Since my oldest son recently married, I intended to write a post on wedding traditions but as what happens, my plans went awry. The more I wrote, the more it sounded like a high school Home Ec report.
However, when researching wedding traditions, I discovered single women in the 1800s stressed over whether they would marry. To cope, they relied on parlor games or predictions such as tossing cats into new quilts. That sent me down a rabbit hole to discover how traumatizing poor cats in a quilt could predict a woman wouldn’t be an old maid or reveal her true love. That led me to an article on quilt superstitions and a topic change.
Here are some superstitions I discovered. My comment (because I couldn’t post these without saying something. 🙂 ) follow each superstition.
Luck:
- Never make a quilt with 13 blocks
- I assume it’s because 13 is unlucky. Okay, now I’m wondering how and why 13 was labeled as unlucky. But I’ll save that for another day.
- If a thread breaks, it will bring misfortune.
- There should be a warning label on thread because who hasn’t broken a thread while sewing a quilt? And does it bring major misfortune such as a car accident or a minor one like losing a shoe? Come on, be specific about how bad this will be.
- Stitching a spider web design into a quilt will bring good luck. Because a spider web is so easy to work into every quilt design.
- First, a four-leaf clover or horseshoe, for luck I could see. But a spider web? Second, I never remember seeing one in anything but Halloween quilts. The solution to that is to sew a small one in somewhere, but I’m not that talented. ? I guess whoever I give future quilts will have to add one or do without the extra good luck until I figure out how to sew one. Either that or I have apologies to make.
- It’s bad luck to give away your first quilt.
- This would’ve been nice to know before I gave my first quilt to my son. However, since that quilt stayed in my stayed in my house, maybe I didn’t get too much bad luck for that.
Marriage:
- When a new quilt is finished, the first woman it is thrown over will marry first. Wrapping her in it will ensure she marries within a year.
- I’m wondering if throwing the quilt over is different than wrapping her up in it, or if one superstition is simply more specific.
- Wedding quilts should have borders of continuous vines or ribbon patterns because a broken border means the marriage will be broken too.
- I must be an awful person because my first thought here was, if someone didn’t like who their child was marrying, they could give the couple a quilt with a broken border.
- If a single female puts the last stitch in a quilt, she will become an old maid.
- This superstition was easy to avoid when quilting bees or circles were prevalent, but what’s a gal to do now, call a married friend or relative to put in the last stitch?
- After taking a quilt off the frame, wrapping it around an unmarried woman will give her luck to find a husband. Throwing it at the first single man she sees, will “charmed” him into a relationship. If a young lady shakes a new quilt out the door, the first man who comes through the door will be her future husband.
- From the little research I did, I discovered there was a lot of quilt shaking and throwing them at folks in the past, making me wonder if there are other superstitions to uncover. But apparently they had to be newly completed quilts. Which spurns me to wonder why they had to be new…
Miscellaneous:
- If you sew on a Sunday, you will have to pull out those stitches with your nose when you get to heaven.
- First, with the way heaven is described in the Bible, I find it hard to believe God would punish a quilter this way upon arrival. Second, how would I pull out stitches with my nose?! Guess I’ll learn that should I be blessed enough to get to the Pearly Gates.
- Quilts started on Friday will never be finished.
- Again, why would this be worse than starting on any other day, except Sunday of course. ?
And finally, Cats and quilts and the answer to the question that started this.
- If women stand in a circle and “shake up a cat” in new quilt, the one the feline runs toward will be the first to marry.
Giveaway:
To be entered in my random drawing for an ebook version of my Pink Pistol Sisterhood novel, Aiming for His Heart, leave a comment about quilting, superstitions, or whatever’s on your mind.
Julie Benson has written five novels for Harlequin American, and her Wishing, Texas series is available from Tule Publishing. Now that her three sons have left the nest in Dallas, when she isn't writing, Julie spends her time working on home improvement projects, rescuing dogs, and visiting Texas wineries with her husband. Visit her at www.juliebenson.net.
I remember my grandmother telling me that if I did any mending on a Sunday, then I would have to pick it the stitches with my nose! It made me laugh because I don’t enjoy sewing of any kind, least of all, mending, so that was a good excuse to procrastinate until Monday if something needed to be fixed.
