Drunkard's Path - Archive of a Social Movement

If you have read my posts from the last few weeks, you are likely as surprised as I am about the interesting connections a quilt has to moments in history.  This week I learned so much about the use of quilting as a way to voice political views or support a cause.  

One thing I am finding when I research a quilt or pattern, is that I would be really interested in learning more about the women who created the quilts.  How old were they? What was their life like?  Unfortunately, unless a name is stitched into the quilt, I have no way of discovering this information.  I have found through my research that some women stitch their name and the year into their quilt, and it makes me think that I should include this kind of personal information in my quilt as well, in case future generations want to know where the quilt came from!

Let's dive in and see what this week's quilt can tell us...

Background:

From the patterned fabric, this week's quilt is estimated to be from the 1960's. I love the polka dot turquoise medallion at the centre - so fun!

Stitching:

Hand Stitched following the geometries of the quilt pattern, which you can see below:

Edge of Quilt:

No Binding - although all of my research suggests binding is very common, none of my older quilts seem to have it...

Pattern:

This quilt uses the 'Drunkard's Path' quilt pattern, which is also sometimes called the 'Solomon's Puzzle', 'Wanderer's Path', or 'Endless Path'.  The quilt block is a square where one corner has been replaced by a quarter circle:

            

Basic Unit of Drunkard's Path Pattern

Like the log cabin quilt block, oral tradition claims The Drunkard's Path was also a form of communication by the Underground Railroad.  This quilt block is said to have communicated the message  "Create a zigzag path to avoid pursuers in the area".  Also similar to the Log Cabin block, this pattern is said to have origins in Ancient Egypt, and similar twisted grid patterns are found in tile patterns ca. 1300 BC.

What I really want to talk about today, though, is the fact that the Drunkard's Path was a symbol of one of the most widespread 'quilt for a cause' movements in North America.  The use of this quilt pattern (which resembles a stumbling man in its configuration below) was adopted by the Women's Christian Temperance Union in their efforts to bring awareness and a voice to women supporting temperance and prohibition in North America from the 1870's until the1920's. 

 Typical Layout of a 'Drunkard's Path' Quilt 

At a time when women had few rights (and certainly no right to vote), The Women's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) had 350,000 members in chapters in the U.S. and Canada quilting Drunkard's Path quilts to raise awareness of their political views.  Many W.C.T.U. quilts were completed in the organization's distinct blue and white colours. 

Temperance indicates moderation in the consumption of alcohol, but eventually women were also creating 'Temperance T' quilts, in which the T stood for 'Teetotaler', to promote their belief in the complete abstinence of alcohol.

A Sunday School Group, The Canadian Encyclopedia

In Canada, these views on temperance and prohibition were heard by the Government, who introduced laws in the late 1800's which allowed local governments to ban the sale of alcohol.  Provincial bans were introduced starting in 1901, and a Nationwide ban of liquor sales was introduced as a war time measure from 1918-1920.  Prince Edward Island in particular was staunchly against the sale of alcohol, retaining its ban on liquor sales until 1948 - some 25 years longer than any other Province!  

Drunkard's Path - Women's hands quietly stitching quilts and influencing the societal and political views of North America, despite not having the right to vote!

Quilting for a cause is something that is still happening today.  The Mennonite Central Committee has an annual fundraiser called the 'New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale', with a quilt sale at the heart of the fundraising efforts.  In the Spring 2020 auction $85,000 was raised through the sale of donated quilts, and in 54 years they have raised 14 million dollars for relief efforts. That is a lot of sewing! 

A final thought on the Drunkard's Path - this quilt block has a versatility more than any other I discovered in my research.  The unique composition of the square with a quarter circle means that a multitude of arrangements lead to completely different final patterns of the quilt top.  See sixteen variations of this pattern below - my quilt uses the formation in the bottom right corner.

Pattern Variations for Drunkard's Path Quilt Block, QuiltscapesQuilting

I hope you learned something interesting this week, now head over to my Product Page to see my progress as I muddle through the steps for how to make my own quilt as part of this Genius Hour exploration into quilting!