| It's not unusual to have a collection of | | | | necessary for every child: neatness, |
| antique quilts. But doll quilts? | | | | attentiveness, patience, perseverance, |
| Yes, doll quilts. While charming in | | | | and acceptance of routine and |
| their own right, they are difficult to | | | | repetition. |
| find because during the period they were | | | | Girls in upper class families also |
| made, they were considered unimportant | | | | learned to do needlework, although they |
| and insignificant. | | | | used finer materials and more intricate |
| Many were made from leftovers and got | | | | designs. It's not unusual to find crazy |
| hard use from the little girls who owned | | | | quilts using velvets, wools and silks |
| them. Quilts made by young girls are | | | | that were made by children in upper |
| likely to reflect their lack of refined | | | | class families. |
| skills in hand stitching. | | | | Unlike children today, children in the |
| Girls in the early nineteenth century | | | | 1800s had little other than their |
| were trained from the time they were | | | | imagination to play with. Only the upper |
| very young in what was thought to be | | | | class could afford to purchase dolls |
| their life's work. Since a young girl | | | | imported from Europe, so children |
| would likely be stitching all of the | | | | created dolls from sticks, hankies, |
| clothing, linens and bedding for her | | | | corncobs, or whatever else they could |
| home, before sewing machines, hand | | | | find. |
| sewing was an important skill to learn. | | | | It wasn't surprising that girls would |
| It seemed natural, then, that doll | | | | want to create something just like they |
| quilts would be the perfect practice | | | | had for their dolls. Often, the girls |
| piece. Not only were they small, but a | | | | would take pieces left from worn out |
| girl could start with something simple, | | | | quilts and make them into quilts for |
| like strips, and then work up to making | | | | their dolls. |
| a nine patch, and even sewing curves. | | | | Sometimes, they would replicate a bed |
| Beyond that, if she chose, a young girl | | | | size quilt using smaller pieces, to be |
| could piece a more complex design, using | | | | sure to re-create the pattern of the bed |
| triangles as well as squares in her doll | | | | size quilt top. Other times, they would |
| quilt. | | | | use patches left over from bed size |
| Both girls and boys were taught to sew | | | | quilts to make their doll quilts, even |
| by their mothers, often before they | | | | though the quilt top design would be |
| learned how to read. A very small child | | | | lost. |
| might begin sewing using an unknotted | | | | Most of these quilts are pieced, not |
| thread, and then gain even more practice | | | | appliqué, and some have been made from |
| by counting threads on a scrap of | | | | children's handkerchiefs printed with |
| fabric. | | | | holiday or religious themes. |
| It was not uncommon for girls to be | | | | Due to labor saving devices, and smaller |
| expected to complete a nine-patch by the | | | | families, twentieth century mothers had |
| time she was nine years old. Amazingly, | | | | more time to include creative components |
| some mid-nineteenth century diaries | | | | in their doll quilts - nursery rhymes, |
| record quilt tops being finished by | | | | animals, and even pastel colors. |
| girls as young as five. | | | | Quilts today are made in all different |
| One quilter, Edith Bell Sims, says she | | | | sizes, each for a different purpose. |
| began a quilt at age three, with her | | | | Even though they are the size of a king |
| mother cutting the fabric, marked the | | | | size bed quilt, some large quilts have |
| sewing lines, and pinning the pieces | | | | never seen the top of a bed. |
| together. Edith then stitched the | | | | It's not unusual for a small quilt to be |
| patches - initially by hand and later on | | | | made to be a wall hanging, with no |
| her new treadle sewing machine. Edith | | | | intention for it to be used as a doll |
| finished her quilt top by the time she | | | | quilt. I wonder if maybe some of those |
| was six. | | | | tiny quilts from the nineteenth century |
| Sewing was (and probably still should | | | | hung on a wall, and were never placed on |
| be) believed to inspire virtues deemed | | | | a doll bed. |