Quilting is a part of African Spirituality
Quilting fabric symbols mirrors African and African American spirituality and history. African slaves combined quilt patterns and hand sewing as a path to freedom. No one is precisely sure when quilting began but from evidence found in the Temple of Osiris at Abydos, Egypt. People wore quilted clothing as many as 5000 years ago. An ivory carving in the British Museum depicts the first Egyptian Dynasty king wearing a quilted mantle scarf. The history of quilts began long before newspapers and books and before European settlers arrived in their New World. We need to be aware that quilt history pre-civil war from 1619-1865 did not yet have the guidelines for good quilt history research that is used today. Oral history has been around longer than written history. Quilts served as clothing, bedding, window and door coverings, and freedom for African slaves. Coded Quilts of African Freedom If it is not documented, it did not happen, but African slave history was not recorded. Quilt names h...