What do you picture when I say, “Colonial Quilts”? Betsy Ross and Martha Washington sewing scrappy quilts by candlelight or quilting around a frame at a quilting bee? That is the idealistic picture painted in early quilt history books by creative writers harkening back to quilters of yesteryear. An early quilt history book was tellingly titled, “The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America” (Hall and Kretsinger, 1935). As lovely as it sounds, most quilters did not do their fine needlework by candle or fire light, and few worked together in quilting bees. Yes, quilting bees did occur, but not nearly as often as depicted in idyllic literature.

Historians have since examined wills and household inventories to learn what textiles were made at the time. They have found that despite the charming images, there was very little quilting in the Colonial or Revolutionary eras. Early Americans were working to build a country, and quilting fabric was not plentiful. Also, the type of quilting we are most familiar with, the pieced block quilt, had not been developed.

Few quilts were made in the 1600s or even by the Revolution. Those made in the 1700s were generally wool bed rugs or whole cloth quilts, and almost all were made in high-income homes. “It has long been a cherished notion that it was the colonists’ need for warm bedding that inspired them to piece together all available scraps of fabric. But the reality is that most women were too busy with the tasks necessary for basic survival, such as growing and preserving food, to spend precious time making quilts for bedcovers where there were other, less expensive sources available” (Kiracofe, “The American Quilt,” 1993). People commonly used woven blankets instead of quilts.

In the early part of the 1800s, quilting was a rich woman’s game, and there were many large quilts made from yardage of expensive imported fabric like chintz and toiles. But on some of those same quilts, you will see that the maker used small bits to piece together segments next to an expensive chintz border. Only women of means had access to a variety of fabric, and even for them fabric was expensive, and there was not a lot of variety. Imagine trying to buy imported fabrics during the War of 1812 when we were battling England. Quilters had their favorites that they wanted to use down to the last bit. They were prudent and careful because they treasured the fabric not because of economics. 

Knowledge is power

With all the online resources available today, it is easy to become an educated consumer. It just takes some determination and time to develop your eye. It can be quite fun to learn history through quilts. Nothing is better than looking at beautiful quilts and learning their stories online and in person. I love to share my collection in antique quilt trunk shows and quilt study classes and I am available to bring my treasures to you.

The American Quilter’s Society quilt appraisal classes are another terrific way to learn about antique quilts and their value. The program’s reading list is a comprehensive resource for your own self-study course in quilt dating and history. The American Quilt Study Group is the best quilt history group with wonderful networking and amazing education seminars. There are also several antique quilt Facebook groups that are like a daily masterclass in quilt history.

Buyer beware

Unfortunately, there are sellers who try to pass off mass-produced Chinese imports as antiques, and since so many imports were made (and are still being made), you need to learn how to recognize them. A few quick clues: no applied binding on edges, large quilting stitches, and matching pillow shams.

Uneducated sellers often unintentionally misrepresent their items especially if they do not deal in textiles. This can work in your favor; just as there are 1930s Grand-mother’s Flower Garden quilts being billed as an 1800s treasure, there are actual 1830s quilts being labeled as Depression-era quilts. You can also learn a great amount by following reputable knowledgeable dealers. Reading their item listings and descriptions on eBay, Etsy, Ruby Lane, Instagram, and on their websites is a fantastic way to learn. Several dealers have released highly informative books about their collections.

Move onward and upward

Your interests will likely change over time and as you grow and mature as a collector. You will probably make a few missteps along the way as you develop your collector’s eye and see what is truly still out there to collect. It is sometimes hard to believe how many amazing quilts there are that have not yet been discovered. Quilts are still coming into the market from family collections, private collections, and even being released from museums. Savvy museums call it de-accessioning and sell off some of their quilts to upgrade, raise funds, fine-tune focus, etc. So follow their lead and let some earlier quilts go to beginning collectors and use the money to improve your own collection.

