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| This is a brief overview and in no way intended to tell the story of the many beautiful quilts made and treasured during the 1860's. |
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| Quilts were sometimes utilitarian, and sometimes decorative. One quilt is said to have been used only to cover the bed during the day and always removed at night before going to bed except when the preacher came to spend the night, and once was removed even then. Usually, however, quilts were made as bed covers in a time when heating systems were miserable failures and feather beds and lots of quilts were needed to keep warm at night. |
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| In my own family I've heard my older cousins tell many times of spending the night with my great grandparents and it would be so cold in the bedrooms that the water in the washstands would be frozen by morning. This helps us appreciate the warmth of these prized quilts. |
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| Quilts are an excellent way of viewing period fabrics because scraps or cut up garments were often used to make them. Homespun was utilized in the South during the war years and linsey woolsy or cotton were usually the fabrics used. During this period many fabrics were dyed naturally and faded over the years so one has to use their imagination in determining what these colors might have looked like l35+ years ago. |
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| Quilts consist of three layers - a top which has been pieced using any number of patterns, batting, and a lining on the bottom. These layers must be stitched together so that the batting doesn't bunch up with use. This was especially important during the l860's because the batting usually consistsed of carded cotton which was spread between the layers and if not stitched in place would bunch up with use or laundering. |
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| The layers may be attached in one of two ways - quilting which is stitching with small stitches and sewing the layers together, or tufting which is done by running a thread through at regular intervals, pulling it to the top, and tying it off securely. The ends of these threads were left an inch or so long so they wouldn't work loose. Some sources indicate this technique was begun during the war years when Southern women were working feverishly to turn out quilts to warm the poorly clad soldiers. Quilts put together in this manner were referred to as "comforts" and were most often made for the soldiers although some were made for use by civilians as well. It is this term from which the modern word "comforter" derives. |
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| The Southern Confederacy (Atlanta, GA) carried the following notice on November l, l862 (p. 2, c. 2): "The women! Their Unbounded Patriotism! The Chattanooga Rebel of the 30th says: We are authorized to state that the ladies of Chattanooga will use their surplus dresses in making comforts for the soldier, if they can get cotton. They are willing to pay for it if any person will furnish them what they want for this purpose. Will not the men furnish the cotton without requiring the ladies to pay for it? |
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| Now, won't somebody in Atlanta send a bale or two of cotton to the ladies of Chattanooga, by Express to-day?" |
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| Southern women knew the value of quilts in keeping their family warm on cold winter nights and many of these beautiful quilts survive today thanks to the ingenuity of these women in hiding them from Union soldiers. Three stumps, caves, etc. were used to hide these precious quilts during times of occupation. |
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| Although I could find no hard and fast documentation legend has it that quilts were used to guide slaves through the Underground Railroad. These stories have been passed from one generation to the next since the war years. A Log Cabin quilt hanging in a window or on a clothes line with a black center for the chimney hole was indicative of a safe house. Underground Railroad quilts of the Jacob's Ladder pattern supposedly gave clues as to the safe path to freedom. While I have found no documentation of this in any of the journals I've read, I did find these stories in quilt history books. |
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| Another legend regarding quilts used as guides to runaway slaves is that of the Log Cabin quilt which was supposedly a signal. This is unlikely, however, because while the quilt pattern did originate during the war years, it gained in popularity after the war with the death of the "Log Cabin President". |
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| Patriotic themes abounded in quilts following the war and popular patterns included flag representations and political symbols. Color schemes incorporated were predominantly red, white and blue. |
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| Northern women who had often made quilts for charitable causes and church bazaars prior to the war began to make quilts to send to the soldiers. When the need for bedding for the soldiers was realized more quilts were produced and often distributed through the Sanitary Commission along with other items. The military had requested that quilts be about seven feet by four feet which easily accommodated a military cot. Experts estimate that by the war's end some 250,000 quilts and comforts and been made and sent to the Union soldiers. |
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| Southern women went to any extremes to supply warm covering for the Southern troops - even to cutting carpets from the floors and binding their edges. They contributed as many quilts as they could when the war began and as the war dragged on and on both Confederate soldiers and Southern civilians faced a real shortage of warm bedding. |
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| Quilts made for Confederate troops were simple in pattern, usually blocks sewn together, and were made of the coarsest of materials. Quilting bees have been familiar gatherings in the South through the early part of the 20th century, and occasionally continue today. |
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| One example of a quilt made on the Southern homefront is one made in Bedford Co., Tenn. It is a basic basket pattern with the names of the makers and of some of the troops from the l7th Tenn. Inf. written on in pokeberry ink. |
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| Quilts were sometimes produced to raffle to earn money to support the war effort and the one described above might have been an appropriate example. Northern quilts were of much finer materials and often made their way into the Sanitary Fairs where items were donated for raffle. |
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| Southern women, especially Ladies' Aid Societies, are known to have raised money for the Southern war effort with one heroic example being a group who raised enough money to purchase a gunboat. Quilts were among the items sold to raise such money. |
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| Popular patterns of Southern wartime quilts included variations of the Basket pattern, the Bursting Star, Winding Rose, Jefferson Rose, Rose of Sharon, Whig Rose, Crown of Thorns, Rose Tree, Tree of Life, Feathered Star, Sunburst, etc. Colors varied from the subdued to the vivid depending on the materials at hand. Prewar scraps contrasted sharply with naturally dyed homespun. |
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| The English template method was a popular form of quilting prior to and during the war years. It utilized paper templates over which the quilt pieces were folded and hand stitched down. This yielded perfectly symmetrical evenly shaped pieces which were then sewn together, and the paper templates removed. This method has always been popular in England, however, its popularity declined in the U.S. after the l930's. The hexagon shaped pieces may be sewn together and appliqued onto blocks, or used for the entire quilt top as in the Martha Washington's Flower Garden pattern. |
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| Crazy quilts did not become popular until the later Victorian years. |
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| Quilts have been used to tell stories since well before the war years and continued many years thereafter. Mourning quilts often depict the history of a family with the names of deceased members along with birth and death dates embroidered on appropriately shaped blocks. Various symbols of mourning are utilized in these quilts as well. |
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| As we can see quilt block piecing and quilting or making comforts is a very appropriate activity for Southern civilians, and the results yield wonderful quilts for chilly events. Presenting one of these comforts to a soldier, perhaps along with a provision box, would be a wonderfully appropriate scenario and one undoubtedly appreciated by the lucky recipient! Shall we answer the call and provide for these brave and daring Defenders? |
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| I have a pattern for an l850's quilt frame I am willing to share if you would like to utilize such an impression. |
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| Your obedient Servant, |
| - The Widow Rumble |
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