The Beginnings of Quilting, Part VI

Although the true roots of the idea of a friendship quilt are not known, it is highly speculated that the friendship quilt was born during the time when young girls were making their dozen or so quilts for their dower chests.

As most quilters know, by the time we get to the end of making one quilt, we are getting pretty tired of working on it and are more than ready to see it complete; now, imagine making a dozen! Surely, young ladies during these times were bored with their own work and ready for a little variation. As such, they would exchange pieces, patches, and blocks with their friends, of all different materials, hence making a friendship quilt. Each piece of fabric and/or patch and/or block represented the friend and made the quilts all the more special. This became a very popular tradition that continues today.

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