How quilts are made


Antique Doll Quilts

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



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