St. Clair County
Remnants Of The Past

The American Quilt Tradition

St. Clair County Courier
18 November 1976

A Bit Of Missouri In London

The American Quilt Tradition – Kathleen and Don Jones

The late Mrs. Lena Griggs of Appleton City loved needlework of any kind. But she particularly cherished the sociability and accomplishment of quilting bees spent with the ladies of the Church. As we visited the latest Bicentennial exhibit in London, we couldn’t help thinking how Granny Griggs would enjoy it. For it’s a display of about fifty treasured quilts from both America and Britain. The oldest dates from 1700, but some are quite modern.

The exhibition is at the Commonwealth Art Gallery in Kensington High Street near our home. Showing American art there is a bit unusual. John Thompson, the director, says, “Events in 1776 determined that the flag of the United States of America should not be among the thirty-six that fly daily (in the Gallery courtyard) representing the member states of the modern Commonwealth. Nevertheless, it is appropriate that this building should be one of the places in Britain to commemorate the bicentennial for those events, particularly as we are able to show objects of beauty and interest which symbolize a continuing link and a living tradition dating back to the first settlements in North America.”

The show is arranged by the American Museum in Britain and most of the quilts are on permanent display at their studio near Bristol, jumping off place for so many American colonists. We hadn’t known about the Museum, another example that tourists can miss a lot if they confine their visits to London.

Early coverlets are hand woven, crochet or graceful quilting of solid homespun cloth. First looms were narrow and many of the early bedcovers are joined, each cover having two or three widths. Before the War of Independence, calamanco (a fine wool worsted fabric) was exported from England to America to make the tops of plain quilts. A bit later, colorful Indian chinzes were also in demand – sent via England.

By 1850 American looms provided most of the material. You will recall that the Appleton family had a lot to do with this development. On the Eastern seaboard ladies had enough cloth to plan a definite color scheme. But pioneer women trekking westwards still had to use the contents of their scrap bags.

So the various geometric patterns came into style. They have names like Log Cabin, Nine-Patch Chain, Sunburst, Mosaic, Pineapple and Princess Feather. And there are Starburst and Wedding Ring of a quality no better than the Appleton City product we can show every day in our home. On both sides of the Atlantic “Crazy patchwork” was popular to put humble scraps of various shapes to good use.

One quilt of special interest to us was made in 1852 by Sarah Middleton at Crosswicks, New Jersey. She was one of the earliest women physicians in the area, and very probably a distant cousin of Cordelia Middleton Hitt who came to Rockville in 1881. The quilt was awarded a silver ladle at the New Jersey State Fair in 1852. Its pattern is called “Tumbling Blocks” – multicolored silk diamonds arranged to give the illusion of three-dimensional blocks.