For those of us who still sew, quilting can be a wonderful way to unwind and to preserve family traditions. But, quilting is becoming a rare thing these days. There was a time when women would gather together to complete a quilt, all done by hand. I can remember walking into my grandmother’s house and seeing the frame all set up, while her neighbors came in and out to help complete the project. There are so many aspects about a quilting bee that now seem from another world.
Here are 18 photos from the past that show another world where ladies rich and poor, young and old, gathered together to create the quilts that surely became heirlooms in years later.
Via/ Flickr
1860s. Via/ Library of Congress
“Grandmother from Oklahoma with grandson, working on quilt. California, Kern County, 1936.” Via/ Library of Congress
Children quilting for the Red Cross, 1918. Via/ Library of Congress
Pettway family making a quilt, 1937. Via/ Library of Congress
“A quilting party in an Alvin, Wisconsin, home, 1937.” Via/ Library of Congress
Not only do we now do nearly everything on sewing machines, but the very idea that your friends and neighbors would gather to help you is a long gone idea for most of us. But, going to the store and buying a new comforter simply wasn’t an option for our ancestors, so they had to make what would adorn their beds.
Apache reservation quilting party, 1913. Via/ Flickr
“Ladies of the Helping Hand society working on quilt. Gage County, Nebraska, 1938.” Via/ Library of Congress
“Housewives in Tygart Valley, West Virginia, have weekly group meetings in home economics. Here they are quilting, 1938.” Via/ Library of Congress
“Quilting in sharecropper’s home near Pace, Mississippi, 1939.” Via/ Library of Congress