A Christmas Cheater Cloth
Last night we had a snowfall in Santa Fe. Not a lot, just enough to cover the
ground. Everyone was quite excited,
firstly because we have had no moisture at all for months and secondly our
weather has been unusually warm for this time of year, not very holiday-like to
shop in tee shirts.
I was especially pleased because the topic for today is a
piece of fabric over 150 years old that depicts the winter spirit. This is a variation of what is termed
“cheater cloth”. In the mid to late
19thC there was a great interest in quilting.
Lovely fabric imported from England and France was readily available and
piecework (patchwork, although strictly speaking the term “patchwork” refers to
appliqué) replaced whole cloth quilts using small pieces of various printed
fabrics. Some fabric designers decided
to replicate the look of piecework by printing a “pseudo” patchwork using
different patterned and colored cloth in traditional quilt patterns. This was, of course, just a variation of the
whole cloth quilt, but quilters would use quilt stitches to make the pieces
appear to have been separately sewn.
This is a beautiful example of a cheater, made even more
impressive by the use of turkey red dye.
Popular, but short lived, was the use of luxurious fabrics
such as velvet and silk to create what was termed “crazy quilting” which was
embellished with ornate embroidery and the addition of small trinkets. These textiles were never intended to be
used for bedcovers as the fabrics were often too fragile for heavy wear and
could not be cleaned. Generally, they
were for show, demonstrating the skills of the maker and draped over large
pieces of furniture so popular at the time.
This winter cheater cloth, c 1840, shows various vignettes of outdoor
activities, that are “patched” on a rich dark brown background with faux
embroidered stitchery, and sprigs of holly as fillers. There is skating,
tobogganing, ice hockey, ice sailing and a visit to the palace. My favorite is
a patch of two men with kite-like sails on their backs skating over the
ice. I would imagine the wind filling
the sails would result in their going backward rather than forward, but then
what do I know of Victorian winter sports?
