Although there is no evidence that this particular quilt was made at a bee, many like it were. Whole cloth quilts were common at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Women’s diaries reflect a variety of ways in which more than one hand was involved in the making of a quilt. Different neighbors may have spun the thread, woven some of the fabric, or might even be brought in to mark the pattern on the quilt. Given that women recorded only a relatively few number of days spent quilting each year, elaborate quilt patterns like the ones exhibited on this quilt would have been difficult for one quilter to finish.

Pattern: 
Whole Cloth
Maker: 
Maker unknown
Circa
1790
Possibly made in
New England or New York
United States
89.5
89
IQM, Clyde E. and Joan B. Shorey Collection
2006.056.0016