Mountain Mist Patterns & Batting: An Eco Friendly Quilt Challenge
Genuine Mountain Mist Quilting Cotton comes with in a quilt-block wrapper which shows many authentic Mountain Mist quilt designs in full color. Printed on the inside is a complete pattern, ready to cut or trace and with full instructions. Insist on the genuine by name.
~1933 Mountain Mist advertisement
Most of us know that Mountain Mist makes batting for quilts but did you know that they have been making filler for quilts since 1846? When the company learned that quilters wanted a batting that would not tear or stretch they begin experimenting. The story goes that one day they tried spreading flour paste on a marble slap. On top of that they rolled out a sheet of cotton batting then hung it up to dry. They called their new product "cotton wadding" and produced it not only for quilters but for air filters, horse leg wraps and many other purposes. Over the years their product has been continually improved and several variations of battings have been offered.
But just manufacturing a product isn't enough, it has to sell. So Mountain Mist company developed a marketing plan. Their goal was not only to get those who were already quilters to use their products but to encourage more "modern housekeepers" to take up quilt making. Along with advertising in magazines they devised a plan to package their batting in a paper wrapper with a quilt pattern printed on the inside. On the outside they illustrated their quilts in inviting colors.
These promotion techniques not only had an impact on how many women made quilts but also on the patterns, fabrics and colors they used. At one point of time they encouraged quilters to use solid fabric because it would make their quilts timeless. Interestingly we can recognize those quilts made in the 1930s by the shades of solid fabrics.
The people at Mountain Mist are still listening to what quilters want. They have designed a new craft fiber, EcoCraft. It is an environmentally friendly product made from fermentable sugars found in corn. To launch this new product they challenged quilters to make a quilt with a "green" theme. In partnership with the International Quilt Study Center they sponsored the "Crafting A Better Planet Quilt Competition". You can go to Crafting A Better Planet Quilt Competition to read about it and see the winning quilts.
See a video of an exhibit of antique quilts from the historical Mountain Mist collection. the quilts are stunning and the quilting exquisite.
For information about eco friendly quilting go to Forever Green Quilts. Learn how quilting green can make a difference, then find ideas on how to quilt green from using organic cotton to using your scraps to make quilts.
Reference:
"The Origin of Mountain Mist Patterns" by Merikay Waldvogal (This paper can be found in the 1995 Uncoverings published by the American Quilt Study Group.)
