Preceden

History of Quilting Timeline

(c. 3400 BCE–Present)

The history of quilting traces how layered, stitched textiles evolved from practical clothing and bedding into cultural traditions, community art, and contemporary fine art. Less

Go to: Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Origins and Europe

Quilting reaches Europe

1100

In Europe, quilting appears to have been introduced by Crusaders in the 12th century, particularly in the form of quilted protective garments.

Aketon and gambeson use

1100

The aketon or gambeson was a quilted garment worn under armor, representing an important early European use of quilted textiles.

Development of the quilted doublet

1300

The quilted garment tradition later developed into the doublet, which became an essential part of fashionable men's clothing.

Image source: Doublet (clothing)

Development of the quilted doublet

The doublet remains fashionable

1300 - 1600

The doublet remained an essential part of fashionable men's clothing for approximately 300 years, until the early 1600s.

The Tristan Quilt is made

1360

The Tristan Quilt, made around 1360 in Sicily, is one of the earliest existing decorative works associated with quilting.

Social bedrooms of the wealthy

1600

In the 18th century and earlier, bedrooms of wealthy households were much more social places than they are today, providing an important setting for domestic textile work.

Colonial and American quilting

The Angel Gabriel is destroyed

1635

After passengers came safely ashore, the galleon Angel Gabriel was destroyed in Pemaquid Bay by the Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635.

Colonial hurricane strikes Pemaquid Bay

1635

The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 rushed up the coast from the direction of Narragansett, Rhode Island, and left the Angel Gabriel as floating debris.

The Cogswell family quilt reaches Maine

1635

A quilt in the collection of Baltimore's Lovely Lane Museum is believed to have been carried ashore by the Cogswell family, who traveled from Bristol, England, toward Bristol, Maine, in 1635.

Quilt making becomes common

1650

Quilt making was common in the late 17th century and the early years of the 18th century.

Eighteenth-century quilt making

1700

The listed history identifies the 18th century as a period in which a particular form of quilt making was practiced.

Martha Crafts Howard makes a wholecloth quilt

1786

Martha Crafts Howard made a wool wholecloth quilt in 1786.

Abolitionists campaign before 1830

1830

Even before 1830, abolitionists were working actively to end slavery, a context connected with later uses and interpretations of American quilts.

Image source: Abolitionism

Abolitionists campaign before 1830

Nineteenth-century developments

Early nineteenth-century quilt styles

1800 - 1840

During the early 19th century, whole cloth quilts, broderie perse, and medallion quilts were among the principal styles being made.

Piecework becomes more common

1840

From 1840 onward, the use of piecework and blocks became much more common, often using printed fabric.

Printed fabrics shape quilt blocks

1840

The increasing use of printed fabric contributed to the growing popularity of pieced quilts and block-based construction after 1840.

The Rajah quilt travels to Tasmania

1841

The Rajah quilt was made during the 1841 voyage transporting convict women from England to Hobart, Tasmania.

Convict women make the Rajah quilt

1841

About 30 convict women created the Rajah quilt while being transported from Woolwich, England, to Hobart, Tasmania, in 1841.

Amish quilts appear in solid colors

1849

The earliest known Amish quilts date from 1849 and are whole-cloth works made in solid colors.

Technology changes quilt production

1850

Technological progress deeply affected the number and styles of quilts made during the middle years of the 19th century.

Singer introduces installment purchasing

1856

In 1856, the Singer company began an installment plan that allowed more families to afford a sewing machine.

Image source: Singer Corporation

Singer introduces installment purchasing

Sewing machines expand quilt making

1856

Singer's 1856 installment plan helped make sewing machines more accessible to families, contributing to technological change in quilt making.

Image source: Sewing machine

Sewing machines expand quilt making

Nineteenth-century quilts serve new purposes

1860

Some quilt patterns made during the middle of the 19th century resembled earlier patterns, but their purposes were different.

Quilt making remains popular

1870

Quilt making continued to be a popular craft during the latter part of the 19th century.

The Crazy quilting craze

1880

The latter years of the 19th century are especially remembered for the Crazy quilting craze.

Nineteenth-century quilts face heavy use

1900

Because of heavy use, very few quilts from the earlier tradition survived into the 21st century.

Quilting scholarship and preservation

The Rajah quilt is rediscovered

1989

The quilt made by convict women during the 1841 voyage was rediscovered in Scotland in 1989.

Quilting history is documented

1989 - 2014

Works cited in the listed material include Barbara Brackman's 1989 publication, Roderick Kiracofe and Mary Elizabeth Johnson's 2004 work, Janneken Smucker's 2013 work, and Patricia L. Cummings's 2005 and 2014 materials, reflecting continuing documentation of quilting history.

The Buckingham Quilt surfaces

2014

The Buckingham Quilt surfaced in 2014, bringing a previously little-known quilt into public attention.

Key Facts

  1. Quilting involves stitching together layers of fabric, usually a decorative top, batting, and backing, to create a durable textile.
  2. Ancient quilted textiles have been discovered in Egypt and Asia, while quilting techniques spread through trade, migration, and cultural exchange.
  3. The Tristan Quilt, made around the fourteenth century, is one of the oldest surviving European quilts and depicts the medieval story of Tristan and Isolde.
  4. Quilting became especially important in North American communities, where people developed distinctive traditions such as log cabin, crazy quilt, and appliqué designs.
  5. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, quilting expanded into political expression, community memorials, museum exhibitions, and contemporary textile art.

Source

This History of Quilting timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

Want a timeline like this one?

Generate yours with AI or build it from scratch, for free.

Try It for Free