Twentieth Century Children’s quilts 1900 – 1980
Redwork doll quilt, c1900.
The 20th Century brought great changes to quilt making and quilts.
Quilt making during the first few years of the twentieth century was at a low level of popularity. While some quilters were still making quilts, we find that the quilts made during this period were fashioned in the quilt making trends of the late 1800’s.
We see many red work quilts, as well as scrap quilts using shirtings, stripes, and plaids in simple patchwork designs. There were also dark crazy quilts made in cotton prints, differing from those crazy quilts made in the velvets and silks of the late 1800’s era.
Up until this time children’s quilts had looked much like adult quilts, made in the same patterns and using the same fabrics as other 19th C quilts (see my first article on Children’s quilts from the 19th Century). Except for the size, children’s quilts were not usually distinguishable from adult quilts (a rare exception to this would be late 19C children's quilts with appliqued animals or figures cut from printed fabrics or children's handkerchiefs.)
During this turn of the Century period this practice continued, with children’s quilts being made using these same fabrics, patterns and trends. We see patchwork crib quilts with dark colored fabric prints in navy, claret, brown, and striped or checked shirtings. But we also see a continuation of the redwork quilts with small squares embroidered with various themes, some with juvenile inspired designs, farm animals, or with Kate Greenaway type figures.
An interesting combination of random blocks in this scrap quilt from PA, c1900. 40" by 40".
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Small doll quilt with turn of the century checked and striped shirting fabrics. c1900.
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Marie Webster's new baby quilt designs as seen in the August 1912 edition of The Ladies' Home Journal.
New Designs in Quilts
During the second decade of the century there was a new interest in general quilt making. New appliqué designs began to appear, as well as a trend towards using lighter colored fabrics in quilts. This new trend resulted in many new designs being created specifically for children’s quilts, something we had not seen previously in quilt making.
Some credit Marie Webster’s article in the Ladies’ Home Journal of 1911, featuring her beautifully designed appliqué quilts, for bringing new inspiration to quilt makers. The new Webster designs were open and stylish, made in lighter hues, and very different from the bright and dark calicos in many of the older 19th C quilts.
Marie Webster wrote 5 articles for the Ladies Home Journal between 1911 and 1915, all featuring her newly designed quilts and pillow designs. She also offered patterns for her quilts through these LHJ magazine articles, as well as articles in other magazines and she soon had a successful business selling patterns, and expanded to offer quilt kits, and ready to finish basted quilt tops.
In 1912 Webster wrote an article for LHJ featuring 6 "Baby" quilts. All of the quilts were appliqued, with four of the quilts made in sophisticated floral designs similar to her full sized quilt designs. Two of the six quilts were made with more childlike designs featuring children's figures.
Morning Glory Wreath crib quilt, c1920. Measures 33 by 57 inches.
One of the crib quilts in the above LHJ magazine article is the Morning Glory Wreath. Designed in a more sophisticated style than most children's quilts, this quilt was quite a bit different than most crib quilts of the time.
May Tulips doll quilt, c1920. Measures 18 by 24 inches.
This small doll quilt seems to be made from one of the large blocks in Webster's May Tulips pattern. I don't know if Webster designed a small version for crib quilts or dolls, but I think it's more likely that someone used just one of the blocks for this small quilt.
The genre of patterns we now call Sunbonnet Sue may have been one of the first of the popular appliquéd children’s quilt patterns. Marie Webster 1912 article in LHJ featured a new appliquéd quilt calling it Sunbonnet Lassies. While similar to the Bertha Corbett girls and similar designs already being used in Redwork embroidered quilts, this new applique quilt featured little girls wearing gay pastel colored dresses and large hats that covered their faces. Rosalind Webster Perry in her book, A Joy Forever, documenting her grandmother Marie Webster’s quilt making and pattern business, comments about this design… “Countless appliquéd Sunbonnet Sues and Colonial Ladies may trace their ancestry to this design…”
Two additional quilts designed by Webster for children during this early period were the Bedtime Quilt (1912) and the Bunnies quilt (1914), both appliquéd quilts. Additionally, Marie Webster designed several other crib quilt patterns, some were specifically for children with juvenile themes, others were small versions of her larger applique quilts.
