Rolling Star quilt, unknown maker from the United States

Exhibition Label:
"Quilts! Imported Fabrics, American Treasures," May-2004, Barbara Brackman

This two-color quilt showcases blue and white, a favorite style at the end of the nineteenth century. The blue has been colored with indigo, a dye valued for thousands of years because of its color fastness. The dyeing and printing processes were complex and expensive, as was the dye itself. Natural indigo dye cost $2.35 per pound when logwood blue, more fugitive to light and washing, cost only six cents. Since cotton prints reflected that expense, indigo prints were sparse in patchwork or saved for “best quilts” until the end of the century. In the 1890s, German chemists perfected a synthetic indigo, leading to a change in quilt style. As indigo prints dropped in price, American quilters created a craze for indigo blues.