Two years ago when the year 2000 was approaching, quilters wanted to commemorate the new Millennium with a quilt. Many quilters decided that the best way to do that would be to make a quilt with 2000 different fabrics. Quilters started buying fabric and trading with friends. Other quilters who belonged to quilting oriented email lists started trading fabrics by mail through fabric swaps, with virtual friends across the country. The goal was to finish a quilt with 2000 different fabrics by the end of 1999.
Although they were not called by the same name, what most of these quilters were doing was following a 130 year old quilt tradition of making Charm quilts. Even though they are now called Millennium quilts, future quilt historians will look back and see these quilts as Charm quilts made with 2000 different pieces of fabrics at the turn of the 20th to 21st Century. Hopefully there will be enough of them labeled as Millennium quilts to insure these quilts are called Millennium Charm Quilts. I'm not sure how many of those Millennium quilts were finished on time, but even those quilters who didn't get further than collecting the fabrics have a wonderful collection of fabrics to represent those available at the end of the 20th Century.
When I first began collecting quilts I had been quilting for many years. I loved making quilts and had an understanding and an appreciation of the art of quiltmaking. I had seen antique quilts in quilt literature and had read about them, and I was always drawn to the photographs of scrap quilts. I started collecting quilts by chance, when one day I was attending a flea market and noticed a scrap quilt, fell in love with it and took it home with me. That first quilt purchase led me into the fascinating study of antique quilts and fabrics.
My main interests in antique quilts are the textiles that are used in them, and how these textiles and the quilts themselves reflect the lives of the women who made them. With interests like these, I think it naturally followed that the quilts in my collection would be scrap quilts with a few exceptions. Some of my favorite types of quilts to seek out and bring home to study are Charm quilts. In my opinion Charm quilts represents the greatest of scrap quilts.
There is scant documentation on the Charm quilt of the 19th Century. There are many things we don't know about them. The accepted description today, of a Charm quilt, is that of a quilt made with no two patches cut from the same fabric. These quilts usually contain hundreds of different fabrics, and are the greatest find to a textile lover and collector like myself. Folklore about Charm quilts alludes to quilt makers asking or begging friends for scraps of fabric for their quilts, and this would account for the fact that charm quilts are sometimes called Beggars Quilts.
Charm quilts were first made about 1870 and were made for about 30 years until the turn of the century. In the 1930's and 1940's quilt makers recognized the novelty of making Charm quilts, and they were made again, during what is referred to as the 20th Century revival of quilt making. Judging by the small number of antique Charm quilts still in existence, I don't think they were popular quilts to make, the most likely reason being the difficulty of gathering the hundreds of different fabrics together. These quilts were made for a short span of years in the overall history of quilting.
Charm quilts, no matter which era they were made in, have certain characteristics in common. They are usually one patch quilts, using one template in an overall pattern across the quilt top. Although there are two and three template charm quilts, these are fairly rare and are often not recognized by the casual observer as Charm quilts. Also of interest is the fact that Charm quilts are usually made with similar types of fabrics, often contemporary to each other, dating from the same era. The span of years is usually short, 10-20 years, and these Charm quilts are virtual fabric collections of the fabrics available during that time period. Occasionally a Charm quilt is found that contains a fabric collection spanning a larger number of years, but I would say they are an exception.
There are many questions associated with charm quilts. Why did quilt makers make these quilts? Was it simply for the fun of using as many fabrics as they could in one quilt? How did the makers accumulate so many different fabrics? Did quilt makers trade fabrics as quilt makers often do today when they make a Charm quilt?
I will make a few comments and observations, and attempt to shed some light on these and other questions relating to Charm quilts.
Why would someone choose to make a quilt with hundreds of different fabrics? I think that any quilt maker would be intrigued by the idea of making a quilt with hundreds of different fabrics. While a quilt maker today might have enough different fabrics in their fabric collection to make a Charm quilt without borrowing or swapping fabrics (I know I do), I think that quilt makers in the later part of the 19th Century would likely have had to trade fabrics to accumulate enough different fabrics to make a Charm quilt. While fabrics were becoming more affordable in the late 1800's, they were still an expense that most women would consider carefully.
