by: Nancy Caduff
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This article honors a gift handed down to us by the pioneer
women of our country a skill conceived in poverty, pride,
and love and considered by some to be the only true
American folk art.
I'm talking about quilting, the craft of taking what you
have and piecing it together into a blanket a craft
which-sooner or later-naturally evolves into the more
complex art of combining odd pieces of fabric into
intricate patterns and designs.
I got started on this delightful pastime in the traditional
way: I had eight beds to cover warmly and few funds to do
it with. My only assets were a big bag of scraps and the
memory of Mom and Gram piecing material for quilts when I
was a child.
Since I'm a strong believer in the public library, that's
where I went for help and I recommend that you do the same.
Glorious works have been published on the subject of
quilting, and references to designs for the coverlets
abound in all the folk history and antique books. Also, if
there's a historical museum or landmark house near you,
visit it and copy down in a notebook the quilting ideas and
patterns you're sure to find there.
It's odd that, among all the wealth of available reference
material, I've never found a basic manual to show me step
by step how to make a quilt. The fact remains that I
haven't and my first attempt-a nine-block design, of which
there are more variations than minds to think them up-is
known accordingly as "Comedy of Errors".
I did everything wrong on my first attempt at quilting and
then learned later how I should have done it. And that's
why I've written this article: Amateur though I may be,
even after several quilts, I still think I can save other
beginners some trouble. Mainly, however, I hope to whet
your appetite for, and pass on the great tradition of, this
craft (as moms and grannies used to do).
just what is a quilt, anyway? Webster defines it as "a
cover, or coverlet, made by stitching one cloth over
another with some soft substance in between." And there
are, basically, three kinds: patchwork, applique, and
piecework.
Patchwork is "crazy quilting" piecing together in random
pattern any scraps of fabric you might have on hand and
finishing the whole with decorative embroidery stitches.
The result is beautiful in spite of itself. This kind of
work originated several hundred years ago among the
peasants of France and had a poor reputation with our early
settlers, who did very little of it. Nowadays it's an
especially good use for wools, velvets, fur, or other odds
and ends that you can't do anything else with.
