Susan Frances Poindexter Cooper
(American, born about 1827)
Whitework Quilt, about 1850
Cotton
Logan County, Kentucky
94 x 91 in.
Collection of Eleanor Bingham Miller L2010.42.43

Though we typically think of quilts as a combination of complex geometric patterns and colorful fabrics, some quilts from the late eighteenth century through the first half of nineteenth century looked like this one: starkly white. The decoration comes only from the quilting, which provides the outline for various patterns and images. These decorative elements were given shape by stuffing cotton batting through the weave of the quilt back. The whitework quilting tradition in America derived from professionally produced European white quilts.