Sue Reich

Quilting News of Yesteryear

Since the early nineteenth century women have been using their fabric collections to make quilts, often using thousands of pieces in a single quilt. These feats of perseverance and art were newsworth and in towns across the United States they caught the attention of the local press, which recognized the women and their work. This book gathers these newspaper accounts of industrious needlework into a chronicle of the work. Arranged chronologically, the reports are accompanied by detailed photographs of quilts made during the same time period. This visual record of the antique quilts make it clear how painstaking and beautiful was the quiltmaker's work, and why it attracted attention. Aficionados of women's history, textile history and quilt history will gain valuable insights into the quiltmakers' dedication to their minute work, and the esteem in which their communities held them. Quilt historians and all who cherish the art of the quilt will gain a new understanding of the quilts and the people who made them.