Facts You Didn't Know about Quilting - Off the Wall Friday

The AIDS Memorial Quilt

Thought you knew everything about quilting?

Well you thought WRONG!


1.  The word Quilt comes from the Latin word, culcita, meaning stuffed mattress or cushion.  There is evidence of quilted clothes in Egyptian tombs as far back as 5000 years ago.

2.  Dr. Dunn, the Father of Occupational Therapy (1868-1966)  used quilt making as a form of therapy. He was said to have taken up quilt-making in 1915. He felt that the bright colors were pleasing to patients, and that the cutting and sewing helped to take their minds off their inner
problems.

3.  The largest quilt in the world was the AIDS Memorial quilt consisting of 48,000 3' by 6' panels and 94,000 names.  It is the largest community art project in the world.

4. A 2014 study showed that quilting is a 3.7 billion industry in the United States alone.

The First Rotary Cutter

5.   The Rotary Cuter was invented in 1979 by Yoshido Okada, the founder of the Olfa company.

6.  The most expensive quilt ever sold at auction is a Civil War-era quilt known as the Reconciliation Quilt. It was  bought for $264,000 at Sotheby’s in 1991. It is now at the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska .


7. Over 61,000 quilters attended the International Quilt Festival - Houston, Tx from over 28 countries in 2014.


I could go on but its getting late and my eyes are closing.  Researching this post I got kinda carried away reading about what  an amazing art form I've gotten myself into.





So What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?