Ami, I’d never heard that saying before! And I still can’t grasp the picking the stitches out with my nose. I usually get a lot done on Sundays, but I’m thinking you’ve got the right idea in using the superstition to avoid work on Sunday.
Thanks for being here today. Have a blessed day.
Loved your stories about quilting superstitions- I think I have broken every one of them, especially lots of threads…. My imagination ran ahead of itself as I imagined young men trying to avoid a quilt landing on them!
Jeannette, what a great thought! I may have to use that in a story. I love when grandparents in particular play matchmakers. My hero’s grandma does that in To Marry a Texas Cowboy. I wish I could’ve used the quilt trick somehow in that story. It would’ve been a hoot since the grandma was a wedding planner.
Thanks for being here today, and for the chuckle imagining a guy trying to avoid having a quilt thrown over him! Have a terrific week.
I loved this, very interesting. My first quilt is on my bed. I love quilting but can’t find the time to do it. With 6 kids, 3 still at home and homeschooling quilting time is sparse. Gotta find time to read too. Congrats on your son’s wedding. Our oldest daughter got married in May. God bless, Kim
Kim, you were smart and kept your first quilt. Did someone warn you that it was bad luck to give it away? Seriously, these superstitions should be given as a warning with quilting fabrics and patterns. Who knew quilting could be life altering?
Girl, you sound busy, I bet reading and quilting time is hard to get. You sound like my bff who made the gorgeous pink quilt. It was her stress relief and she would carve out an hour here and there whenever she could.
I admire you for home schooling your kiddos. I was a teacher, but I don’t think I could’ve taught my children. I always laugh and say if I’d have taught my oldest (the one in the first picture), he still wouldn’t be able to read. He and I would’ve butted heads too much.
Thanks for being here today, and have a great week.
Wow, never knew this. The only thing I remember my grandmother telling me was, “Only dead people sleep in socks”. Many of my cousins still laugh about that. One cousin was in the mountains and his feet were cold and he said,”sorry Grandma Tom. My feet are cold!” We all laughed. I’m sure she was grinning from heaven! My first quilt given to me was for graduation at 18. It was made by my Grandma Tom. Not many of us received one from her as she grew older. I do have it displayed along with my double wedding ring quilt my mother made. My first quilt I made was for my grandson in 2015. I’ve made about seven of them. I hope to make more.
I enjoyed the article Julie! And I read your Pink Pistol book! Loved the series!
Tracy, I see you broke the same rule I did by giving away your first quilt. You’d think it would be good luck to give away your first quilt. Maybe the superstition came about because the first time we do something we make mistakes and learn things. Then we do much better on the second attempt. The same is true with books. Very few people sell the first book they wrote. Mind will never see the light of day for a multitude of reasons.
Thank you for sharing your Grandma Tom’s wonderful saying. I’m always on the lookout for funny, quirky sayings, and hers is wonderful. Don’t be surprised if it shows up in a book someday. My dad used to say funny things like that all the time.
Thank you for being here today, for sharing your Grandma Tom’s wisdom and wit, and for the kind words about my Pink Pistol novel. Have a terrific week.
I don’t remember any superstitions but do have my great aunt double wedding ring quilt
Teresa, what a special remembrance of your great aunt. It makes me sad that so many young people don’t value things like those old quilts. Making is already getting close to a dying art. We all are so busy we don’t have time for it. Plus, I learned to sew in school and no one teaches those life skills things anymore.
Thanks for being here to say hello. Have a fabulous rest of the week.
pretty quilts
Thank you so much. Lori, my bff, is incredibly talented. At the beginning, I cheated by using a big panel of fabric for the center. I’ve made a couple lately that had blocks.
Thanks for stopping by today to chat. Have a terrific week.
Thank you for sharing these superstitions with us. I can’t think of any superstitions that I’ve ever heard.
Thanks for stopping by to say hello. I didn’t even use all the superstitions I found. Who knew people had so many rules/superstitions regarding quilting?
Have a great week.
My grandmother quilted a lot. I have always wanted to make a quilt, but haven’t so far. Once I retire, hopefully I will have more time. I really enjoyed reading about the quilting superstitions.
