The Quilt

The Quilt When my grandmother passed away, each of her grandchildren received one of her quilts. These quilts were part of our family for as long as I could remember. Some of the quilts were made by her and some by friends. I remember how we all slept on the quilts whenever we would stay the night with our grandparents. To us, these were just blankets to sleep and play on, but now I realize they were so much more. I did not realize that the patterns not only looked pretty, but also told a story. We used these blankets to keep warm, but they would end up being passed down in the family as heirlooms. They have a practical, everyday purpose, but also a historical importance. Normally, when we think about quilts being made, it evokes images of women in the colonial days making blankets. While this is true, quilting did not begin here. The history of the quilt has been hard to trace, but it is believed to have originated in Asia before the first century C.E. (Davies). The earliest known version of a quilt was found in a Siberian cave tomb. It was covered in patterns that were relevant to that time; animals and abstract figures (Davies). …show more content…
In the 14th century, quilted armor and clothing began to appear in France, Germany, and England (Davies). The Italians have used quilted leather curtains instead of heavy doors in churches for the people coming and going constantly (Webster 31). When the pioneers were travelling to find new lands, the quilt had many uses. They used it to pad the seats of the wagon and as a covering for the cracks in the wagon to keep out dust (Breneman). The quilts were sometimes hung on the side of the wagon to protect it from Indian attacks, but the patchwork also provided a target for the arrows (Breneman). If loved ones died on the trails, they were often wrapped in a quilt for burial. This gave comfort to the families knowing that they were taking part of the family with them to the grave