Since Backus-Page House Museum is on its off season and any onsite events are cancelled until at least April 5, 2020, we thought we would share some history resources with you and your families. While you are at home the next 3 weeks our "history hits" will add some fun to your life and keep us top of mind to visit in person when we open for the season and our events begin.
Here is some quilting history, quilt block examples and colouring pages.
Quilting
Quilt refers to layers of
materials fastened together. Traditionally
the materials in the top and bottom layer are fabrics such as cotton and/or
wool, the filling in between the layers a soft batting of cotton or wool
fibres. All three layers are held
together in a pre-decided pattern of decorative rows of fine and even-running
stitches traditionally sewn by hand, of sometimes by hand tying at regular
intervals.
The stitching is called quilting.
Quilts were first made in
Canada in the late 18th century with the arrival of settlers from
the British Isles and the US.
Colour arrangements and
quilting designs varied depending on the available materials. To make the great
amount of bedding necessary in the unheated sleeping rooms, every scrap and
remnant of woollen material left from the manufacture of garments was saved. To
supplement these, the best parts of worn-out garments were carefully cut out,
and made into quilt pieces.
“To piece” means to join together separate
pieces of like material to make sections or blocks that are in turn set
together to form the top of the quilt. The pieces are usually of uniform shape
and size and of contrasting colours. They are sewed together with a running
stitch, making a seam upon the wrong side.
“To patch” or “appliqué” is frequently used to
describe the patched or laid-on work. This is where the design is cut from one
fabric and applied upon another. “Sewed on” and “laid quilts” are old terms
given to appliqué or patched quilts.
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| Corn and Beans |
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| Cross Canoe |
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| Flock of Geese |
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| Indian Trails and Irish Puzzle |
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| Log Cabin |
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| Log Cabin |
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| Backus-Page House Museum |
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| Log Cabin |
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| Make Your Own Log Cabin Quilt |
The Quilting Frame
In its usual form
it consists of four narrow pieces of wood, two somewhat longer than a quilt,
and two shorter, perhaps half as long, with holes bored in the ends of each
piece. These pieces are made into an oblong frame by fastenings of bolts or
pegs, and are commonly supported on the backs of chairs.
Each side bar or roll of the quilting frame is
tightly wound with cotton strips or has a piece of muslin firmly fastened to
its entire length, to which is sewed the edges of the lining, one side to each
bar. Then the extra length is rolled up on one side of the frame, and after
being tightly stretched, the wooden pieces are securely fastened. On this
stretched lining or back of the quilt, the cotton or wool used for filling or
interlining is spread very carefully and smoothly; then with even greater care
the top is put in place, its edge pinned or basted to the edge of the lining,
and drawn tightly over the cotton. The ends of the quilt must also be
stretched. This is done by pinning pieces of muslin to the quilt and wrapping
them around the ends of the frame.
Great care is required to keep all edges true
and to stretch all parts of the quilt uniformly. Upon this smooth top the
quilting is drawn, for even the most expert quilters require outlines to quilt
by. If the quilt top is light in colour the design is drawn with faint pencil
lines; if the colours are too dark to show pencil markings, then with a chalked
line. It is a fascinating thing to children to watch the marking of a quilt
with the chalk lines. The firm cord used for this is drawn repeatedly across a
piece of chalk or through powdered starch until well coated, then held near the quilt, and very tightly stretched,
while a second person draws it up and lets it fly back with a snap, thus making
a straight white line. How closely the lines are drawn depends wholly upon the
ambition and diligence of the quilter. The lines may be barely a quarter of an
inch apart, or may be placed only close enough together to perform their
function of keeping the interlining in place.
Patterns of quiltings are not as plentiful as
designs for the patchwork tops of quilts; only about eight or ten standard
patterns being in general use. The simplest pattern consists of “single
diagonal” lines, spaced to suit the work in hand. The lines are run diagonally
across the quilt instead of parallel with the weave, in order that they may
show to better advantage, and also because the cloth is less apt to tear or
pull apart than if the quilting lines are run in the same direction as the
threads of the fabric. The elaboration of the “single” diagonal into sets of
two or more parallel lines, thus forming the “double” and “triple” diagonals,
is the first step toward ornamentation in quilting. A further advance is made
when the quilting lines are crossed, by means of which patterns like the
“square,” “diamond,” and “hanging diamond” are produced.
After the
space of some twelve inches, which is as far as the quilter can reach
conveniently, has been quilted, the completed portion is rolled up on the side
of the frame nearest the quilter. From the other side another section is then
unrolled and marked for quilting, and quilted as far as the worker can reach.
Thus quilting and rolling are continued until the whole quilt is gone over,
after which it is taken from the frame and the edges neatly bound with a narrow
piece of bias material, either white or of some harmonizing colour. Since all
of the stitches are taken entirely through the quilt, the design worked into
the top is repeated on the lining, so that the back makes a white spread of
effective pattern in low relief.
When a
bedcover of exceptional warmth is desired, several sheets of cotton or wool
prepared for that purpose are laid one over the other between the top and back.
As this is too thick to allow a needle to be pushed through easily, and even
stitches cannot be taken, then quilting gives way to tying or knotting. Threads
of silk, cotton, linen, or wool are drawn through with coarse needles and the
ends tied in tight, firm knots. These knots are arranged at close, regular
intervals to prevent the interlining from slipping out of place. To this kind
of covering is applied the very appropriate
name of “comfort.”
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