Quilt

Quilt American Ellen Sweet, c.1865 Cotton Gift of Delma Donald Woodburn Estate MHAHS 2002.002.0367

Late 19th century women’s magazines promoted household craft and decoration in a reactionary movement against the Industrial Revolution’s factory-line production of undifferentiated, machine-made items. Young ladies were expected to master these domestic skills, and common household goods often became their palette for artistic expression. Parlors and family spaces were filled with this kind of craft, like this 1865 quilt created by the young Ellen Sweet of the Town of Springdale.