The Little-Known History of Military Men as Quilters
The Art of Intarsia
Soldier seamstresses??
I thought I knew a lot about quilting. It had been my life for twelve years when my husband and I owned and operated a huge regional quilt shop and retreat center called Threads of Time. Quilters came for overnight stays every day of the year except Christmas Eve so that they could sew and socialize together. We had events and workshops featuring notable quilt gurus, and our retail store sold sewing machines, fabric, and every notion for sewing and quilting you could imagine. I was often a speaker at events throughout Illinois discussing different aspects of quilt history.
I knew a lot about quilting, from techniques to teachers, but for all my knowledge I had never heard about the role of 19th Century soldiers as quilters perfecting the fabulous art of intarsia.
At least, not until I traveled to the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska in 2018 where I saw an incredible exhibit called War & Pieced: The Annette Gero Collection of Quilts from Military Fabrics.
Stunning. Intricate. Colorful. These textile creations were stitched by military men during the British conflicts in India, South Africa, Prussia, France, and Austria during the 1800s. They are painstakingly put…
