The First Settlers Didn't Worry About Applique Quilting - They Worried About Basic SurvivalPuritans - Just One Group of First SettlersOnce the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock, the migration from Europe started. Researchers believe no quilts were brought over on the Mayflower. The people who came from England were the Puritans, not the rich. They came due to religious persecution and wanted the right to practice their religion. They probably had woolen coverlets for warmth, but not pieced or applique quilts and especially not broderie perse quilts. 
When the new colonists came to the colonies they had to bring their skills to survive in carving out a living in the New World. They were very hard working people. When they got off the ships, there were no hotels, no homes, nothing except raw land. These people had to literally carve out their existence. The image of everyday women being able to sit and quilt all day is completely false. Somehow this romantic notion popped up, but in reality, it would be impossible. They had to help settle this territory. That involved growing the cotton, picking and carding the cotton, making it into thread, spinning it, and creating fabric on the loom to keep their family in clothing. This is in addition to making lye soap, cooking, farming and the millions of other things that needed to be done everyday just for basic survival. Quilts were items of necessity to keep a family warm and were assembled in the fastest manner. There was very little lighting, candles being treasured, so quilting at night was probably not happening except in the brighter months. Besides wouldn't they be exhausted and ready to collapse from the days work? I imagine these women would have loved the luxury of time to make pieced or applique quilts, or anything that allowed them time to sit. The reason there are so few of these old fabric quilts is that they got a lot of use. When they were washed, it was with lye soap. These quilts were made after an item of clothing has been passed down to every member of the family that it could. The remaining fabric was then cut up and sewn into quilts. They were stuffed with old clothes, unrefined cotton, wool roving, straw, moss and whatever else could keep a family warm. They were probably tied together so they could be created quickly. The Land Rush Brought A New Kind Of Settler To Colonies - More WealthyWhile the early arrivals were settling the new territory, word got back to England that land was available for the taking. The land rush started.Women of the wealthy gentry quilted whole cloth quilts. They also imported the craft of appliquéing motifs of printed chintz from India onto solid fabric (broderie perse). Fabric was very expensive. By cutting out the birds, flowers and other fabric motifs they could make beautiful colorful quilts by stitching them onto a whole cloth, without the expense of using the entire cut of chintz fabric. So their remaining chintz fabric ended up looking like swiss cheese. Some very old sewing baskets have been discovered with these scraps still in them. 
These hand quilting stitches are still around today. In the ladies magazines of the day, the women could find free quilting motifs that they could use in their broderie perse quilts. In the mid 19th century the production of affordable textiles became available and women started to have a little more time to stop and take a breath. They no longer had to resort to cutting up chintz to give their quilts color so the art of broderie perse died out until later years; when people started applique quilting on their quilts. Applique quilting is very popular and there are many methods which I will cover on another page. To Return to History of Quilting - Click Here
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