Old Nova Scotia: Quilt Stomping

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Quilt history enthusiast, Monica MacDonald, shares this delightful information from the book, "Old Nova Scotian Quilts" by Scott Robson and Sharon MacDonald.

The authors quote a helpful (!) hint from the Presbyterian Witness on Sept. 21, 1889: "If quilts are folded or rolled tightly after washing, then beaten with a rolling-pin or potato-masher, it lightens up the cotton and makes them soft and new." There is also a picture of a 1927 ad for a "vacuum clothes washer" also referred to as a "quilt stomper" and a journal entry that refers to putting blankets and quilts out on bushes and fences to dry.