Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

[Chad Teasley]

I have a question regarding the construction of period-correct quilts:

- Is wool an appropriate batting to use?

I know that it is not uncommonly done in modern quilt-making, and I suspect that it would be correct for the period that we portray...But I have been able to find no firm documentation of it (then again, I am far from a quilt research expert). Interestingly, my Grandmother in Mississippi has a lovely wool-batted quilt that has been in our family for many decades...I suspect it may go back to the mid-nineteenth century, but have no way of knowing for sure.

Anyway, if anyone could point me in the right direction regarding the answer to this question, I would be grateful.

Thank you very much!

[The Pigman]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

My mother, who is 74, told me that they used to take old wool blankets and put a quilted top on and a cotton backing making a solid and warm quilt. She also told me that they were warmer than a buffalo robe in the back seat of a modle T. This all from a woman who has spent all of her life in northern Michigan.

Thanks,
Mark C. Foster

[Augusta Carr]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

Mark:


That is something I never thought of and it sounds like a great idea. Thank you kindly for posting that I'm making a quilt for my granddaughter's bed and that should be perfect to keep her warm as we keep our house cool. I think it would and still is a great way to recycle an old wool blanket no matter what century one lives in.

Warm regard,
Barbara L Hartman

[KathyBradford]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

Mark,

Coming from a long line of Michiganders who covered and recovered anything that would keep them warm in a wood-stove heated farmhouse, I agree. Using a blanket also alleviates the problem of bunching, and it's much less expensive than good wool batting.

Two suggestions: pre-wash the lining blanket in water as hot as you will ever wash the quilt to prevent shrinking after the quilt is finished. If the lining blanket is not large enough, butt together and stitch two blankets of the same weight and cut to the size needed.

Looking forward to spring!

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

Covering old blankets is not unheard of in the mid-century, so that's one option.

Wool batting is also a good option; I recently found out how "batts" may have been used, too! Apparently, it's a flat-ish mat of wool that comes off the carding comb... when these are laid in side by side, you do have to baste the quilt before quilting it, and the complex/dense quilting designs are useful in keeping the batting in place, and preventing shifting.

Now we have the needlepunched sheets of wool batt, which is terribly convenient. :)

I have a good book from the library upstairs, on quilts in America--I'll bring it down this afternoon and post the name. There's one quilt in there from 1861--Extraordinarily lovely, red/white/blue... and entirely reproducible for today, as well.

[celtfiddler]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

The only reference as to the types of batting (wadding) used for quilts that I could find in the books I have is from "Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them" by Ruth E Finley:

p. 42 "The fill is the cotton or wool wadding placed between the top and the back."

I hope this helps,

Kimberly Schwatka

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

Here's the book I was thinking of:

America's Quilts and Coverlets by Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop, 1974 (May be out of print.)

On page 92 there's a fantastic Star of Bethlehem quilt, circa 1855 (I got the date wrong before), in red/white/blue striped star blocks with red/blue alternating sashing.

Off topic a smidge: the whole last third of the book is on overshot and other coverlets. VERY cool book.

[VMurphy]

Re: Wool Batting for Civil War Period Quilts?

Chad:

There is a woman names Barbara Brackman, a quilt historian as well as a civil war historian that has written three books; all specifically on civil war quilts.

BUTTERNUT AND BLUE, Threads from the Civil War

QUILTS FROM THE CIVIL WAR

CIVIL WAR WOMEN, Their Quilts, Their Roles, and activities for reenactors.

Of the three, You will find more information in the last two...my favorite is the last book listed. Although all of them have much documentation and projects for recreation.

Regards
Vivian Murphy