Quilters cannot sew without thread and other sewing notions, and most have collections of sewing supplies. You never know what you may find in that box of vintage lace, rickrack, and bias tape. I belong to several antique and vintage quilting, sewing, and sewing tools Facebook groups and have seen photos of charming spool animals. A bit of context, the Spool Pets are small advertising cards with an animal printed on them (see photo). They are designed to be cut out and glued onto a thread spool for a cute toy.
Recently, I was scrolling and read more about the Spool Pets. I learned that the cards were in bias binding packages but hidden in the center of the package with yards of bias trim around them. I went to see if there was a spool toy cached away in the sewing box. Imagine my surprise and sheer delight when I discovered my own spool animal – Clara Cow – quietly biding her time for nearly 100 years (copyright 1935) in an old binding package. What a find! Now another quest – learning the story of the Spool Pets.

Effective and adorable advertising

Spool Pets from J. & P. Coats were the brainchild of famed adman G. Lynn Sumner. In another stroke of luck, I discovered he detailed their creation in his popular book: How I Learned the Secrets of Success in Advertising (1952) see Google Books. Sumner’s agency represented The Spool Cotton Co., distributors of J. & P. Coats and Clarks ONT (Coats and Clark). The chapter aptly stated the Company’s goal: “Getting More Spools of Thread into the Sewing Bas-ket.” The Spool Co. had 10 different thread sizes (from a thick size 8 to the finest size 200) designed for various fabrics and tasks but most women bought 50 weight as an all-purpose thread especially during the Depression. The agency created informative Thread Charts but still wanted an “interesting, dramatic way” to illustrate the importance of picking the right size thread for the task.
Inspiration at the Toy Store

Sumner saw a simple, fun toy animal with a block body and “the head and front legs and the tail and hind legs two flat pieces mounted at front and rear.” Kismet – a spool toy with different size spools for various animals. “A kitten made with a tiny size 200 spool! A fine fat cow with a size 8 spool!” Spool Pets were born.

The initial set featured six different farm animals: Kitty Kat, Hal Horse, Pete Pig, Clara Cow, Puppy Dog, and Bob Bunny, with a simple drawing, animal poem, and instructions for making the animal using the right size spool. They then turned to children’s author and poet, John Martin, who improved the poetry and made the cards more decorative and appealing to little ones.

A great example of indirect selling, the cards were marketed to children. Sumner noted, “the child, in its persuasive way, is a powerful little sales agent,” and once they had the cards, they would be “after mother for spools to make the toy.” The cards and their advertising material had the thread information to sell her more spools and it was a very successful campaign.

There was also a second collection: the Spool Zoo with Teddy Bear, Jim Fox, Old Hippo, Elephant, Zebra, and Lion. Join in on the hunt, the Spool Pets are waiting for you!

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Egyptian pyramids, Mayan Temples and myriad European churches feature this iconic triangle. This ancient shape was quickly adopted by very early quilt makers as a “flying goose” or “flying geese”: a triple-triangle unit comprised of a large center triangle with a background triangle on each side.

These units initially were stacked vertically in bars or strip sets and were made in the late 1700s and seen frequently in the 1830s and 1840s. This setting was a perfect way to showcase expensive imported fabrics like fancy floral chintz or a beautiful blue bird toile printed in England in 1790 found in a strippy flying geese quilt in my collection. That fabric depicts a pair of ducks set between strips of flying geese so the quilt reads across: duck, duck, goose (a quilty sense of humor is not a new thing).

And speaking of birds, it is not surprising that a shape so evocative of the V flight formation has become closely identified with geese. In 1915, quilt historian Marie Webster noted: “The resemblance of these lines, swiftly moving across the sky, to her neat rows of triangles supplied the quilt maker with her inspiration.” And in 1929, historian Ruth Finley also noted the triangle unit appears “so consistently in designs supposed to represent birds that the three-corned patch almost might be said to be a bird symbol.”

The simple flying geese three-triangle unit soon migrated into an attractive way to sash other pieced blocks or to add an interesting framing border around a quilt. From there, the geese evolved into pieced blocks, most commonly with four groups of geese flying in X or cross formations or even chasing around a square. But the sky is the limit for the versatile geese which can be set into spirals, circles, and arcs as seen in the award-winning example created by Donna Starley for the national Hoffman Fabric Challenge. The quilt creatively transforms the standard geese into a hybrid Drunkard’s Path/Flying Geese design. The curved piecing is a bit challenging, but the dramatic results are well worth the effort. Also check out the amazing work of quilter Gail Garber for stellar goosey inspiration.

