Stitch Slap the Recession

Forget high-density thread counts. In the Depression, the most popular fabric for quilts was feed sacks, or the cloth bags that packaged flour, sugar and animal food. They were first recycled by thrifty women during Civil War shortages. But by the 1930s, the sacks began to be designed specifically for reuse, with label names on easily removable stickers and decorative prints replacing
solid fabrics- clever eco-marketing a whole 75 years before “I’m not a plastic bag.”

At the recent “Recycling and Resourcefulness: Quilts of the 1930s” exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum, Depression-era pieces on loan from the International Quilt Study Center showcased ingeniously pieced together quilts made from everyday material like dressmaking scraps, commemorative ribbons and even worn-out clothing, from old jeans and sweaters to my personal favorite: the front and back of a men’s red and navy striped, suspendered bathing suit.