American Quilts: The Democratic Art, 1780-2007
Robert Shaw, 2009
Sterling Publishing, NYC [Printed: China]
Shaw looks at American quilt making from the oldest surviving examples to the present century. With lavish illustrations and succinct text, the book encompasses the evolution of textiles as well as that of quilt styles and techniques, while placing quilts and their makers in social context.
On the origins of domestic quilts—
Contrary to myth and popular belief, the earliest American quilts were not homespun necessities, pieced from frugally hoarded scraps of clothing and other salvaged fabric by hard-strapped settlers, but were elegant decorative bedcovers crafted by upper-class women.
There are numerous reasons for setting the record straight here. The printed cottons used in quilts were imported from England and expensive. Fabric was in such short supply that most colonists had only one or two sets of clothing, so "the idea of using precious cloth to make bedcoverings was out of the question."
Quilts also required many hours of hand-labor, and—
Without servants or mechanized assistance ... the average woman's work ... was endless. Most women simply did not have the time to make a quilt, even if they could afford the fabric to do so.
By the early 1800s, introduction of the cotton gin led to monoculture in the southern states, which sparked the north's industrial revolution in textile manufacturing. The middle-class was growing as American-made cloth became available and affordable to more levels of society. By the 1840s, quilts pieced or appliquéd from domestic cloth became the most popular bedcoverings. Women now bought fabric for the purpose of quilting, and "Quilts became a fixture of American bedrooms, and quiltmaking one of the defining occupations and creative outlets of American women."
Styles evolved through quilt makers' design ingenuity and in response to developments in fabrics available. Quilters also responded to any creative influence they might incorporate in a design, as when
intricate star patterns became popular after the "international sensation" of the 1816 invention of the kaleidoscope.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, poor women used their families' worn mass-produced clothing to cut strips and patches for what were often called "britches quilts."
Also by the late 19th century, many homes had sewing machines. While fine decorative hand-stitching was still prized, machines simplified the making of pieced quilts.
Quilt makers had always shared ideas among friends, but after the Civil War, designs also spread as newspapers and magazines published patterns. By 1911, the first professional designer to gain national recognition was being published in magazines while selling original patterns, kits, and finished quilts by mail order. She was followed by professional designers and publications that continued to popularize the craft, as did the national competitions held by the 1930s.
Quilters have long made statements in their work, from designs with personal and family meaning, to themes reflecting larger events. Shaw presents the Civil War, from a pre-war quilt used to raise funds for abolitionist activities, to patriotic quilts from both sides, including one made by a wounded Union soldier during his recuperation in a hospital. Twentieth century examples range from quilts made in support of temperance and women's suffrage, to the
Names Project, a response to the loss of loved ones to AIDS.
Among the many striking styles, one chapter is devoted to Amish quilts. As their religion prohibited representational images, quilt makers substituted bold abstract designs, often in vibrant colors. Shaw quotes Robert Hughes, who has called these quilts, "America's first major abstract art."
Collectors Faith and Stephen Brown provide a nice look at a number of
examples from 1880 to the 1940s.
Shaw devotes many interesting pages to African-American quilts, especially to the traditions being renewed by
Gee's Bend quilters.
In his chapter on the Depression, Shaw writes that block quilts reflected the popularity of comic strips. One example is the "Prosperity Quilt," now at the
Dallas Museum.
Each block of this wonderful piece features a figure peering around "the corner" in search of "prosperity."
Labeled by occupations, figures include:
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| "Seamstress" | | | | |
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| "Grocerman" |
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| "Cow Boy" |
The central block shows a farmer plowing a field, under the legend, "The backbone of the nation goes on."
In the final block, Uncle Sam arrives—
bringing "FARM RELIEF," "GOLD," and "LEGAL BEER."
I find that Shaw's chapter on the Depression doesn't reflect the period as well as Thos. K. Woodward's and Blanche Greenstein's
Twentieth Century Quilts 1900-1950.
Their 1988 book features "Prosperity" on the front cover, and they interviewed Fannie Shaw, then in her 90s—
My inspiration came from Herbert Hoover. Every time you picked up the paper or heard the radio he would talk about good times around the corner... I wondered could I make a picture of what he was saying...
The quilt had educated me again ... It is history to me and I made it myself. Every block I made is different ...
...There are 900 to 1000 pieces in the quilt ... It took over two years to cut the pattern and make the quilt: 1930 – 1932.
Other illustrations from the 1930s and 40s capture the common identification with New Deal politics, and the later patriotic fervor of the war effort.
Some images, captions, and descriptions from Woodward and Greenstein:
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"National Recovery Act." 1933. Braymor, Missouri.
(Photograph: Sandra Todaro) |
"The NRA Blue Eagle became one of the most famous and ubiquitous symbols of Depression American, for it was proudly displayed in the front windows of grocery stores and all sorts of other shops. This quilt surrounds the poster image with an energizing collection of stars and bars."
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"Donkey" and "Elephant." Leavenworth, Kansas. 1931, 1932. Made by Mrs. Jameson. (Photograph: Sandra Todaro) |
"The Kansas City Star, a popular pattern source for Midwestern quilters, published these patterns. Giddap, the Donkey, and Ararat, the Elephant. Since the maker was a Democrat, it is said that she made Giddap slightly larger than Ararat, which she made for her Republican husband."
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"Eleanor Roosevelt Album,"
Callie Jeffress Fanning Smith Sulfur Springs, Texas. 77 ½ " x 61" |
"The embroidered words 'to our First Lady,' were meant literally here. Sent as a gift to Mrs. Roosevelt in March 1940, the quilt's squares portray the First Lady at various periods in her life from childhood to the White House. In each scene, Mrs. Roosevelt is dressed in intricately appliquéd fashions, complete with realistic trimmings, and her face is masterfully painted on fabric." (Collection of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library)
The latter chapters of
American Quilts cover the years 1970 to 2000, a period of revived popular interest in quilts, as well as the emergence of quilts as an artist's medium.
Shaw's final chapter looks at the work of artists from 2000 to 2007. This includes Terese Agnew's amazing "
Portrait of a Textile Worker."
Working in an epic 8 x 9 feet, Agnew enlarged the photo of a young Bangladeshi seamstress as the basis of a mosaic-style portrait created from 30,000 designer garment tags. [More about the project
here].
It's a piece that's completely contemporary in concept and execution, yet seems to harken back to the social awareness of an earlier era.
