Five Popular Quilt Myths That Aren’t True
You May be as Surprised as We Were!
Have you heard the stories about quilts guiding escaping slaves on the underground railroad? Or how scrap quilts came about because of early quilters having to make do?
You may be as surprised as we were to discover that those stories simply aren’t true, or at least not in the ways we’ve often thought of them.
In the following video, Mary Fons from Quilty walks us through five popular quilt myths and explains why they’re incorrect. She’s very knowledgeable and provides an interesting presentation.
Click here to watch the video at YouTube if it doesn’t play on your device.
Keep in mind the timeframes that Mary is discussing. For example, make-do scrap quilts from the depression era came after the industrial revolution which made fabric abundant in general (but not necessarily for those struggling to make ends meet).
While we’d rather believe some of the stories than not, it’s nice to have more accurate information. What do you think?
I always heard that the number 3 myth “putting a mistake in your quilt because only God is perfect” was attributed to the Amish. I still hear that today and from people I know in the Amish community.
My Grandmother taught me to make quilts from flour sacks and old clothing. I think your “truths” are from the view of the very rich. Some are so far removed from experiencing poverty to understand it. One had to sleep under 3 or 4 heavy quilts to keep from freezing because the fire was allowed to die overnight in the stove.
Ransom Stoddard: You’re not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
The myth about the mistake is when women would sew beautiful alter cloths for the churches they would put in one red stitch. If u look at some of the early (1400) alter cloths perhaps u can see it, same reason tho lol