Modern Quilt Guild Article: Eighteenth Century British & Dutch Patchwork
I have an exciting announcement today! My research on early European and American patchwork quilts is being published by the Modern Quilt Guild in Modern Monthly, their quarterly online magazine! I'm writing a series of three articles and the first one just came out in Issue 02.
The series explores European influences on colonial and early Euro-American quilting as well as the shift from these early styles to the block style layout we often think of when we hear the word quilt today. The first article can be found here and I believe that you can view the content as a guest even if you don't have a membership in the Modern Quilt Guild. This article looks at the features of eighteenth century British and Dutch patchwork to help us identify those design elements that transferred to colonial and early-American quilting (which will be the topic of the second article).
There are obviously lots of influences from many different cultures in the American quilting tradition and while this series of three articles will explore just a couple influences from European countries I encourage you to check out the many wonderful resources on global quilting traditions. A good place to start is with the International Quilt Museum. They helped fund and facilitate my research and I am a contributing author in their latest catalog, American Quilts in the Industrial Age, 1760-1870. The IQM is dedicated to documenting quilting and patchwork traditions all over the globe. Their project on World Quilts contains helpful discussions. links, and resources to get you started.
If you would like to learn even more about European influences and the shift to the block-style layout in early American quilting I offer a lecture on the topic and would love to come speak to your group! You can also check out my post that explores the 1718 Coverlet in more detail!
Credits: 1718 Coverlet image courtesy of The Quilters’ Guild Museum Collection. Logos and Modern Monthly image courtesy of the Modern Quilt Guild.