| The Dresden Plate quilt completely handmade by HTHCQ View it here |
| About Depression Era Quilts |
| Quilt History |
Heart to Heart
Celebration Quilts
| In Tough Times the Tough Get to Quiltin' During the Great Depression of the 1930's there was a resurgence of interest in the art of quilting. In spite of the hardship and dire poverty of that time, quilters' optimism and great spirit shown through in the patterns they chose and the cheery fabrics they used. Bright pastels and small prints were the hallmark of this era. During this time of deprivation, it was back to basics in most situations. However, in the quilting arena, it was a remarkably innovative time. Patterns such as Double Wedding Ring, Dresden Plate and Grandmother's Flower Garden were extremely popular. It was during this time that Sunbonnet Sue was "born"! The magazines and newspapers of the time were a great influence of this innovation. In order to boost their sales, while most people were eliminating any unnecessary expenses (and even some necessary ones), most newspapers offered a weekly free quilting pattern. Many magazines offered free patterns as well. Each publication produced a new one and quilters started to eagerly anticipate them. Often neighbors and family members would go together to buy the publication and pass it around. As is so indicative of that era, the spirit of community was alive and well among quilters. By 1934 there were approximately 400 newspapers in the U.S. that featured articles about quilting or quilt patterns. Sugar Sack Slogan: "Food that is sweet is hard to beat" It was during this time that flour, sugar and feed sacks were widely used for clothing and quilting. It was quite common to see women in the backyard scrubbing and bleaching the white feed sacks in order to get the print out of them. As is evidenced by some of the surviving quilts of that time, not all of the print could be eradicated. Feed sacks were most widely used in the deep South and the Midwest. It appears that they were mainly used for clothing, but as all seamstresses know, there are always scraps left over, and those made it into the quilts of the day. At some point during this time, manufacturers began making their sacks out of printed fabric with removable labels just so the domestic seamstress could more easily use them. Company lore of the Percy Kent Company in Tennessee credits one of their major stockholders, Richard K Peek, with the idea of printing colorful designs on the feed sacks. Reportedly, the purpose was to boost sales. Don't you know that Mama "encouraged" Papa to buy that brand that had the prettiest patterns! These pretty sacks were made so that by pulling one string the sack would open up to a piece that was slightly larger than 1 yard square. Sometimes, even the string was recycled in the embroidery, crochet or stitching on the quilt. Some of the sacks were made so that the removal of the string produced a ready-made apron or hand towel. Hope Springs Eternal During the hard Depression Years, quilting was mostly done by women, both domestically and commercially. This satisfied their creative side while furnishing a practical need. Quilt battings were often home grown cotton or old used woolen blankets. The tops were most commonly old clothing scraps, but seldom worn out scraps. Understandably, no one wanted to include a worn piece of fabric in a quilt that might take so much effort and time to make. One of the popular methods of quilting was the "string quilt", which was strips of fabric sewn onto a newspaper foundation. Amazingly, the newspaper was left in for added warmth. One of the patterns that emerged during the Depression Era is the Hope Butterfly. Butterflies were seen extensively appliquéed on quilts, most commonly with the blanket or buttonhole stitch around each butterfly. It became known as the Hope Butterfly, with obvious connotations. In their quiet strength, quilters were keeping the faith for a better day. |
| The Hope Butterfly - a baby quilt made by HTHCQ in the 1930's style View it here |
| The quilt in the background on this page is Virginia's Hope Butterfly View it here |
| Handmade aprons made during the depression years: Mama Pearl's Aprons View them here |