Backstitches of Time: The Secrets of the Quilt
I love quilts. I love to make quilts, and I love the geometric patterns and the feel of the fabrics. I grew up around quilts and my Grandma Meyer taught me how to quilt. Through her, I learned that patience and faith has a lot to do with how things turn out, and that sometimes you can make the best things out of the scraps that life hands you. I also learned that every hand made quilt has a story. Patterns are carefully chosen, colors and prints can hold memories or celebrate new family members, and it always bring warmth and comfort to the person who receives it. I am writing this blog as a class assignment, and I hope you find the meanings of some of the quilt patterns as interesting as I do.
Fabric patterns have told stories throughout the
centuries. Perhaps one of the earliest stories of a fabric pattern was from The
Holy Bible, when Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter floating near some reeds
in The Nile River. His swaddling cloth was that of a Hebrew pattern. Pharaoh’s
daughter hid his cloth and raised Moses as an Egyptian prince. This cloth
played a role that eventually led him to learn the truth about his true
identity, and what great things he went on to accomplish for his people: to lead
them out of Egypt and slavery.
As history tends to repeat itself, I find the history of fabric
patterns and their secret meanings during the time of slavery in the United
States of America as pertinent as it was in biblical times. The meaning of a
quilt goes far beyond its warmth, comfort and security. Every time you see a
quilt, look at its pattern and see if you can figure out its secret.
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| My North Star Quilt |
The first pattern I will show is the North Star. It was used by people on the Underground Railroad as a signal to slaves escaping to the North that they were headed in the right direction. If they saw a quilt with the North Star pattern hanging on a clothes line, or draped over a rail, they knew they were on the right path. My North Star quilt is very old and tattered, and probably dates back to the early 1900's. It is a variation of the North Star pattern.
This is a more modern North Star quilt.
I would love to have the skill to be able to quilt. I would like to learn someday so that I could make my daughters quilts that they could take with them when they finally move out on their own. What a great item to grow old with.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jocelyn! I made my son a T-shirt quilt from his T-shirts I had kept throughout his life. I will post about it sometime. It had T-shirts from scout camp, band camps, vacations we had been on, even one his orthodontist gave him that said, "got braces?" He wasn't too thrilled I included that one but hey, that was part of his life. I gave it to him for high school graduation and he loves it. Thanks again for your comment.
DeleteYour quilts are gorgeous! You are one talented lady! I most appreciate the stories behind the quilts and how it relates to your faith.
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are beautiful! I cherish the quilt my grandmother made me. Maybe after this class we might have a quilt lesson?
ReplyDeleteI would love to, but my methods are probably not good to teach anyone else. The trial and error method seems to apply quite frequently! I haven't been able to make anything except the occasional baby quilt for 2 years now. I have one more year of school and then its quilt baby, quilt!
ReplyDelete