Floral appliqué quilt, c. 1860s–70s, 90 1/8 x 86 1/2 in. ( x cm), Cotton; pieced, appliquéd, and quilted, United States, 19th century, Many quilts from the 1700s and early 1800s featured a large central motif, called a medallion. But in the mid-1800s, block-style quilts surged in popularity. This one has nine blocks, each punctuated with a spray of green and red tulips. One advantage of such quilts was that the squares—usually one or two feet wide—were easy to carry along on social visits, allowing women to stitch as they chatted. This meant 'free time' was always productive.

---

Size: 5168px × 5267px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1700s, 1800s, 1860s–70s, 19th, accused, advantage, allowing, appliqué, block-style, blocks, carry, central, century, chatted, cotton, duties, early, easy, featured, feet, floral, free, green, home, household, ignoring, large, meant, medallion, mid-1800s, motif, pieced, popularity, productive, punctuated, quilt, quilted, quilter, quilts, red, social, spray, squares—, states, stitch, surged, time, tulips, united, visits, wide—, women