Quilting, the History of a Handicraft
Quilting is a country craft as old as the hills themselves. For many people through the ages, quilting has a comforting and enigmatic combination of necessity, community, craftwork, and commemoration.
In colder climates, a woman’s quilting circle is still an opportunity for us to come together, to work on projects together, to talk over the major matters of the day and times, and to provide invaluable support for each other within a community.
This week, GoodByeCityLife is researching and reporting on the history of quilt making worldwide. Our first installment begins with the start of this craft – in the United Kingdom.
Before the age of the machine, the tradition of make do reined for centuries as all fabric was valuable and not to be wasted. We look back to a time long before any mechanical fabric production, when every piece of cloth was made entirely by hand or with the use of a simple weaving frame.
Long before the first settlers arrived in North America, British women and men were involved in patchwork and quilting. Not just for home use but for commercial income.
As far back as the fourteenth century, quilted fabrics were used for both bedcovers and clothing. We first observe the art of patchwork and quilting in the records of padded clothing made for soldiers – worn underneath armor to protect them from the metal but also to provide warmth.
There are examples of eighteenth century pieces of clothing in UK museums from royal families. One fine example is an underskirt for a Scottish wedding – now part of the Heritage Collection of the Quilters Guild, circa 1764.
Although in the households run by nobles and royals, there were fine examples of luxurious and exquisite quilts, these were the minority. The very wealthy would import cloth from lands far away and use it to display their wealth and social status.
This is why you’ll find silks, satins, velvets, and print fabrics used in complex antique quilting patterns. These pieces would be made by professional craftsmen. Back then, women would not have been employed commercially until much later in the history of quilting.
In homes of the less well off, quilting and patchwork had a much more utilitarian approach. Some of those earlier quilts display their own beauty and craftsmanship, but the main concern during creation was to provide ultimate warmth without too much expense.
The cottage industry was very much part of the northern England and Welsh tradition, and as such, there would be quilters undertaking work on commission – either selling directly to wealthier households or through an agent. Furthermore, in Wales and other parts of England there is reference to traveling workers. These craftsmen would trade board and lodging for new quilts and bedding.
In Victorian times, fashion would dictate the use of lots of bright colors with contrasting black design and fabrics. During this time, fabrics became more inexpensive, more available, and increased disposable income became available to the middle class. Drapery and bed coverings that had previously been seen only in the houses of the nobility were now emulated by the masses.
Most girls of middle class homes would be brought up to be competent with a needle and thread. The crafts of embroidery, patchwork, quilting, and appliqué became more popular and commonplace.
By the twentieth century and our outbreaks of war, lifestyles would change. Women had to work to assist the war effort. This meant little time for hobbies and more effort for necessity. Rationing became commonplace again, everyone concentrated on obtaining enough food to feed the family and thought less of finery.
By the end of the 1940’s the country was more reliant on manufactured clothes and bedding. The industrial age was upon us, factories sprung up across the UK, imports became less expensive, and handicrafts became a luxury of idle time once again.
However a resurgence of quilting (from the United States) helped Britain resurrect its own quilt making traditions – thanks in part to the Quilters Guild in the UK. British quilting, however, has never managed to equal the art of the American quilters, who take credit and are responsible for spreading the word and work of quilting worldwide.
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