Man started agriculture and began a settled life

After industrial revolution a drastic change came over the weaving and knitting industry. Power looms made the process of spinning yarn unimaginably faster. Invention of knitting machines revolutionized knitting techniques. What could be done by 50 heads could be done by one machine and at much cheaper rates. The competition gradually became tougher for hand weavers and knitters.

The more well off weavers bought their own weaving machines to survive, or perhaps to participate in this competition between man and machine.Quilt making which started off as a necessity gradually became a profession and then a fine art. After man started agriculture and began a settled life they stopped migrating from one place to another in search of food. They grew settlements and started staying in groups. With settlements new professions evolved like weaving, knitting, cattle rearing, fishing, pottery, metallurgy and so on.

Division of trade was established with a few families specializing in a particular trade. This was the common trend in all early civilizations.Weavers and knitters were such specialized craftsmen. Their specialty lay is creating marvels in cloth. The art and technique of weaving, knitting andman started agriculture and began a settled life  were taught by ancestors to their descendants keeping the trade within the family. Different techniques developed with passing generations.

In addition to weaving and knitting of quilts, variations were created in forms of appliqué and stitching. Each one of these types has its own distinctive features. Master weavers combined all these techniques together to create wonders in cloth.Handmade quilts took a long time to be completed. The more intricate a design the longer was the time required to finish it. Often an entire family got involved in making a bed quilt. It was a painstaking and creative process. Being labor intensive it offered employment opportunity to a large group. There were communities where weaving and quilt making was the main occupation.

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