Dufferin Historical Museum

Carman, Manitoba

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Quilting: A Woman’s Art

by Emily Wiebe

 

 

Quilting: just another insignificant instance of women’s work, or is it? Elaine Showalter, author of the essay “Piecing and Writing” from The Poetics of Gender, would disagree. To her, quilting is “the art form which best reflects the fragmentation of women’s time, the dailiness and repetitiveness of women’s work.” According to Showalter, quilting is not a trivial example of how women have spent their free time, but a true art form invented and employed by hardy women throughout the centuries who utilized all their wits to ensure their families’ survival.
Quilting has gone through several stages of transformation over time, but it found its niche as a largely North American art form. In the early days of the settlement of North America and later during the settlement of the West and Frontier lands, quilting took the form of repurposing, patching, combining, and salvaging old blankets, clothing, feed sacks, and any other fabric for the sole purpose of providing warmth. These quilts were not the precious heirlooms one thinks of today when one imagines a quilt. But eventually, as North America was settled, quilting was revolutionized, shifting from its status as a salvaging methodology and survival skill to a new place of prominence as an art form with a purpose.
In the Victorian Era, quilting experienced its heyday of popularity. Many quilt patterns were invented and distributed during this time including the Log Cabin, Pineapple, Churn Dash, and Flying Geese patterns; the “Quilting Bee” – a social and practical event that brought women together to quilt finished quilt tops to backings – was instituted in many communities; fabric became more readily available as manufacturing moved to the continent. The quilts made during this time were functional as well as artistic masterpieces. They were designed to be made quickly and efficiently, but the “best quilt” – the finest quilt one would make and own – sometimes took years to complete.
A popular quilt found later in the Victorian era was the “crazy quilt.” It was made by sewing randomly shaped fabric pieces together to form a quilt top and often included large amounts of embroidery. These quilts were designed as works of art rather than functional pieces.
During the World Wars and the Great Depression, quilting experienced another shift. WWI introduced the role of the quilt as a fundraising and awareness tool. The Great Depression rekindled the skill to “make do” of many women by forcing them to revert back to quilting out of necessity since money was so scarce. These hardy women saved scraps of fabric and skillfully and frugally engineered quilts out of these scraps to keep their family warm during those difficult years. WWII revisited the quilt as means of raising funds. The “signature quilt” became very popular at this time. People paid to have their names embroidered on the quilt blocks and then the quilts were raffled off to raise money for the Red Cross.
Since WWII, quilting has made several more transformations. At some times the art of quilting has been nearly forgotten, at others, interest has been revitalized, but it has never ceased to be an inspiring art form, an enduring specimen of women’s resourcefulness, skill, and artistic genius in both good times and bad.

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Dufferin Historical Museum

Guest’s Comments

“It was so nice to meet you guys and get a chance to see all of your displays. I want to again say how much we appreciated you opening the museum and taking time out of your days for us. We went over to the cemetery and they helped us find the grave sites which was a thrill as well. Thank you again for your hospitality and the gift bag.”
Howard Thomson
Hemenway Family

"Nice to meet you and have a personalized tour of the Museum .... your organization has done a wonderful job of displaying the artifacts and honoring the families in the area. Glad that you were able to use some of the articles that I had available.
The cookbook is really well done. I enjoyed reading and reminiscing - lots of great recipes and 'tidbits'. 
"Big Bouquet" to all involved.

Linda, Morden, MB"

"A Great Museum I visited the Dufferin Historical Museum on Saturday, June 2 for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
I have not visited the museum for some time and I was greatly impressed by the changes that have taken place. The people who have been giving their time and expertise to the arrangement and displaying of the many artifacts, as well as the people who have worked with the flowers and plants around the grounds, are to be greatly commended. There is more work and time spent on these jobs than most people realize. The tea was probably a first and in my opinion a good idea. It was overall a great way to celebrate the event. A visit to our museum is certainly a great way to spend an hour or two and well worth it."

Keith Barker, Carman Past Board Member

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Contact

Dufferin Historical Museum
44 Kings Park Road
Carman Manitoba R0G 0J0

Phone:
Museum - 204-745-3597

Trish Aubin – 204-745-7353
Caroll McGill – 204-745-6674
The GPS coordinates:
49° 30.178 N 098° 00.621 W

Admisions

Adult: $5.00
Student: $3.00
Under 5: Free

Memberships:

Single: $10.00
Family: $25.00 (2 adults/2 students)

Hours of Operation

July and August
Tues - Sat 10:00 - 5:00 pm
Sunday: 1:00 to 5:00 pm