Messages behind quilts come to Dutch Oven Cook-Off

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Some 35 quilts will be on display at the Dutch Oven Cook-off, an annual event held at Pioneer Village Living History Center, this year on Saturday, April 27.

Carol Martin, one of the designers of the quilts that will be showcased during the cook-off, talks about the role the quilts play in relation to the time period that this kind of cook-off and locales like Pioneer Village were at their prominent peak.

“The Underground Railroad played a big part back during the Civil War,” Carol reflects as she gestures toward a quilt she recently finished. “Each of the squares on this quilt and others mean something. The ladies would hang them up on a clothesline or fence, with the squares being like codes to give the slaves an idea which way to go, where to hide, who was friendly and who wasn’t.”

Leading up to the Civil War, quilts were made to raise funds to support the abolitionist movement. Then during the war, quilts were made to raise funds for the war effort and to give warmth and comfort to soldiers. The patterns were much like those made mid-century, but the purpose was different. Quilts connected to the abolitionist movement and the Civil War were made for a cause, many representing the relevant flag.

Even before 1830, abolitionists were working hard to end slavery. One way they did this was to hold grand fairs to raise both awareness and money for the abolitionist cause. Quilts were one of many craft pieces sold at these fairs. These quilts were usually fine quilts, often with beautiful appliqués. Women sometimes put anti-slavery poems and sayings on the quilts they made for fairs as well as for friends and family. The goal was to show the terrible plight of the slaves.

Some abolitionists were active in the Underground Railroad helping runaway slaves get to safety. There are stories that certain quilts were used as signals to help the slaves in their flight to freedom. The idea that a log cabin quilt would be hung on the line of a safe house was one. More recent stories tell of certain quilts being used to tell the slaves what they needed to do to get to safety. This all sounds quite romantic, but historians are divided on the theory and legend. But we do know that a valiant effort was made by both whites and free slaves to help these slaves to their destination.

Women on both sides were very active in raising money for the war effort and making quilts and other bed coverings for soldiers.

In the north, quilts were still made for fairs, but now these fairs earned money to support needs that came about because of the war. In the south, lovely quilts called “gunboat” quilts were made to pay for much-needed gunboats.

It wasn’t long before it was obvious that soldiers on both sides would need blankets and quilts for warmth. In the north, women either made quilts or remade quilts from bed coverings. Since the cots were narrow, two bedspreads could be made into three quilts for soldiers. The United States Sanitary Commission was in charge of collecting and distributing them.

In the south, it was more difficult because cotton was grown in the south but manufactured into fabric in the north. Before long, fabric was almost impossible to obtain, so women had to spin and weave before they could sew a bed covering together. To be sure, most of the quilts made for soldiers on either side were made with practical patterns and fabric, and, due to heavy use, very few have survived to this day.

Quilt making continued to be a popular craft during the latter part of the 19th century. The English Victorian influence was slightly delayed in the United States because of the Civil War and its aftermath.

Amish quilts are appreciated for their bold graphic designs, distinctive color combinations and exceptional stitching. Quilting became a favored activity of the Anabaptist sect after emigrating to the United States and Canada from Germany and Switzerland more than 250 years ago. The earliest known Amish quilts, dating from 1849, are whole-cloth works in solid colors. Pattern-pieced bed coverings didn’t appear until the 1870s. Particular patterns and fabrics are identified with specific Amish communities. For example, pre-1940s quilts from Lancaster County, Pa., were almost always made of wool, while those sewn in Ohio during the same period were commonly made of cotton.

Often these quilts provided the only decoration in a simply furnished home and they also were commonly used for company or to show wealth. Amish religion discourages individual expression, but quilt making allowed Amish women to express their creative natures without giving offense. The Amish communities have always encouraged activities that promote community and family closeness, so quilting became a fundamental part of social life for the women of the community. Quilts are created for everyday use or to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, raising funds for the church or community cause. Since the “English” (the name for non-Amish people) discovered Amish work in the late 1960s, quilting has become a source of income for many. Their quilts have become collectors’ items all over the world.

In terms of quilts, the latter years of the 19th century are best remembered for the “crazy quilting” craze. Crazy quilts were made of abstract shapes sewn randomly together. Usually the quilt maker then used embroidery to embellish the quilt. Fancy stitches were sewn along the seams and often, embroidered motifs were added, including flowers, birds and sometimes a spider and web for good luck. Magazines encouraged making “crazies.” Young women were particularly eager to make them. These simple, organic quilts were seldom used as bed-coverings; instead they were made smaller and without batting to be used as decorative throws.

Because crazy quilting was so popular at the time, they tended to eclipse the fact that many traditional quilts were also made for bedding and commemoration. Utilitarian quilts were pieced and tied or simply quilted for everyday bed coverings while beautiful pieced and/or appliquéd quilts were created for special events like a wedding or when a beloved minister was transferred to a new location. These were more often elaborately quilted.

“It’s amazing the things that happened back in the 1700s and 1800s,” Carol says. “When the women came out from the east and ventured west, they usually brought at least two bolts of material: One bold for their husbands and sons (you didn’t buy material by the yard), and then they would buy one bolt that would be fashioned for their daughters and themselves.

“Once the clothes started wearing out, they would cut them up and make quilts,” she says. “Once the quilts wear out, they would strip them and make rugs out of them. Once the rugs wore out, they would be taken out to the barn for the animals to keep warm with. So they literally used everything until it was no longer usable.

“Very seldom did you find them made of new material,” she says. “They were always made from old stuff, recycled, hand-me-down-ish, from person-to-person-to-pet-to-livestock-animal or what have you.”

To be sure, Carol is looking forward to the Dutch Oven Cook-off, and hopes a lot of other people are as well.

“This will be our first quilt presentation during the Dutch Oven Cook-off at Pioneer Village in six years, if I recall correctly,” she says. “I’m hoping this will be an annual thing for the ladies, and I’m hoping it will continue to grow and get more and more popular.”

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