Antelope Canyon - An Archive of an Ancient Civilization?

Can you believe this beauty of a quilt?   

This week's quilt taught me so much about the possibilities of the quilt as a record, and of the invisible threads that weave through a quilt pattern and back through time to moments in history. 

Background:

This quilt was a wedding gift from a family friend and expert quilter.  I was amazed and honoured when we opened this gift - to imagine all the hours and love that went into its creation!  Let's dive in and learn more about this quilt!

Stitching:                       

Machine Stitched

Edge of Quilt:      

Edge finished with traditional binding.  This means there is extra fabric wrapping the quilt edge to finish and protect the most well-worn part of the quilt.

Something of Interest:   

This quilt is quilted in a method called ‘stitch in the ditch’.  This means that the quilt stitching is done on existing seam lines of the pattern (along the edges of the rectangular blocks). This gives a very clean and modern look to the pattern.

In comparison, other quilts may have an ‘all over’ stitching which means that the quilt is sewn all over the top, regardless of where the block pattern is.

Pattern:      

This is an ‘Antelope Canyon’ quilt pattern, designed by Laurie Shifrin.  The pattern is actually a modern variation of a traditional quilt block pattern called the ‘Log Cabin’ quilt block.  This log cabin pattern has a rich and interesting history, which you can learn more about on womenfolk.  

Traditional 'Log Cabin' Quilt Block

What I found most interesting about the log cabin pattern was that it may have origins as far back as Ancient Egypt.  When Egyptian tombs were opened in the early 1800's, they found cat mummies wrapped in linen strips in a pattern that bears a striking resemblance to the log cabin quilt pattern - that is a 5000 year old pattern!

Cat mummies from Ancient Egyptian Tombs, The British Museum

I was also fascinated to learn that some oral traditions claim that many traditional quilt blocks were used around the time of the American Civil War, to provide direction to safety through The Underground Railroad.  Jacqueline Tobin and Raymond Dobard describe the importance of quilt patterns used in this communication in their book 'Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad'.  The log cabin quilt pattern is believed to be a secret symbol that could be drawn on the ground, indicating a person is safe to talk to.  Other quilt blocks gave direction to food, water and places of rest, warned of danger, or provide direction North.

I am so fascinated that a quilt could be both a remaining imprint of an ancient civilization, and also capture possible oral traditions of a much more recent political movement within its pattern.  After these interesting historical and cultural discoveries stemming from the details of a single quilt pattern, I am excited to continue this investigation next week!  

I hope you learned something interesting today - now head over to my Product page to check out my first steps toward archiving my own moment through quilting!