1860 - 1875 Machine Quilted Quilt
1860 - 1875 Machine Quilted Quilt
Previous
Next
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- The crafting of this quilt was made possible by William Grover’s 1851 invention of the double-thread chain stitch. He and William Baker were issued U.S. Patent No. 7,931 for a machine that used this stitch. The Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Co. of Boston, Mass., began manufacturing the machines in 1851, and by 1856 were producing for the home market. “Quilting on a Grover & Baker’s sewing machine, is no trouble at all, and the rapidity with which it is accomplished, enables us to apply it to many things which would cost too much time and labor for hand sewing.” ( The Ladies’ Hand Book of Fancy Ornamental Work Florence Hartley, Philadelphia, 1859.)
- The most elaborate quilting of the 19th century was done by hand. It is unusual that the unknown maker of this quilt used a machine to stitch the design of each square through two layers of cotton fabric. The design areas were then stuffed with cotton fibers. The squares were sewn together by hand to make the quilt top, and an overall lining was added. The three layers were quilted by hand along each side of the seams where the squares of the quilt top were joined.
- By 1870, the Grover and Baker double-thread, chain-stitch was being replaced by a lockstitch. The lockstitch machines used one-third the amount of thread and made less bulky seams. The lockstitch remains the standard stitch of home sewing machines to this day.
- The motifs on this all-white quilt top are similar to those found on many of the colorful appliqué quilts of the mid-19th century. Although more complex than most of the work for which the new machines were used, the quilt’s design and the use of the Grover and Baker stitch suggest that this is an early example of machine quilting.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- quilt
- date made
- 1860-1875
- quilter
- unknown
- place made
- United States
- Physical Description
- fabric, cotton (overall material)
- thread, cotton (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 76 in x 63 in; 193 cm x 159 cm
- ID Number
- TE.T18240
- catalog number
- T18240
- accession number
- 1977.0101
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Schwartz
- subject
- Quilting
- sewing machine
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Textiles
- Textiles
- Domestic Furnishings
- Quilts
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.
