Quilting is believed to be more than five millennia and takes on various forms in many different cultures. Examples of quilting have been found in tombs of the Pharaohs dating back to 3400BC. It is believed that Joseph’s coat of many colors mentioned in the Bible was probably patchwork quilted coat. Many superior examples of the technique have survived by being passed down through generations. One example is the Tristan Quilt, survives from 13th-century Sicily. It depicts 14 scenes from the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde, lively depictions of battles, ships and castles, and is one of the earliest surviving examples of ‘trapunto’, or stuffed quilting. During the medieval period 1400’s, quilting was also used to produce clothing that was light as well as warm. Padded wear could be put on under armour to make it more comfortable, or even as a top layer for those who couldn’t afford metal armour. Some of these pieces can be seen in the Victoria and Albert museum in London. Another fine example of quilted clothing is an Indian hunting coat, made in the 17th century, when the Mughal dynasty ruled South Asia. The exquisite ‘tambour’ chained stitch (worked from the top surface with a special needle called an ‘ari’, similar to a crochet hook) suggests that it was probably the work of a specialist craft workshop that would produce work for export to the West as well as for the Mughal court. There are even quilted Indian bed covers made from chintz fabric an Indian painted and dyed cotton, they were very popular export items for both the British and Dutch markets in the late 17th and 18th centuries. But what is quilting? The quilt is formed of three layers, the first is the patchwork quilt top. It is made up of scrap pieces of material cut into squares to form a geometric design and sown together. Bright colourful squares along with swatches of material from memorable events such as pieces of a wedding gown or a child’s baptismal garment are joined together to make a patchwork top layer. The second layer is a layer of insulation wadding (batting), the last layer is made of backing material. These three layers are stitched together called quilted, either by hand or machine. The quilting can either outline the patchwork motifs, or be a completely independent design, for with quilting, the design may not necessarily follow the patchwork design. Also the design of the quilting may play off the patchwork design. In colonial times in America all cloth had to be shipped from Europe at great expense so nothing could be wasted. The patchwork quilt was one way to use up this valuable resource. Even today, people have taken up the work of the quilter and it has become popular again, in many instances is shows political values and ideas.
To make the quilt you needed to use good quality material, to make it strong and durable, if you used worn pieces it would tear and spoil all the hard work. In the Bible in Luke 5:36 the Lord Jesus Christ tells a parable and says “No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.” Trying to fix an old worn piece of material with a new piece will tear and make the rent bigger. Here Christ is saying that you cannot add the old to the new and expect it to agree together. The old religious leaders were trying to add the old religion with the new religion of Christ. Nevertheless, Christ shows them that the two cannot go together. The old religion taught a keeping of the law and sacrificial offerings would gain a man peace and forgiveness with God. However, Christ taught that is was faith alone in his death on the cross and resurrection that would give man forgiveness. This truth has not changed today, a man can have peace and forgiveness only be faith in Christ.
