Henry,

Quilting as a sewing technique to stitch together layers of cloth and
padding did exist in the 18th century, and there are many surviving
bedcoverings that are constructed in this way, with very decorative
stitching.  There are also surviving 18th century bedcoverings that are
constructed from cloth with appliques applied to the top layer, and which
are then sewn to a backing, with some kind of padding between the two
layers, with quilting stitches.  In all probability, enslaved women sewed
these kinds of bedcoverings in the 18th century. Patchwork quilting begins
to be found towards the end of the 18th century, with its fullest
development in the 19th century, and "crazy quilts" appear towards the end
of the 19th century.

This is my general understanding of the history of this technique.  Since I
am not a textile historian, I would welcome corrections and clarifications
from any textile historians on the list.

Martha Katz-Hyman

On 1/23/07, Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> While I agree with Nancy's comment that we have to be careful about
> dismissing things just because there's no documentation, the quilt story
> seems to have been invented recently, out of whole cloth, so to
> speak.  Take
> a look at the H-SLAVERY discussions for more details on this.  One
> historian
> remarked that slaves didn't make quilts in the eighteenth-century, a
> "blanket" assertion I'd like to check.
>
> Henry Wiencek
> Charlottesville
>
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