Settlers heading West took quilts with them, and quilting adapted well to remote frontier life, especially on the Great Plains, with its bitter winters. Quilts were not only used on beds, but on doors and windows and sometimes in lieu of cash to pay bills. Calicos came into wider usage during this period.
Quilting "bees" on the frontier were still common - fewer sewing machines were available in remote areas, and they still served as social, recreational, and artistic outlets for women who still labored long and hard.
By about 1870, the Crazy Quilt was becoming popular, as were embellished lap quilts and throws, which remained popular into the early 1900s. Chintz and bock printing was revived about 1873 by William Morris, and Ocean Waves was appearing by 1875.
Although things were beginning to settle down, even on the frontiers, there were still sporadic "Indian Wars" and other problems with the Native Americans as the settlers pushed ever farther into their territories, and continued breaking treaties and trying to force them on to "reservations".
There were also problems between the cattle ranchers and farmers or sheep herders. These were the infamous Range and Sheep "Wars," so called because the interests of the cattlemen, who had usually come first, and who relied on free and open ranges, often collided violently with the incoming farmers or sheep herders, whose way of life was very different.
In 1876, "Centennial Album" quilts became popular concurrent with celebrations of the Revolution. Plaid cotton flannel grew popular for backings, and continued in vogue until the 1920's.
The Centennial Year also marked another flare-up of the "Indian Wars" when a detachment of the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer was wiped out in Montana, in a battle the Indians referred to as "the Greasy Grass," but which was better known to the white population by the nearby river branch, the Little Big Horn, or as "Custer's Last Stand."
By 1880, the use of wool and silk was again increasing, and remained popular till c. 1925. Throughout the 1880s, the trend was towards wool and silk.
Both the Temperance and Women's Suffrage movements have been credited with adopting the pattern known as the "Drunkard's Path" - my own inclination is that it was the Temperance women, as that seems to make the most sense.
About 1885, rust browns became a popular color, and about 1890, animal feed sacks were being produced with prints. These became popular among the less affluent frontier and rural folk for clothing, and was also used in quilts. This use became common later during the Great Depression. I know people alive today whose only clothing as children was made from feed sacks.
Black on white (or vice versa) patterns became popular, due to innovations in the printing process. The Double Wedding Ring pattern grew in popularity, as did the Bear's Paw and Schoolhouse blocks.
By 1900 , improved milling techniques allowed the production of cotton batting without seed particles.the use of "cheater" cloth continued to flourish, while the Double Wedding Ring motif was becoming increasingly popular. Other popular motifs iuncluded the so-called Penny Quilts (which involved small circles of wool appliquéd in patterns) and the Puff Quilt, made from small stuffed patches.
