I’ve read articles indicating that quilting could date as far back as 3000 BCE borne from a necessity to provide personal protection and insulation.  I’d like to think that the people quilting even back then found a way to put a little fancy twist in their finished product to show a little creativity.

Quilting came to America with immigrants from England, Wales and Holland who brought their needlework skills with them as well as a knowledge base of how to produce cloth.  Not only did quilting fill the need for warmth and comfort in making bed coverings, but it also allowed for artistic expression. 

With the industrial revolution and vast changes in the shipping/transportation industry, it wasn’t long before a very diverse offering of fabric could be made available to the average everyday household.  This created an added bonus of having the ability to be economic by saving all of your scraps from one project to use on another.  The birth of our fabric “stash”!  Making blocks to quilt from “piecing” scraps became very popular and is still one of the most recognizable American quilting styles.

Did you pick up on any common threads?  We still need warmth and comfort.  With all of the quality colors and textures of fabric available, having an artistic outlet is readily available.  Being able to save scraps for a future project in order to be economic justifies our building and keeping our STASH!