Interesting embroidered girls (or fairies?) at the center of the flowers in this applique quilt,
c1925. 36" by 54".
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Girl with kittens, or Pussy Willows, in this applique quilt, c1950. 42" by 58".
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Stylistic basket of flowers in this kit quilt in crib size, c1940. 33" by 48".
Soon other designers followed in Marie Webster’s footsteps with new quilt designs. By 1920 quilt makers, attracted by the new modern looking quilts and the new softer palette of pastel hues in fabrics, were in the throes of a quilt revival that would last for over two decades.
Some quilters still used the older 19th Century quilt patterns, but now there were hundreds of new patterns becoming available from the new quilt designers and the new pattern companies. These pattern companies advertised widely in newspapers and magazines, with readers writing in for patterns or pattern catalogs. Patterns were available in small general stores, in large department store home arts sections, in fabric shops that sold fabric and supplies for quilting. There were shops that sold quilts in all stages of completion from patterns and fabric yardage, to stamped squares, quilt tops kits, and even finished quilt tops.
Lively circus characters perform in this crib quilt made with a Simplicity pattern. 33" by 48"
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Alice in Wonderland captured in an applique crib quilt, one of many Alice patterns or kits. c1950, measures 44" by 66"
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Close-up of the Bluework quilt, showing one of the fairies.
One of the benefits of this quilt revival was a myriad of new designs and patterns for children’s quilts.
Many old fairy tale stories and characters were incorporated into small sized quilts by designers. Some were composed of individual quilt blocks to be sewn together to make up the quilt top. Some were series quilts with patterns appearing weekly in newspapers.
While others were larger designs that covered the entire quilt top, giving the quilt a quite different and modern flair.
Fairies and other characters are embroidered in bluework on this small quilt, c1920. Measures 23 by 31 inches.
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Alice in Wonderland in applique and embroidery in this crib quilt. Bucilla kit, c1960, measuring 35" by 56".
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Quilt designers created new original designs in both embroidery and appliqué. Subjects were often kitties and puppies, rabbits and bunnies, circus animals and performers, and small children at play. The alphabet was a popular motif, using the letters paired with an animal or toy whose name started with that same letter.
Kids reading with scattered toys are featured on this crib kit quilt measuring 36 by 55 inches.
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Bunnies, bears, kitty, and an elephant having fun outdoors in this crib quilt. A Paragon kit, c1957, measuring 38 by 55 inches.
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Pre-tinted pieces with both embroidery and applique techniques on pre-colored crib quilt tops and spreads became available. These pre-tinted pieces were available in fairy tale themes like The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. Others were new designs featuring bunnies, kitties, and bears, and many other themes.
Another Alice in Wonderland, this time in a pre-tinted piece. Girls spread with pink crochet trim around edge measures 48 by 70 inches.
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Close up of the Alice piece showing the pre-tinting and embroidery work. This is a kit by the Royal Society, c1930.
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The pre-tinted tops were made with the designs printed on, with parts of the designs tinted in to eliminate some of the applique work needed otherwise. The quilt maker would embroider the outlines, and smaller work like flowers or details. Sometimes larger areas like clothing were appliqued on. These pieces were sometimes finished as spreads or light weight blankets with no batting or backing. At other times they were finished as crib quilts with batting, backing and quilted as any other quilt would be.
Pinocchio and the pretty fairy in a pre-tinted crib sized spread, measures 34 by 52 inches.
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A Kitty and Puppy play on a see saw on this pre-tinted crib spread, measures 31 by 46 inches.
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One popular designer, Ruby McKim, designed and sold many embroidered children’s quilts. For years her designs were available through her newspaper columns across the country, and through her catalogs, like Designs Worth Doing. She designed new patterns taken from the older fairy tales like the Three Little Pigs, and many original patterns. Some of her quilts were designed using a series of blocks, like in her Bible quilt.
Another pre-tinted piece, this one featuring the Three Little Pigs, with the Wolf looking on. Measures 32 by 49 inches.
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Ruby Short Mckim's pattern of the Three Little Pigs crib quilt. c1935, measures 35 by 50 inches.
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Laurette Carroll
Quilt maker and collector from California
Quilts from the collection of Laurette Carroll
All photos and articles on this site are copyright by Laurette Carroll 2016.