One myth about quilting among the immigrants is that only the poor folks made quilts.
Turns out, women of wealth and leisure made some elegant quilts
- generally whole cloth quilts.
Many whole cloth quilts were made of glazed wool with wool batting.
These quilts were a way to feature intricate quilting designs that quilters had developed through years of quilting. Patterns for the quilting stitches included feathers, geometric shapes, and figures of animals, ships, people and flowers.
Many quilters took their quilt design one step further and added extra stuffing to their quilts to highlight even more some of their fine quilting stitches. These quilters carefully separated the threads in the fabric of their quilt and then added stuffing between the threads.
When you make a whole cloth quilt using a solid color fabric, it gives you the opportunity to show off intricate quilting designs as well as your beautiful quilting stitches.
Now quilters make whole cloth quilts using hand dyed and hand painted fabric.
Quilting stitches are created using either hand quilting or machine quilting, and the quilting designs highlight both the beautiful quilting as well as featuring the designs in the fabric.
Quilting History can be useful when reconstructing a quilt from the past. Knowing our past will help you appreciate the present when recreating your masterpiece of yesterday Actually, the earliest recorded quilted garment was found on a carved ivory figure of a pharaoh from the first dynasty and is dated to be from 3400 BC, but for our purposes we will concentrate on the early pioneer days of America.
During the early years of America, colonial settlers lived by a very strict code of Puritan religious teachings. Women were made to feel inferior to men and were taught to be subservient to her father until she married and then to her husband.
Learning to read was discouraged and writing was the prerogative of men only. Although some women were taught to read it was only so that they could read the bible. After colonial settlers became established in America an ordinary woman's daily life was still difficult.
Typically she would be expected to do the spinning, sewing, food preservation, cooking and cleaning while caring for her often-large family The woman in upper left is carding wool in preparation for spinning. 
Obviously the image of colonial women sitting in their cabins quilting before the fire is far from the truth. There were, of course, exceptions.
Some quilting was done by those who could afford household help thus leaving the woman of the house with time for decorative needlework. These women used quilting methods from their mother countries, styles of quilting far different than what we think of today as patchwork.
Early American Quilt Styles Broderie Perse was a popular way to make use of printed fabrics. Beautiful developed and are very popular today. Women would cut out flowers and other designs and simply applique each to a large piece of solid fabric.
Whole cloth quilts were made similarly but using a solid top with a backing and filling. These quilts were made by layering together a solid top, backing and filling. They were quilted together with elaborate designs producing beautiful patterns of texture and shadows.
Medallion Style Quilts were sewn with several boarders around a central theme.
Star Blocks, Hour Glass, Saw Tooth are an example of just a few of the boarders used in that era. Very few examples of these styles have survived over the years.
Coverlet is another name for bed covering, woven with wool, linen and cotton and found mainly in well-to-do households. Mid 1800s
Sometime in the mid 1800s the textile industry had grown and fabric was easier to obtain. Quilting became more of a hobby versus a necessity. It was a way for women to express their creativity.
Quilting became popular in the 1920s and 30s due to the rejuvenated interested in anything colonial including furniture design. This growing popularity prompted magazines to take of advantage of the fad by promoting quilts actually made in the mid 1900s.
Quilting Bees Quilting Bees started as a rural gathering probably around the early 1900s, as a way for women to 
overcome the loneliness that many pioneer women experienced. Often women would gather to help a bride-to-be finish a quilt before she married.
Typically no more than 4 women could work at a time on a quilt due to the small parlors and tables. Other women would come and cook.
After quilting and cooking all day, the men would come home and be treated to fine meal. It was an enjoyable time.
Although this tradition has almost vanished, quilting bees can still be found in some small towns and rural areas.
Quilting Clubs are the new mantra of today and can be found by doing a simple internet search. There may even be one near you.
Such clubs gather for a variety of reasons, from passing down the tradition of quilt making to the younger generation to studying the history of quilting and quilting for charitable causes. These clubs help preserve the culture of our pioneer ancestors and keep the tradition from becoming a lost art.
Knowing the History of Quilting Will Give You a Better Appreciation of Your Creation
