QUILTING WISDOM

A messy house is the sign of a happy quilter.

A fat quarter has fewer calories than a hot fudge sundae!

Old quilters never die, they just go to pieces.

"There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness."
- Dave Barry

A LITTLE QUILTING HISTORY

So you thought quilts were pretty much invented by Americans? Think again!

The word quilt comes from the Latin culcita meaning a stuffed sack, but it came into the English language from the French word cuilte. The origins of quilting remain unknown, but historians do know that quilting, piecing, and applique were used for clothing and furnishings in diverse parts of the world in early times.

Patchwork is the piecing together of various small shapes of fabric to make one large piece. Quilting is the stitching that binds the layers of patchwork, padding and backing fabric together. This craft has been noted in history since very early times. It was firstly a craft generated by necessity and practical reasons, but as it made its way down history's trail it became a popular pastime that anyone could do. A few very old examples of patchwork have been discovered:

• A quilted funeral tent canopy was found in the tomb of Queen Esi-mem-kev of Egypt, who lived about 980 BC.
  
• In 1903 a carved ivory figure of a Pharoah from the Egyptian First Dynasty c3400 BC was discovered. The Pharoah is wearing what seems to be a quilted mantle.
• Another piece is a carpet found on the floor of a tomb. This was believed to have been made during the first century BC. The pattern of this carpet is similar to patterns still in use today.
• In 1924 archaeologists discovered a quilted floor covering in Mongolia. They estimated that it dates from somewhere between the first century B.C. to the second century A.D.

The next recordings of patchwork are from the early Middle Ages. During this time two heavy outer fabrics, quilted with layers of soft padding between them, were warn as body armour by the armies of William the Conqueror and the Crusaders. These patchwork body armours served not only as armours, but gave soldiers warmth and protected the soldiers from chafing and from the elements (rain, snow, sun). The patchwork armours the soldiers wore were for practical use only, so they were simply stitched together with strong thread in straight lines. The medieval quilted gambeson, aketon and arming doublet were garments worn under, or instead of, armor of maille or plate armor. These developed into the later quilted doublet worn as part of fashionable European male clothing from the 14th to 17th century. Quilted clothing began to be generally used in the 14th century, with quilted doublets and armor worn in France, Germany, and England and quilted tunics in Italy.

It is believed that this quilted armour inspired the making and use of quilted bed covers. The earliest known surviving bed quilt is the Tristan Quilt (shown at left). It was made in Sicily between 1360 and 1400. It is 122" by 106," made of linen, quilted with outlines in brown and white linen thread, and padded with cotton wadding. The blocks across the center are scenes from the legend of Tristan. It is part of the Victoria and Albert Museum collection in London.

The earliest Quilting has been part of the needlework tradition in Europe from about the 5th century. Early objects contain Egyptian cotton, which may indicate that Egyptian and Mediterranean trade provided a conduit for the technique. Quilted objects were relatively rare in Europe until approximately the 12th century, when quilted bedding and other items appeared after the return of the Crusaders from the Middle East.

There are also numerous references to quilts in literature and inventories of estates. Quilted bed covers became frequently mentioned in household inventories and accounts of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century there was a major change in the climate of Western Europe. The winters became extremely cold and bitter. This climate change made the quilted bed cover a necessity. People used anything they could lay their hands on to fill the patchwork covers, such as moss, feathers, lambs wool and even grass - they were desperate for warmth.

NOTE: This article was compiled and edited from two sources: "The History Of Patchwork/Quilting" by Helen Page (1999), and Wikipedia.org. Check these links for more details: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~kakeand2/page2.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilting.
11/28/2011