Kathleen, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. The hardest thing for me is putting together the fabrics. My mother had a box of her mother’s clothes. I wanted to make a small quilt for me, my brother, and my boys if I had enough fabric, but I couldn’t group the fabrics. When my bff visited a few months ago, she grouped them together for me. Then she helped me pick additional fabric for the one I wanted to make. Oh, and deciding on a pattern is hard for me too. I can follow directions, but creating something on my own? Forget it. (Lori did that for me too!) I don’t have that kind of creativity.
Thanks for being here today to chat with me.
Oh, my goodness, Julie! These superstitions are wild! LOL.
Love, love your dress! So pretty!!
Pam, I had a good laugh when I read them.
Now I know why I never learned to quilt….LOL They are some really amazing superstitions.
Kathleen, who would’ve though that quilting was full of pitfalls that could lead to bad luck?! Thanks for stopping by to chat today. Have a fabulous week.
Fun post today, Julie! I especially loved seeing the photo of you and your son in your wedding finery. 🙂 I love quilts, but I’ve only ever made one, and I cheated and used a sewing machine for most of it. I do love the idea of quilting bees, though. I remember seeing a quilt in a historic home once that had signatures on nearly every block. What a keepsake that must have been! Loved hearing all those superstitions. Might have to work one of those into a book sometime. 🙂
Karen, both my bff and I cheat with a sewing machine, too. But Lori can do the fancy freehand style. The quilt she made for me has stitching that created phrases all around the border. I tried to get a picture but couldn’t get a good one. I’m happy if my blocks match up and I sew a straight line.
Very interesting! One of the superstitions that I remember growing up was that if you ate the last piece of cake or pie, or the last cookie, you would never marry. I’m very suspicious that it was invented to ensure that the grownups got at least one piece of something!
Kim, I’ve never heard that superstition, but it’s hilarious, and I agree. It had to be started by someone who was tired of not getting the last piece. Thanks for being here and sharing that one. Have a terrific week.
I just want to know who came up with all of those and did anyone bother to actually do a case study and find out if they were true before spreading them around a community??
Naomi, you and I think the same. I kept thinking who would think this up? From what I read, in the Victorian Era rules regarding courting made it difficult for young single women to meet eligible men. This made them worry they’d never marry. Someone along the line developed these superstitions and parlor games that “told” them they would indeed marry. I wondered too how often these superstitions came true.
Thanks for stopping by to chat. Have a fabulous week.
Wow so many superstitions regarding a quilt. I wonder how many more they had about other everyday activities. I felt sorry for the cat.
Thanks for sharing.
Sharon, I didn’t even use all the quilt superstitions I found! I think in those days there were a lot of superstitions regarding every day life because it helped people deal with anxiety or things they didn’t understand. And my first thought when I read the superstition that pulled me down the rabbit hole was why would they do that to a poor cat?
Thanks for being here today. Take care and have a wonderful week.
These are actually funny!!! I wonder how many of them people really paid attention way back when!
Trudy, I couldn’t stop laughing when I read them and I wondered how many people really believed them, too. It’s hard to believe they took them that seriously, but you never know. Sometimes superstitions have their start in reality.
Thanks for being here today. Have a blessed week.
I still have the first quilt I made.
I debunked a quilt myth recently. I really don’t know any superstitions about quilts.
Most of my quilts were made by my paternal grandma. She even made me a quilt for my baby dolls.
You look so beautiful in your mother of the groom dress. Congratulations!
Denise, thanks for your kind words about my picture. Finding a dress was a rough process since most brick and mortar stores don’t care much stock. Ordering in line was a mess with stuff not fitting or being yucky fabric when they arrived. The bridesmaids dresses were a dusty pink. (Basically if you took a bunch of white and added it to the color I wore.) my son wore the same color tie so that and my dress were nods to Texas A&M since my oldest is an Aggies. When we were lining up to walk down the aisle, the wedding planner asked if Alex had any preference on how the groomsmen’s’ hand were. He and a couple others right away said right over left because of the Aggie ring!
That’s so cool about the hand placement.
I ordered a dress from Amazon, and it was too big, sent it back, and the new one fits–half the price I saw it on another site. Shouldn’t have to get it altered. Just went with black since the couple won’t give me any details. Wedding is in March.
