Cotton Went Away
The popularity of synthetics from the 193?s to the 1970s made it a difficult time for quilting. Although the American Bicentennial of 1976 revived interest in quilts, finding 100% cotton was nearly impossible. Most people didn’t own a cotton garment apart from blue jeans.
Despite this, women like myself used what little cotton we could find to make our first quilts. There were no quilting books, patterns, classes, guilds, shops, or conferences. We drafted patterns on graph paper, made templates from cardboard cereal boxes, cut fabric with scissors, and often sewed by hand.
The American Quiltmaking Revival Begins
Fortunately, Liz Porter and I weren’t alone in our interest in quilting. Across America, quilt making, begun in the early 1970s as part of a renewed national interest in…
