Quilt-making flourished in the 19th century, with the years 1825 to 1870 being particularly prolific. As the country became more settled, women were able to devote more time to sewing and quilting as an art form.
The Industrial Era began to develop with the burgeoning of mills, and more technology was developed and introduced, all of which rendered the making of cloth, dyes, needles, and other essentials of quilting easier and more wide-spread, thus more readily available and affordable.
The introduction of the cotton gin in the 1790s had paved the way for cheaper cotton. With the advent of the first power mill in Waltham, MA, (1814), factory production of cloth and thread really got under way.
By the 1840s, American and foreign textile industries had grown large enough to provide fabric that was more abundant and affordable. (Calicoes became particularly popular in this period.)
The early 19th century also brought the development of many motifs and types of quilts that are still in use. Patriotic quilts cropped up again during the War of 1812. By the 1830s, such motifs as: Log Cabin, Barn Raising, Courthouse Steps, Lightning, the Eight-pointed Star, Ohio Star, and Hourglass were known, as well as the Irish Chain, Clamshell, and Thousand Pyramids, Feathered Star, Nine-Patch / Wild-Goose, Lone Star (also called Star of Bethlehem and Rising Sun), Chips & Whetstones (Mariner's Compass), Bay Leaf, Magnolia, Grandmother's Flower Garden, Carolina Lily, and a number of others that are still popular.
The Quilting Bee
It seems to be popular now to debunk quilting traditions, (often correctly), and the "bee" has been no exception. However, we shouldn't "throw the baby out with the bath water."
Group sewing has been practiced for centuries in various forms. As we have seen, no less a personage than Mary, Queen of Scots and many of her contemporaries were avid needle-workers, and worked in conjunction with other well-born women, or their ladies in waiting, who were generally also women of quality.
In America, group sewing has been traced at least as far back as 1761. Women also quilted with family members, or with church or social groups, though the use of the term "bee" seems to date from more recent times. (In the earlier days they seem to have been referred to as "a quilting".)
By the 1840s, group work had become well established in America, both on the frontier, as well as in more settled areas. These gatherings helped relieve the isolation in remote areas, and lightened the work of the women in general, who still bore a heavy share of the labor.
The "bees" were also used to socialize. They often were day-long affairs with meals, and sometimes music and a dance afterwards. Sometimes they were coordinated with barn "raisings." The men would build a structure, while the women would quilt and prepare meals.
The quilts made were used by the women, exchanged or given as gifts to those parting for the farther frontiers, for girls' "hope" chests, or to relieve the poor or people who had been afflicted with a fire, storm, or other personal or natural disaster.
I still remember my grandmother and her friends getting together for these bees in rural Indiana as late as the early 1950s. At that time, it was mostly the older women, and the occasions were still used to catch up on all the local gossip!
In this period, missionaries had introduced quilting to Hawaii, which would eventually lead to the unique patterns of those islands, so prized today. Flowers, hearts, and geometric designs also remained in vogue.
Commercial patterns were now becoming wide-spread, and women's periodicals such as Godey's Lady's Book had regular articles on needlework and quilting.
Appliqué "album samplers" had also become popular from the mid 1830s on, consisting of appliqué in borders and individual block patterns of flowers and leaves. Commonly called "Baltimore Album", they were found in many areas from North to South. Patterns using folded paper were also developing.
The Baltimore Album Quilt
Also in the 1840s, Baltimore had become a prosperous and bustling seaport. It also boasted a burgeoning textile industry. This setting, with its combination of affluent, leisured, people, and busy social circles were the seed of a style that was to become a classic example of needlework and quilting - the Baltimore Album.
The Baltimore Album was typically an appliquéd album quilt, featuring a multitude of motifs, often with elaborate swag or floral borders. The nautical commerce that brought Baltimore its wealth was represented by ships, patriotic themes included eagles and flags, fraternal orders such as the Masons and Odd Fellows, and many others - sometimes all on one quilt! German folk art seems to have influenced them to some degree.
They soon became highly fashionable all along the Eastern seaboard. They appear to have spread west, though how is uncertain. Western women may have begun making them, or immigrants may have brought them along. (Though given the intensity of the work that goes into one, it seems less likely that a frontier woman would have had the time to invest.) Most seem to have been made by group effort, though some would seem to have been done by one woman.
There seem to have been a handful of individuals or "schools" of talented designers in the region, as a number of quilts appear to be made to the same patterns. Sometimes high-end "designer" blocks were used only in the middle, or in a few blocks, while the rest were designed by the quilter. This may have reflected economic necessity, or just taste.
There were also more basic paper patterns, and, as always, talented individual quilters created their own designs.
Many of the best were not made with scraps, but with new fabric of good quality and great variety, demonstrating affluence and availability. (Which would seem another reason that few, if any were made on the new frontier.) Even middle class women were making these quilts, which indicates a high standard of living for many more than in times past, and possibly less expensive fabrics due to the new mills, technologies, trade and other factors.
Other Album Quilts
There were other album quilts made for a variety of "life occasions" such as funerals, weddings, arrivals and departures, etc. Some show little wear, and are thin or without batting or backing. It seems probable that they were used as decorative spreads rather than functional bed coverings.
