Okay... we have a winner. PamelaOry sent the correct answer to the oldest quilt still in existence, The Tristan Quilt. A surprise is headed to Pamela.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]596292[/ATTACH]Detail of the Tristan quilt showing a noble and a herald.
The Tristan Quilt, sometimes called the Tristan and Isolde Quilt or the Guicciardini Quilt, is one of the earliest surviving quilts in the world. Depicting scenes from the story of Tristan and Isolde, an influential romance and tragedy, it was made in Sicily during the second half of the 14th century. There are at least two extant sections of the quilt, one of which is displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries, and the other in the Bargello in Florence. A third quilt, also depicting Tristan and Isolde, but not thought to be part of the V&A and Bargello examples, is held in private hands. The Tristan Quilts are the only known surviving examples of medieval quilts.
Detail of a knight's hands and arms. Surface wear has exposed the wadding beneath.
The quilt is made from two layers of linen, stitched together with wadding in between. Backstitch in cream and brown linen thread defines a series of pictures with captions that have been brought into relief by inserting rolls of cotton stuffing to raise sections of the design. The stuffing could have been introduced during the quilting process, or because the backing layer is looser in weave, its threads could have been parted to introduce the stuffing; some elements are done using cord quilting.