Stitching layers of fabric and batting into one warm whole, usually a pieced top, a filling and a backing. An ancient garment technique that became, especially in America, a social craft and a folk art: the quilting bee, the patchwork block and the memory quilt all carry family and community history in cloth. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Earliest Evidence (Circa)The earliest known quilted garment appears on a carved ivory figure of an Egyptian pharaoh, circa 3400 BC 1 OriginQuilted bedding only became common in Europe after crusaders returning from the Middle East brought the practice home in the twelfth century; the English word quilt itself descends from the Latin culcita, a stuffed cushion or bolster, first recorded in this sense in England in the thirteenth century. The craft's community character continues today: the Modern Quilt Guild, a nonprofit with 14,000 members across more than 200 local guilds in 39 countries, organizes workshops and the annual QuiltCon. A widely repeated legend holds that enslaved people used quilt patterns to send secret directions along the Underground Railroad; historians find no support for this in any contemporary slave narrative or record, and trace the story to a 1989 children's book rather than to genuine historical practice. 1 Quilting
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Connections
Associated With
Source Cottagecore (Wikipedia)
Quilting is named directly among the domestic-arts techniques craftivism draws on.
Additional Source Craftivism (Wikipedia)Methods section, on domestic-arts techniques
Quilting is named directly as a continuing folk art tradition.
Additional Source Folk Art (Wikipedia)Practices section
An art museum in Paducah, Kentucky devoted to fiber art and quilting, the only museum dedicated to contemporary quilts and quiltmakers.
Source Quilting Bee (Wikipedia)
Source The Quilters' Guild (Wikipedia)
The Amish quilt is the article's own named example of upcycling applied to quilting.
Additional Source Upcycling (Wikipedia)Examples section, on the Amish quilt
Tools Used
Cutting Mat is used in Quilting.
Source Rotary Cutter (Wikipedia)
Source Rotary Cutter (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Quilting (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilting, History section
quilted bedding and other items appeared after the return of the Crusaders from the Middle East
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilting, Modern quilting section
The Modern Quilt Guild, a non-profit corporation, with 14,000 members in more than 200 members guilds in 39 countries, fosters modern quilting via local guilds, workshops, webinars, and QuiltCon
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilting, African-American quilts section
Consensus among historians is that there is no sound basis for this belief, and no documented mention among the thousands of slave narratives or other contemporary records.
View the Source Craftivism (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Craftivism, Methods section, on domestic-arts techniquesQuote, Associated With: Craftivism, Methods section, on domestic-arts techniques
Much of the practice draws on techniques historically classified as the domestic arts, inclusive of sewing, quilting, embroidery, and other forms of handwork.
Folk Art (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Folk Art, Practices sectionQuote, Associated With: Folk Art, Practices section
Many folk art traditions like quilting, ornamental picture framing, and decoy carving continue to be practiced, and new forms continue to emerge.
Upcycling (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Upcycling, Examples section, on the Amish quiltQuote, Associated With: Upcycling, Examples section, on the Amish quilt
The Amish quilt, for example, came about through reapplication of salvaged fabric.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did enslaved people really use quilt patterns to send secret codes on the Underground Railroad?
No, historians find no evidence for this popular legend.
No. This popular story grew out of a 1989 children's book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Historians find no support for it in any slave narrative or contemporary record.
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