There is reason to believe that this type of quilt is related to the 19th Century fad of collecting buttons and making Charm strings. These Button Charm strings were reportedly made by young women who made a game of accumulating great numbers of buttons that were often borrowed or begged from family or friends. These buttons, with no two alike, were then strung on a length of strong string. The goal was to make a string with 999 buttons, with the young lady waiting until she was married before adding the 1000th button. These button strings are often found in old boxes of saved buttons, and are a great find for button collectors. While it is true that some Charm quilts contain 999 different fabrics, the majority of them do not. A quilt may have less than the 999 fabrics, and they often contain many more. The number of different patches in a charm quilt is understandably related the to size of the template or pattern being used and the overall size of the quilt.
Why do some Charm quilts contain duplicates?
While todays simple definition of a Charm quilt implies that there should be no duplicates of fabrics, the fact is that many Charm quilts do have a fabric used more than once. Some quilt historians who have written about Charm quilts state that few charm quilts have no fabric duplications. I have found this to be the case, also.
This brings up an interesting question. Why would a woman make a quilt, using hundreds, (sometimes up to 1500 and more), different fabrics, and repeat one or two?
One possible reason for duplicates is the most obvious. The quiltmaker lost track of which fabrics she had already used and without realizing it, used a fabric for a second time. I know Charm quilt makers who have found duplicates in their own quilts after the quilt was completed.
Another possibility for duplicates is that the quilt maker included a fabric twice, deliberately, for the purpose of making a game of searching out the two identical fabrics. I have a Charm quilt, c1880, with a letter from a member of the quilt maker's family. The letter writer states that the quilt was much appreciated by the family and it was often taken out and shared. The family members always enjoyed looking at the fabrics in the quilt and searched for the duplicate fabrics. I believe this to be the main reason so many charm quilts are found with one fabric duplicated.
There are other possible reasons for duplicates in charm quilts. For instance, what was a quilt maker to do when she was given two identical fabrics by two different friends or family members? Would she pick one over the other, or include them both in her quilt? I can imagine some quilt makers would include them both to avoid choosing between friends.
My own collection of Charm quilts includes quilts with no duplicates, as well as quilts with one duplicate and a few with more than one duplicate. Because my own interest in these quilts is the vast array of fabrics, it is always a thrill to find a new one. It can be lots of fun to take a quilt home and search for duplicates!
Charm quilts are made using many pattern shapes. During the 19th Century the most popular patterns were the mosaic or hexagon; triangles including the equilateral, isosceles, and the half square triangle; and the tumbler shape. The hexagon shape is often the most imaginative. They are often arranged in rosettes, sometimes starting in the middle of the quilt and growing outward in ever increasing rings to cover the whole top, and as if the quilter tires of the single rosette pattern, secondary rosettes will often appear in the corners. Hexagons are also one of the few patterns that make up the two template charm quilts. The hexagons are joined together with squares or triangles over the quilt top.
Triangles can also be arranged in many interesting designs. Sometimes a simple light and dark arrangement of patches covers the quilt top, at other times the triangles are arranged in various patterns. One design is made of a series of rows growing out of the center of the quilt. Often the triangles march across the quilt from corner to corner, forming color bars across the quilt top.
During the 1930's additional one patch patterns such as the Double Ax pattern were used in Charm quilts and we also see Charm quilt variations such as in the ever popular, Sunbonnet Sue pattern, where Sue wears a different dress in every square. A rather unusual pattern is the Charm quilt made in the 1930's pattern Autumn Leaf, where vines ramble around the quilt and every leaf is a different fabric.
Charm quilts enjoyed another burst of popularity in the 1980's and 90's. The abundance of quality quilt fabrics available to today's quilters is a very good reason to make a charm quilt. Modern cutting methods take the work out of cutting hundreds of patches. Charm quilts of the late 20th Century and the new Millennium are made of the same pattern shapes as their predecessors. However, they are often very innovative in their use and arrangement of fabrics and color. Made in vibrant colors and abstract designs they are often not recognized as charm quilts.
