American, New England

Fabrics made of silk became more available to middle class American consumers in the 1880s, when tariff laws encouraged the expansion of silk fabric manufacturing in New England and the middle-Atlantic states. The brilliant colors and attractive textures of silk fabrics gave the quilter a new set of options to consider in her work. Compare the different qualities of the ombre graded silk squares in this example with the similar use of color gradation in the cotton calico Boston Common patterned quilt in this room.