They also had a great variety of motifs, which often reflected the recipient. An Army officer received one embellished with patriotic motifs, a sea captain got one with ships and the sea, and so on.
Some were signed and/or dated, or had written or embroidered quotes, verses, or scriptural text. Sometimes they were signed by each member of the group, sometimes by just one person. Ink sketches and other embellishments were added in some instances. These led to a category of quilts that it is fair to distinguish in their own right.
Signature Quilts
These are quilts with blocks that include a written or embroidered signature. They are also sometimes called "Friendship" or "Autograph" quilts. (As usual, there is no agreement even among experts on which name is most appropriate.) Some used specific blocks designed for the purpose, known as "album" blocks, which have a space for the name of the maker, a verse, etc.
Some were simple single pattern quilts, while others were more formal, made of different blocks, both pieced and appliquéd. These are sometimes called "sampler album" quilts.
They first flourished in the period from 1840-1870, shortly after the development of permanent ink about 1835 by a British inventor named Payson. Prior to that, signatures and other information were often done in appliqué, as earlier inks tended to run or fade.
As in our time, this was a period of great change and uncertainty. Families were moving West, which usually meant a permanent separation from families and friends.
Also, the Mexican War and later the American Civil War, as well as the on-going wars with the Native Americans, led to deaths and dislocation. Society was stretched to the breaking point and beyond. (Perhaps it is no wonder that this troubled era also has led to a resurgence in popularity of the signature quilt.)
Last but hardly least, from 1837 on, coinciding with the accession of Queen Victoria of England, the period was marked by a strong sense of sentimentality, sometimes excessive to the point of being maudlin.
Women began responding by making and exchanging signature quilts. Sometimes they were elaborate, with pictures, signatures, and artistic work, but others were made with little or poor quilting, and no decoration to speak of.
They were often meant as memorabilia, but others were made to raise funds for the causes of the time - abolition, the soldiers at the front, the Red Cross, or, more prosaically, as a church group fundraiser, or by a school class.
They raised money by raffles and / or by charging the signer a fee. Sometimes a quilt was signed with hundreds of signatures and then raffled off, and were sometimes re-donated back by the winners several times over, to make as much money as possible for the cause. Their popularity continued on into the 1900s, and quilts such as those discussed in The London School Quilt Story.
Other patterns from this period include the lovely Dresden Plate, Lemoyne Star, Texas Star and Blazing Star, as well as Garden Maze, Orange Peel, Oak Leaf and Reel, Wild Goose Chase (also known as Goose in the Pond), Crosses and Losses (also called Fox and Geese), Feathered Star, Ocean Waves and sampler quilts with pinwheels, album patches, and eight-pointed stars.
By this time, commercial bed coverings were becoming wide-spread, but quilting remained as popular as ever.
Patriotic quilts came into renewed popularity during the Mexican War (1846-48), and commercial quilt batting was introduced. The Princess Feather motif appeared.
The 1850s saw the introduction of "cheater" cloth, and the Whig Rose appliqué pattern appeared, as did the "Pineburr" and "Pickle Dish" pieced patterns.
1851 brought the advent of a new era, when the sewing machine was patented, and "stitching machines" for home use appeared in 1854. Sunburst and Peony patterns were coming into popularity at this time.
In 1856, another invention, aniline (coal tar) dyes made a broad range of bright colors readily available. Previously clothing dyes were made from available local natural substances, such as plants and lichens. They gained a big boost when they became commercially available in package form in the early 1860s.
By 1858 , the Rocky Mountain (New York Beauty) patterns were becoming popular. Patchwork had fallen into "second class" status, viewed as bed-covering for the lower classes.
1860 brought the introduction of the modern sewing machine with lockstitch, which soon became firmly established. Women saw the potential for easier, faster, and strronger sewing of cloth of all kinds including quilts. Machine piecing and quilting began to be common, although handwork and the "bee" was kept up, as much for the social aspects as for necessity.
Tan became popular until about 1880. New basket patterns with handles were introduced. The Double Hearts pattern appeared.
Again during the American Civil War (1861-65), patriotic themes appeared on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
The country had been sorely divided for some years by the issues of the day, which included the abolition of slavery.
There are many myths and legends surrounding quilting, and this period is no exception. These stories include the use of quilts as "signposts" to help slaves escape via the Underground Railroad. For instance a Log Cabin quilt with a black center was supposed to show that the house displaying it in the window, or on a line or proch, was a "safe house". Likewise, a variation of Jacob's Ladder now called an "Underground Railroad" quilt, was supposed to give "directions," and other patterns such as Birds in the Air and Evening Star had similar traditional origins.
Some of this seems pretty far fetched - it seems rather a stretch to imagine that the mostly illiterate slaves would be able to remember a complex set of "code" patterns and directions with no written key, and then apply them to an unfamiliar area. Of course, it is quite possible that simple cues or clues could be given and memorized, but there is no solid evidence, barring a few traditional stories.
