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Friendship Quilt
Friendship Quilts became especially popular in the 1840’s and 1850’s as Americans became more mobile. They were generally given as a gift or keepsake to family members and friends who were traveling. Though any number of patterns could be used, the quilt was generally composed using entirely the same pattern of block and relied less heavily on the complex allover patterns created by other block patterns. Instead the focus was on the individual block, each of which was usually inscribed with the maker’s name.
This quilt was created by the Friday Club of Hudson, originally a women’s literary club, at the turn of the century. Composed of 42 stepped square medallions, the quilt is large and is stamped with a name on each block. Though the colors appear to be shades of brown, it is very likely that the quilt was originally purple, since the type of synthetic purple dye used at the time fades to brown. |
