The Charleston Museum presents an original exhibition, Early 20th Century Quilts, from December 15, 2012 to August 4, 2013. This exhibit in the Museum's Historic Textile Gallery spans the tumultuous years from 1900 through the 1930s, displaying the patterns and fabrics that make this era's quilts so distinctive. Periods of turmoil in the early 20th century, sparked by World War I, the coming of the second World War and social change born out of the Suffrage Movement, the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression, were met with renewed vigor by quilters across the country. While mass production and mail order sales of blankets and bedcoverings in the late 19th century might have briefly made the handmade quilt less desirable, women in all walks of life continued to find satisfaction, artistic expression, delight and even comfort in designing and sewing quilts such as those in Early 20th Century Quilts. For more information, please visit www.charlestonmuseum.org/early-20th-century-quilts or call (843) 722-2996.

Exhibition Highlights

Some of the highlights of Early 20th Century Quilts include a dramatic wool Drunkard's Path quilt (pictured above) from around 1900, made by Ella Dargan Watson of Greenwood. A pieced cigarette silk quilt (pictured below), c. 1910, is a clever use of these advertising give-aways, which resulted in a charming display of baseball players and opera stars. A delicate chain-stitch embroidered coverlet made by Cynthia Elizabeth Poyas Marvin of Charleston represents the 1920s. And the 1930s offer an abundance of pastel works of art, from a delightful appliquéd Water Lily quilt (pictured left) made by Doris Beckman Schwettmann to a popular Double Wedding Ring quilt made by Anne Marie Ownes Thorne, both of Charleston.