Hail Brave hearts
A month of creativity for you!
March is National Quilters Month, which brings the finest of the best in the world of quilting to our attention. Quilting! A national and international past time with a month of praises for itself.
Quilting has long been an art of necessity. Born in the United States from the impoverished homesteaders who would discard nothing and used every scrap of material for some repurposed, useful item. Scraps of worn shirts, trousers and jackets which had outworn their intended purpose, became tiny bits of fabric, transformed into patterns of squares, triangles, circles and geometry. Little bits and pieces, carefully hand stitched together to form a blanket for a bed, that needed the cover. The time consuming craft of care that creates a warm and welcoming place in the home.
The ingenuity of the forefathers gifts to us a craft of lovely care. Designs and patterns change over time and so does the method of quilting. From the hand stitched pieces to the sewing machine, the quilt has taken on a new dimension in our lives. The quilt is mainly associated with blankets, however , it also adorns the walls as smaller pieces of artwork, lovingly created to beautify the home.
Fabric stores carry cloth to purchase for a quilt, making the claim that they are quilting shops who offer lessons on how to quilt, selling sewing machines for this purpose and long arm sewing machines to quilt the finished product together. Machines with quilt patterns programed into them, designs to draw and follow. The art of quilting has flourished to a point where many communities have quilting guilds. The art has flourished to a recognition so high that a whole month of the year is dedicated to it’s existence. The message from this is that quilting is important. It’s important to us in history and it’s important to us, to this day.
32 Charming Quilting Facts and History | Fact Retriever
From it’s early inception, perhaps as early as 3400 BC, the useful Mother of Invention, took hold of scraps of fabric and batting and stitched them together. That useful Mother has shaped most of our lives and history is filled with her magic of ingenuity. Quilting is not necessarily about blankets, it’s the method of attaching fabric to batting to form new cloth which becomes useful items to wear or use. Quilted jackets for the crusaders to wear under their armour, quilted coverings to hang over doors and windows, quilted jackets to wear in fields, quilted shawls and quilted blankets made to put on beds.
10 Historical Facts About Quilting – Art Gallery Fabrics – The Creative Blog (agfblog.com)
Quilting is used as a form of art, sometimes just to make good use of spare time. However, the art is praiseworthy and extends over so much of human history and into so many countries, that it’s historical significance is obvious. From ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs, to China, Medieval Europe the United States and Canada, this long sought after craft has been with us since such ancient times that it’s won it’s own place in history. Quilting is important, as art, as craft, as functional items. It’s popularity has protected it National Quilt Month is praises to this ancient craft. Long live the quilt!
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
March 26, 2023