Antique Log Cabin Quilt, Likely 19th Century

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This vintage quilt features a traditional "Log Cabin" pattern, likely crafted during the late 19th or early 20th century.

From … Read more This vintage quilt features a traditional "Log Cabin" pattern, likely crafted during the late 19th or early 20th century.

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

"Bed quilts and coverlets, appliquéd, pieced, embroidered, or woven, are some of the few handmade objects that were created by American women to express their artistry and skill. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women of all social strata made quilts and coverlets. Although many of these were meant to be primarily utilitarian, they were often designed to be pleasing to the eye as well, and sometimes they were imbued with significance far beyond being simple covers for a bed.

During the heyday of quiltmaking in the nineteenth century, America’s increasingly mobile population was moving westward, settling in the wilderness. Easily portable, and certainly necessary, bedcovers might be some of the few decorative objects a woman had in her home. Bedcovers were often wedding gifts, or made by a young woman to take with her to her future husband’s house. If that new home was distant from friends and family, a bedcover became an important keepsake from her old life. Quilts were also made to celebrate the birth of a child, as gifts to thank important members of the community such as the local minister, and even sometimes in remembrance of the dead."

The tradition of American quiltmaking carried on to the 20th century, with innovations on older patterns and new kinds of fabrics/material available from advances in industry and technology. See less