isolated river-bend community-- formerly part of the Pettway Plantation—A cohesive artistic tradition, shared by many generations of African American women, that lies behind each scrap of fabric and boldly assembled pattern.