First, I saw the beige quilt with the red and tan pattern. It was much lovelier than most quilts I’d seen at auction. It was folded on top of furniture at the auction house and surprisingly, no one had left an absentee bid on it.
As I left the furniture section, I came upon two long tables of even more quilts. They appeared to be the life works of a prolific quilter. Several of the quilts were completed. Others had been started but never finished; the backing was missing. One had been used so often that it was worn and torn, and had been stored so long that its edges had yellowed. One was a quilted pillow.
Another showed animals that had been stitched into the fabric with thick pink thread. Some were now hard to define: a Victorian woman with a cat (she was carrying a cloth purse that hung from her wrist), a rabbit on the run and a stationary rooster.
Most appeared to be quilts in traditional patterns, and I saw that some had been handed down through generations.
I love the history (or romance) of quilting: women friends or family members sitting around sewing scraps of fabric together to make something warm and beautiful. I’m sure most of these women didn’t see the artistry in what they were doing. They just needed a way to warm their families in homes that did a poor job of keeping out the cold.
Quilts also told stories of the cultural history of this country through the female makers – whether created by the hands of enslaved and/or freed African women, rural women, Amish women or women migrating west in the 1860s.
Harriet Powers, born a slave in Georgia, made quilts built from stories she studied in the Bible. The first Bible quilt she sold was exhibited at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta in 1895.
Among the most notable community of African American quilters were those who lived in Gee’s Bend, AL, where quilting has been a tradition since the 19th century. More than 10 years ago, the quilt-makers became worldwide famous, and their quilts were part of a traveling exhibition in this country. Artist Faith Ringgold is also well-known for her story quilts. A few years ago, I attended an auction where her quilt depicting the life of Maya Angelou was sold.
At the recent auction, I recognized several of the traditional patterns: double wedding ring, star, log cabin and flower basket. I took a quilting class once and actually started making a quilt. I never finished it, but I did make some potholders that I gave to my family members as Christmas gifts. I didn’t choose one of the classic patterns; I just sewed pieces together that appealed to me. Quilt patterns can be as varied as the imagination of the makers.
Here’s what the quilter at auction left behind:
