Quilting has long since flourished as a social activity, keeping hands warm and busy during many a long winter evening. Quilting bees were a way of life for many quilters. Often communities worked together to create quilts celebrating special events such as births, weddings and even political events.

Today quilts serve as gold mines of information for researchers. In this way, quilts are like history books. They show the influences of different events, such as when calicos from India, silks from Europe, and finer cottons from England reached America. Some patterns reflect the political, social and religious thinking of the day. Others reflect a sense of humor and whimsey. There are many traditional quilt patterns that have evolved over time.