Minneapolis Institute of Art

Floral appliqué quilt

United States

Date

c. 1860s–70s

Medium

Cotton, pieced, appliquéd, and quilted

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Many quilts from the 1700s and early 1800s featured a large central motif, called a medallion. But in the mid-1800s, block-style quilts surged in popularity. This one has nine blocks, each punctuated with a spray of green and red tulips. One advantage of such quilts was that the squares—usually one or two feet wide—were easy to carry along on social visits, allowing women to stitch as they chatted. This meant “free time” was always productive. The quilter could never be accused of ignoring her household duties, even when she was away from home. A single block with an elaborate appliquéd design and careful quilting stitches could take as long as forty hours to complete. Even an enthusiastic quilter managing a household in the mid-1800s might make only one quilt like this a year. United States, Americas

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