The 1930s brought hard times for most Americans, but the quilts from the 30s were bright and cheerful. Designers used new colors on cotton, such as buttery yellow, thirties green, pink, lavender, light blue and tan, with popular designs: flowers, geometrics & art deco motifs.
During the depression era, women were forced to fall back on their domestic skills of sewing and knitting by hand, since most could not afford sewing machines. Some of them used scraps of fabric or scraps from the family’s clothing to create blankets for warmth. Quilting was also a way of earning money to help a family get by financially. The women did the work at home. One woman pieced a quilt; another quilted it and another sewed on the binding. Those old ways of doing things made hand pieced and quilted items more valuable.
After I learned about the 1930’s fabric and quilting history, I decided to participate in the block of the month from Sew Sisters – ODE TO THE 1930’s. If I did not read some of the articles about that era, I would not have appreciated the color of the fabric. While working on this quilt, I had an image of the women who sat together making the quilts and supporting each other during difficult time.
This is my first quilt using hand applique and hand quilt technique. I decided to do it by hand because it reflects the 1930’s life style. It took longer to do it but I enjoyed doing it.
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