I read these outloud to my hubby. We had a good laugh. My mom always told us girls if we sewed on Sunday, we would have to remove the stitches with our nose. Thank you for such a wonderful article.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. These were hilarious. I’m amazed how many people’s grandmothers told them the one about Sunday! Thanks for stopping by to chat. Have a fabulous week.
Welcome and thanks for sharing. LOL I am a quilter and have heard many of these and more. Some are so silly, makes me wonder if some of the older ladies made them up for fun. That last one with the cat and who the cat ran towards is really funny, because women back then put a lot of work into the quilts, and this one would totally be messed up by the time the cat got out. they didnt declaw cats back then. thanks for the smiles today
Lori, I’m glad the post gave you a few chuckles. I’d thought about how awful it was for the cat but never considered the cat Igor damage the quilt.
My grandmother had a lot of superstitions, but not about quilting. One was if a bird flew inside a house someone was going to die. As for giving away the first quilt ever made, I never finished the first quilt, but subsequent quilts I’ve given mostly to grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
I’ve never heard the one about the bird in the house. Thanks for sharing that one and for being here today. Have a wonderful week.
My grandmother used to quilt with the ladies of her church. They made her a friendship quilt for thief 50th wedding anniversary and my mom still has it.
My church had a quilting group. They sent a lot to missions and sold some amazing ones during the holidays. I don’t think many churches gave those groups anymore. And what a wonderful gift they gave your mom.
Thank you for stopping by today.
Quilting has never been a destiny for me. Even after receiving a box of quilt squares as a wedding present. I kept them for several years and finally found a person who gladly took them. To this day I have no desire to quilt, but I have done loads of sewing for myself, my children and even my husband. He owned a beautiful 3 piece suit I made for him to wear to his daughter’s wedding. I also made a suit for my son.
I think making clothes is way harder than making a quilt. I’m impressed with your skills if you made a 3 piece suit for a wedding. I hate to think what one I made would look like. It definitely wouldn’t be good enough to wear at a wedding.
Thank you for being here today. Have a terrific week!
Hi, I really enjoyed reading this superstitions about quilts, I never knew there were any. When I was just a little girl, I would watch my grandmother make quilts, so one day I put one together, which wasn’t too bad. But wow, I never knew about these superstitions, thank you for sharing about them. Congratulations on your sons wedding. Have a great rest of the week.
Alicia, I didn’t know these superstitions existed either. I just stumbled across the researching the history of weddings.
Thank you for the congratulations. With three boys, I’m thrilled to have another female in the family other than furry four legged ones. And we absolutely love our daughter-in-law.
My grandmother said how many stitches you sewed on Sunday, the devil would sew in your tongue.
Janice, yikes! With that one added to the nose one, no way am I sewing in a Sunday!
Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific week!
Your post was very interesting. I think all those superstitions developed from too many women sitting around stitching a quilt doing a good deal of gossiping and talking, ha!
Connie, you very well could be right. I bet they could spin some interesting tales while they sewed.
Thank you for stopping by to chat today. Take care and a great week!
The quilt superstitions are so weird but your commentary is hilarious! Great post.
Mary, the superstitions really got me thinking.
I really truly wish someone(s) would make me a quilt, something that comes with a blessing for my family as we need all the prayers we can get right now. I never seemed to be in a position to have a group of women friends for quilting. or for anything else for that matter. At 75, those opportunities are long gone, I’m afraid. Thank you for you stories.
Adrianna, I don’t have a quilt for you, but I’m sending blessings and prayers my your family’s way. I like to think it’s never too late to try something new or make a friend. Take care, and may God bless and keep you.
Thank you so very much, Julie.
I think these rank up there with if you step on a crack, you will break your mother’s back. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
I have heard some of these and love to know more. 13 blocks and 13 at a dinner table being bad luck seems to come from The Last Supper. Christ plus the 12.
Thank you so much for an enjoyable post. I am days late reading it. One really has to wonder how these superstitions ever got started. This has been a crazy week and I fell asleep at the computer every night before getting very far. I always go back and catch up on the posts I missed. They are always so enjoyable. Our granddaughter (or her mom) would have loved the Harry Potter quilt. I have done a little quilting, but just decorative pieces, no quilts. I have some lovely antique quilts as well as some new ones and know I could never make anything as fine as they are. I am gladly appreciating the talent of others.