Quilting Word of the Week – Quilting Bee
October 10, 2008 by Mary Emma Allen
Filed under Home & Living
Quilting Bee - A gathering generally of women and girls to sew a quilt together. Most often, they stretched the quilt on a frame, then each person helped stitch together the top, filling and backing of a quilt with tiny stitches.
These were social times in pioneer days, often the main occasions ladies got together. In addition to quilting the bed covering, they might stitch pieces together, produce a “round robin” project, sew a friendship quilt or create some other fabric artistry.
My grandfather, in his memoir, wrote about his mother, my great grandmother, attending quilting bees at her neighbors’ homes. I recall helping my grandmother, aunt and a friend tie quilts which we called a quilting bee.
Do you participate in modern quilting bees? Do you have memories of your mother or grandmother telling about quilting bees of their lives?
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(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
I guess my grandmother and mother were loners
I wish!
I don’t know much about quilting – I wish I did! A girlfriend of mine is working on a quilt as a Christmas gift and it’s gotten me even more interested in quilting, although heaven knows I don’t have the time!!!
My grandmother made beautiful quilts, especially after she was bed ridden with ovarian cancer. Unfortunately she died when I was too young to know I should ask questions about the good old days.
Her quilts are the only thing I have to remember her by. Although I don’t really “remember” her. I love those quilts!
No quilting bees in our family history, but I just loved those scenes from that movie The American Quilt. What a fun way to bond!
Quilting is something that I’ve always wanted to try but never had anyone to tell or show me. I wish that they had more things like quilting bees in modern days, sometimes after spending the whole day with the kids, it would be nice to meet new people and be social in events like this.
I’m just starting back into sewing and quilting, so I may have to try and start a bee with my roommates. We’ll see how that goes.
My grandmother taught the now extinct “home ec” and would have quilting bees in class.
I have heard stories about women from a church quilting together, but I have never participated yet. I think this would be fun.
I heard stories from my grandmother when I was growing up of how she went to quilting bees. She worked on many different quilts, she was pretty young and they were all for the older women, but she enjoyed it. I wish she were still alive so I could ask her more about it. I think it would be wonderful to do now. I did do two memory quilts for my two daughters with their baby clothes but I did it alone and would have loved to have someone to help.
We quilt alone in my family. I don’t know why. Quilting bees sound like much more fun.
I used to get together with a friend once a week and do needle crafts and then more recently I got together frequently with a friend and I worked on scrapbooking while she made jewelry. I remember my mom and her friends would all sit in the living room and sew, mend, needlepoint, or mostly chat.
I have a group of friends that help me baste my quilts…. we lay it out on the floor and then spend a few hours basting. then we eat… it’s great fun!!!!
No quilting bees in my background as far as I know. Love quilts though, and wish I had the knack for needlework.
dlcwin[at]gmail[dot]com
Greetings! I never got the pleasure of knowing either of my grandmothers. My mother-in-law is a wonderful sewer and quilter. Our church has a group of quilters that meet every Wednesday! Thanks, Cindi
No quilting in my family. We do own some lovely quilts, though. One of which I can’t wait to dig out of storage and break out for the winter.
I’ve never participated in a quilting bee (although I’d like to), and as far as I know my grandma hasn’t either. I did recently join a knitting circle, though.
As far as I know my grandmother and great grandmother’s never quilted
We’ve got a grandma/grand-daughter quilt going on right now! My daughter decorated the squares with my 70’s sewing machine with decorative stitches, and grandma is helping put them into a full size quilt. Though…. grandma seems to be doing most of the work….
I would love to learn how to quilt.
I dont quilt but I have a few nice ones
my friends and I each contributed fabric that we felt described ourselves and then we got together to make rag quilts for each of us to commemorate our special friendship. It is one of my treasures!
I helped out my grandma with the last quilt she had on the frame in her living room. It’s hard to visit her when she has that up as it takes up most of her living room! Our church has also holds bees but the quilts that they make are usually tied.
my grandmother taught me to quilt. When I was in college she would quilt during the day, I would quilt into the late night.
We have never done a quilting bee only scrapbook gatherings. I think we should add that to our next get together.
Thanks for entering me in the giveaway!
I’ve done a couple of quilting bees when I was in my teen years. I haven’t done one in a long time. I’ve done a few crafting bees but even those have been awhile ago.
My Mom and Aunts used to get togher and make quilt tops, but I don’t think they ever got many actually completed. I do remember them giggling like little girls. I guess that was probably more important.
My great-grandmother was a quilter – and I have a couple of quilts that she made (and love them). She died when I was very young so I never heard her tell quilting bee stories. About 20 years ago we had a group of women in our church who quilted – they had a huge frame in our church’s fellowship hall. They stopped, though, when a couple of the leaders of the group passed away within a very short time frame. I wish I had someone nearby who could teach me to quilt! Mark Lipinski has a great quilt in one of his magazines that I want to make for my girls!