Crafts: A Stitch in Another Time

Of all the painstaking crafts practiced at home, few achieve the twin goals of practicality and artistry as well as does quilting. The art is nearly as old as the needle. Medieval knights wore quilted clothing under their chain mail, but not until the early 18th century did the English develop quilting to a level of elegant decoration. Yet it was their colonists in America who turned this knack of needlework into a way of life.

The fluffy layers of quilts were perfect guards against chilly backwoods nights. Often the bed was the...

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