Specific block patterns may well refer to events of the period, though whether they were produced at the time or later are sometimes hard to tell. Sherman's famous (or infamous) March to the Sea is commemorated by a block, and certainly did take place - my great-grandfather was wounded and later captured during this campaign. Lincoln's Platform may well represent that President - either his party "platform" or one he actually spoke from.
While much remains unclear, it is certain that Abolitionist women made quilts indicting slavery. They used verse, scripture, and pictures to make their point.
Abolitionist women, mainly in the North, were actively supporting antislavery laws from the 1830s. White women joined free or freed black women to form "Female Anti-Slavery Societies." They circulated petitions, helped provide schooling for black children and raised money for the cause by making and selling ornaments, clothing, and quilts to be sold at craft fairs.
Among the first was the "Anti-Slavery Fair", held in Boston in 1834. It was very successful, and the idea spread throughout New England, and then to other states where Abolition was supported. White women joined with African-American women to contribute their time and talents to the cause.
"The Liberator," (a famous Abolitionist journal published by William Lloyd Garrison and Isaac Knapp), reported on one such fair; "We are told the colored ladies of Salem particularly deserve thanks for the interest they took in the Fair, and the articles they sent."
Abolitionists varied greatly in their composition - some held that slavery was an abomination, but that black people were not yet capable of self-government.
Some wanted the slaves to remain in America as freedmen and women after the liberation they sought, so that they should be "uplifted" to a "higher" level. Others thought they should be "repatriated" to Africa, as in the Liberia experiment - despite the fact that many slaves at this point had been born in captivity in the United States, and would have had little or nothing in common with Africans outside of skin tone. (Few seemed to have consulted the African-Americans about their own wishes in the matter!)
But all shared the view that the "peculiar institution" (as it was called in some quarters) was evil, and needed to be destroyed, whether by legal means over time, or immediately - by violent means if necessary.
The Abolition movement and opposition to it in the South was leading to disruptions, especially along the borders of Kansas and Missouri, where the Jayhawkers and Border Ruffians alike violently contested the issues on the ground, to the detriment of peaceful folk. Blood had already been shed on a number of occasions in "Bleeding Kansas" and elsewhere. By the end of the 1850s, the pot was hot, and would soon boil over.
In 1859, a fiery religious zealot named John Brown came to the small town of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Brown, who had already compiled a record of violent abolitionism in Kansas, took over an armory in the hopes of sparking a slave rebellion.
The rebellion fizzled, and Brown and his rag-tag band were soon overcome, to face trial and execution for rebellion.
They were taken by a small party of Marines led by an Army colonel, a top West Point graduate (First Cadet, second in his class, appointed to the elite Engineers, and the only West Point cadet known who had no demerits!). He had also distinguished himself in the Mexican War. His name was Robert Edward Lee, soon to become known all over the nation.
During the Mexican War, Lee had fought alongside another then little known West Point officer, who was far less distinguished academically, though personally brave. He had been born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but due to a bureaucratic error when he was appointed to the Academy, he has passed into history as Ulysses Simpson Grant.
The war was popular in many quarters at first, being billed by both sides as a fight for "the right." In the South, this meant "States' Rights" and "property rights" - including the "right" to own human beings.
In the North, it was billed as "preserving the Union" even against the majority wishes of the Southerners, who had voted to secede. (There is still some lively debate as to whether they had the right to do so.) In 1863, after Gettysburg, the slavery issue came to the fore, after Lincoln issued an order freeing slaves - though initially only in the areas in rebellion.
Women participated at first mainly by embroidering flags for the local regiments, such as those depicted below, but as reality sunk in, and they realized the war was not going to be a picnic, or over by Christmas, they began making bandages and lint for wounds, and doing grimmer jobs as nurses and medical assistants.
National Colors of the 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. (My great-grandfather's regiment in the Civil War.) The top picture is the actual flag, the bottom a reproduction showing how they would have looked when new. The regiment took heavy casualties in the early years of the war, and remained in the front lines for most of the war.
Some went much farther, and served actively and in combat on both sides, as medical personnel (including Mary Edwards Walker a doctor who won the Medal of Honor), as spies, and even as soldiers! For details, see this interesting site.
Women of all ages soon learned first hand the horrors of war. Here are the words of a young girl, Tillie Pierce, then aged 15, who was present during the battle for Gettysburg. She wrote a reminiscence of the battle when she was 26.
"When we entered the house we found it also completely filled with the wounded. We hardly knew what to do or where to go. They, however, removed most of the wounded, and thus after a while made room for the family.
"As soon as possible, we endeavored to make ourselves useful by rendering assistance in this heartrending state of affairs. I remember Mrs. Weikert went through the house, and after searching awhile, brought all the muslin and linen she could spare. This we tore into bandages and gave them to the surgeons, to bind up the poor soldier's wounds.
For the full and harrowing story in her own words, go to Eyewitness to History.
The war went on to kill approximately 600,000 Americans, many by disease or starvation. It was the costliest war in terms of American lives, in US history - and remains so to this day.
Immigration in the pre- and post-war period brought traditional European motifs. German traditions were popular, being similar to the "album" motif, and a bouquet and urn on white gained popularity - perhaps because of the maudlin sentiments of the period, which were exacerbated by the enormous casualty rates.
