Quilt Festival Blog
A Journey Through Quilting History
Author: Y. Bilan-Wallace
Part Six
Social Class and Quilting Styles
Whether for warmth or decoration, quilts played a significant role in English marriage traditions. A young woman was expected to have 12 quilts in her dowry, with the 13th quilt to be made after she was married. Superstition also dictated that quilt edges should be unbroken—any gaps or interruptions in the stitching were believed to foreshadow misfortune and a broken marriage.
Quilt: Tree of Life from “Of Bridal Quilts and Dowries” article by sherriquiltsalot (link)
A traditional rhyme reinforced the urgency of quilt-making for young women:
At your quilting, maids don’t dally,
Quilt quick if you would marry.
A maid who is quilt-less at twenty-one,
Never shall greet her bridal sun.
With such strong cultural ties, it’s no surprise that quilting traditions were carried to the New World, particularly during the 1800–1840 period, when patchwork and appliqué quilting were at their peak in England.
However, quilt styles in North America varied greatly across social classes and communities. Access to fabric was a significant factor, but ethnicity, environment, and isolation also played a role in shaping quilt designs. Rural quilts tended to be more traditional and enduring, less influenced by passing trends and whimsical fashions seen in wealthier, urban communities.
Some quilts from the 2023 Quilt Festival showing patchwork and applique. (L to R — Sixteen Hand Pieced Blocks in Blue and White by English Paper Piecing Bee Group, Flowers and Baskets by B. Manuel, Snowy Delight by C. McCrea)