roguequilter

they used whatever was available yes, but in eastern regions quilting was more of a artistic endeavor, not the midwestern or appalation quilts born of necessity. cotton in south where it was grown, wool in northeast where more sheep. as stated in other comments here, crinkle depends on type of batting. i personally find the current fascination w the crinkle thing quite humorous. have never seen or read comments re: it until recent years. probably a thing dreamed up in magazine articles duscussing the "charm" of "colonial" quilts

there is a thread on here from few weeks ago that we discussed knife edge finishing. if i can find it i'll pm you the link. but one thing i have learned in my reading is that quilts were finished in ways unique to geographic region.

i.e. ..four poster beds were new england states primarily. haven't found discussion re: finishing, but in my books of quilt history in america, all the four poster quilts were knife edge finish & minimal quilting in the pieced quilts, more quilting covered surface of applique quilts.

in pennsylvania edges of quilts were made with wrap around finish. bring edge of quilt towards front of quilt.

i have done extensive reading re: quilting history in the last thirty years. always a history buff, when i learned to quilt, i found a whole new to me fabulous world textiles to research. i am not a quilt historian expert like cuesta benberry, barbara brachman etc ...but i do know a lot and still learning more. hang out at brachmans cw site ..there's a wealth of historical info there re: quilts of 1800's, lifestyles ..plus free patterns for her various series quilts. i love all of her websites.