Tradition

I think why my interest was peaked with quilting, is the tradition of it.  When I think of quilting, the images that come to mind are women getting together and sewing a quilt. The quilting bee, from a time when women worked together sharing a sense of community.

When did quilting begin?

From Quiltmuseum.org--"The word quilt comes from the Latin word ‘culcita’, meaning stuffed mattress or cushion.

No one is exactly sure when quilting began, but from evidence found in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, Egypt. It seems that people wore quilted clothing as many as 5000 years ago.

In England we can trace quilting back to the 13th Century, when people wrote about quilting in protective clothing to wear under or over amour and chain mail.

In the 14th and 15th Centuries wealthy and important figures made quilted ‘doublets’ fashionable outerwear. From written evidence we know that British people certainly used bed quilts, under and over a mattress, from the 15th Century but we cannot be sure what they were like because the quilts have not survived."

From Quilting In America--"The earliest American quilters typically made their quilts by 
adding small pieces of fabric or strips to an ever-growing top. 

This proved to be cumbersome and difficult to work with as the quilt top approached its full size. 

Therefore, quilters gradually began breaking their projects into more manageable blocks. These blocks were usually constructed from simple geometric shapes: squares, rectangles, triangles, and diamonds."

African American Quilts

From Quilting In America--"Like the pioneer quilters, early African American quilters were quite resourceful in finding and using "throw away" or discarded goods to use in their quilts. In addition to scraps from cloth used to make their clothes, slave quilters made good use of gunny, feed, flour, tobacco, and sugar sacks. 

The inner layer of quilts could be filled with old blankets, worn clothes that could no longer be mended, or bits and pieces of wool or raw cotton.

Quilting parties, similar to the quilting bee in the Middle and Far West, were important social events on the plantations and were enjoyed by men, women, and children. Some of these parties were elaborate affairs and included guests from other plantations. 

Such parties usually occurred on special occasions or at the end of the harvest season, and may have been promised as rewards work well done. More common parties were small impromptu events that occurred at the cabins of the slaves. In addition to the sewing, common activities at the parties were eating, drinking, singing, dancing, storytelling, playing traditional games, courting, and gossiping."