More than 230 years since arriving on the quilting scene, flying geese are as popular as ever. A quick web search will give you years of inspiration and you will find many tutorials, patterns, and even specialty rulers just for making geese units. Modern quilters continue to expand the horizons of the pattern with many embracing the early simple strippy pattern while others let their wild geese fly with abandon across their quilts. You will find many modern flying geese patterns soaring across the web to inspire you. Surely one of the ways to make flying geese will be perfect for you; from hand piecing hand cut triangles, to machine foundation piecing, to various mass production techniques like the “four geese at a time.” My personal favorite method is foundation piecing as nothing beats it for precise points and sharp flying geese beaks. It also works wonderfully for the fun and funky wonky geese that add a delightful touch to any quilt. Now is the time to challenge yourself to give this classic pattern a try and add it to your next quilted creation. I think you will find out why it is a timeless block that will make your quilt shine.

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While many quilt pattern names from the 1800s are cloaked in myth, mystery, and marketing, the Bow Tie pattern is clearly a representational block depicting male neckwear, aka neck ties. “The bow tie first entered the scene as a new style of necktie in the beginning of the 19th century. By the mid 1880s, the bow tie had become a staple in the fashion-conscious man’s wardrobe” (thebowtie.com). Not surprisingly, the Bow Tie quilt pattern also dates from the 1880s. It was first published as Necktie in the Ladies Art Co. catalog of block patterns in 1895. Other names for this traditional block include Colonial Bow Tie, Peekhole, and True Lover’s Knot. As befits the block’s masculine inspiration, this pattern is the perfect design for a man’s or boy’s quilt and truly is the quintessential manly quilt pattern.

In researching this pattern, I found a number of references to its use in helping slaves navigate the Underground Railroad as part of a group of blocks said to contain a secret “quilt code.” Of course, the Underground Railroad existed before the Civil War and helped many break away from slavery but not through clues on quilts. Slaves fleeing for their lives did not need a Bow Tie quilt block to tell them to discard their old clothing and not look like slaves. Nor did they need a North Star block to know to head North to safety. While quilts were used for warmth or protection, there is “no historical evidence of quilts being used as signals, codes, or maps. The tale of quilts and the Underground Railroad makes a good story, but not good quilt history” (Barbara Brackman quoted at antiquequiltdating.com/Fact_Sheet_on_the_Quilt_Code.html. For more information, see her book “Facts & Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts & Slavery,” 2006).

There are several ways to construct a Bow Tie block and a method for every skill level from beginner to advanced quilters. The original construction method involves inset seams and precision sewing. This method, which is more difficult, is often accomplished by hand sewing, which is better suited to the technique. In 1931, quilt designer Ruby McKim noted her Necktie “block is about as simple to make as a bowknot is to tie.” Since a Google search yields “14 steps to tie a bow tie,” I think that indicates that she considered it quite difficult to sew.

At about the same time (early 1930s), a new quick sew method appeared on the quilting scene. This fast and easy method uses four squares with small triangles added on the two background squares to complete the center knot. Since stodgy traditional quilters often scoff at modern quilters for looking for easy tricks, it is nice to see that quilting shortcuts have been around for a long time.

Single Bow Tie blocks can be combined to create additional interesting secondary patterns. Joining 4 blocks together in a diamond shape creates the pattern known as Magic Circle or Dumbell Block. With sashing added between the single ties, more blocks are created including Carrie’s Choice (Clara Stone, 1906) and Midget Necktie (Kansas City Star, 1937). The Bow Tie pattern continues to be very popular and online tutorials, quilt-alongs, block swaps, and classes abound for both traditional and Modern Bow Tie quilts.

On a collecting note: there are many vintage and antique Bow Tie blocks and quilts currently available for reasonable prices, so it might be time to “tie one on” and start your own Bow Tie collection

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