The dictionary defines patchwork quilting as a quilt made by sewing patches of different materials together.  That is fine, but what makes a quilt and example of American patchwork quilting?  Does it simply have to be made in America, or is there more to it than that?  Some basic research reveals that true American patchwork quilting is its own distinct style and has been generally recognized as a form of art.  Recently, this craft has been resurrected and put American patchwork quilting back into widespread use and acceptance.

American Patchwork Quilting Revival

Throughout the mid eighteen hundreds right up into the early twentieth century, American patchwork quilting was an extremely popular and iconic craft.   However it slowly died out as people purchased mass produced and more cost effective blankets.  Sometime in the mid 1960’s a quilt revival was started that has continued on to present day.  

One of the fundamental spirits and ideals of the 60’s was freedom from corrupt and morally wrong corporations.  American patchwork quilting represented a good way to manufacture a useful product without help.  This grassroots, fundamental handy craft found great champions in the youth of America that were looking to go against everything their parents represented, including the ideology that American patchwork quilting was old fashioned.  After the 60’s, the Bicentennial saw many Americans looking to traditions of the past. 

The American patchwork quilt was  a great representation of this era.  In addition, feminist movement began to see these quilts as representations of artwork long underappreciated.  Older traditional quilts represented some of the most beautiful pieces of art from this period.   These quilts represented the history and values of their silent craftsman with old quilts becoming collector’s items.   As people rediscovered this art they began to start exploring making quilts outside the traditional realm. 

New fabrics, materials, and ideas of what a quilt truly was, were beginning to find there ways into patterns and styles of the quilts being made.  While these radical new quilts were generally not widely accepted, as time moved on more people began to appreciate the works of some of the more innovative quilt makers from the 60’s and 70’s

So what defines an American patchwork quilt?  Well, that is not a simple question to answer as it changes from era to era.  The one thing that stays consistent is that American patchwork quilting is a representation of ideas of the person fashioning the quilt, and is almost never some random collection of patterns.

Tags: American Patchwork Quilting, Quilting

Trackback URI | Comments RSS