Interestingly, although they may have a more contemporary look, they will have at least one more thing in common with those quilts made in the late 1800's. Those earlier quilts often display a fabric that commemorates the Centennial celebration of our country in 1876.
Likewise Millennium quilt makers often incorporated into their quilts one or more of the many Millennium fabrics that were available at that time. Often having a patriotic look to them, many of these fabrics display the number 2000 as the main design element. Others simply incorporate the 2000 into more dominant design elements.
Next time you are looking at a scrap quilt made of a large variety of fabrics, whether it is a new quilt at a quilt show or a photo of a vintage quilt in a quilt book, look carefully to see if it is one of the wonderful quilts known as a Charm quilt.
Laurette Carroll
Quilt Maker
Quilt Collector and Quilt Historian
For more information on Charm quilts see the following:
Pat L. Nickols, Uncoverings, Research Papers of the American Quilt Study
Group, Volume 17.
Cuesta Benberry, Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, Issues 120, 198, 199.
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(Click on a picture for a larger view)
Containing over 1300 different fabrics this Charm quilt was made at the turn of the last century, c1900, from a vast variety of dress weight fabrics. The triangles of fabric are set in an over all pattern with the lights and darks playing against each other to show the prints to best advantage.
Made entirely of hexagons this Charm quilt was made in the 1880's, using fabrics from the period. Designed with a center emphasis, the fabrics are arranged in rings of hexagons, with four additional rosettes in the corners.
Detail of the hexagon Charm quilt, shows the center rosette of the quilt. Notice the variety of double pink fabrics, while similar, they are all different prints.
Diamonds forming Tumbling Blocks make up this Charm quilt. Made in the 1880's the careful arrangement of the light, medium and dark fabrics form the illusion of blocks. Fabrics include several conversation or object prints.
Detail of the Tumbling Blocks Charm quilt, notice the conversation print with the horse head. This type of print often depicting animals or insects, as well as everyday objects, was popular in quilts dating 1870-1900.
This amazing Charm quilt, c1880, has over 1100 different fabrics. The quilt is set in an all over pattern of isosceles triangles, that are set with a center emphasis, with colors arranged in hexagon shaped rings emanating from the center. The fabrics include 2 Centennial prints dating from 1876.
Detail, this print dates from the Centennial of our country in 1876. The musical notes are from the song "Hail Columbia". The word "Peace" is printed on each shield.
This Charm quilt was made about 1900. Not easily recognized as a Charm quilt because it is made with two templates, a hexagon and a diamond. The setting diamonds are all of the same yellow print fabric, but the hexagons are all cut from a different fabric.
Another two template Charm quilt c1900. This one is pieced with hexagons that are set with triangles. The gold triangles appear to form star points around the hexagons. Again all the hexagons are cut from different fabrics, while the triangles are cut from a solid gold fabric.
Another hexagon Charm quilt, this time from the 1930's. Hundreds of lovely pastel prints, set in no particular design, cover the top of this quilt. Hexagons measure 2" across.
Made in the 1930's this Charm quilt top is pieced in the Double Ax or Spool pattern. In the 1930's the Kansas City Star newspaper ran this pattern with two different names "Friendship Quilt" (1930, 1933), and "Charm"(1933).
This Charm quilt is rare, made in the Autumn Leaf pattern, c1933. Every leaf is cut from a different fabric, the vines and leaves are embroidered.
Detail of the Autumn Leaf quilt showing a portion of the quilt center, and individual fabrics used for the leaves.
Charm quilt top made of 1600 fabrics. The pattern is called Rail
Fence and the rails are 1"X 4". Fabrics are from the 1990's.
This Tumbler patterned quilt, c1880, contains fabrics from 1830-1880. Fabrics include a few chintz fabrics, and two Centennial fabrics.
Detail of one of the Centennial fabrics in the Tumbler quilt. Printed motifs are flags and eagles with the years 1776 + 1876.
Detail of another Centennial fabric from the Tumbler quilt. This one a similar looking print with the years 1776 and 1876, but this time with the Liberty Bell and Liberty Cap.
All quilts from the collection of Laurette Carroll.
Photographs by Laurette Carroll
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