Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center : Cotton in Pennsylvania German Life

ca. 1830-1840
Cotton
Bucks or Montgomery County
On loan from Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Ellors

Imported cotton prints from England, some with complex designs, are incorporated into this Nine Patch quilt. Earlier prints are more complicated; as technology improved and production increased, the complexity of the print declined. During the 1830s through the 1850s, when woven coverlets were used most commonly on Pennsylvania German beds, quilts were the exception rather than the norm.

Florence Montgomery notes in Printed Textiles: English and American Cottons and Linens 1700 –1850 that large scale prints such as the example used in the border here were revived in the 1830s from late 18th century popularity.