Feed Sacks, a Part of American History

Audrey Heirs,  a former president and fifteen-year member of the Misty Mountain Quilters Guild,  presented the January program to the organization.  The Guild, currently with over 200 members from five counties, met January 25 at the First United Methodist Church of Blairsville.  Ms. Heirs, who has collected and studied historical fabrics, articles of clothing, and quilts for over thirty years,  is especially  interested in items made from feed sacks.   Wooden barrels, used for shipping feed and food,  were slowly replaced by hand-loomed cotton sacks in the 1800’s.  The first sacks were white, brown, or echru colors.  As more women began using the sacks for clothing, tablecloths, and quilts,  manufacturers started printing designs on the sack fabric.  A one hundred pound sack would yield one yard of fabric, which was extremely valuable during Depression years.   To avoid wasting anything, the selvages were used for shoelaces, and the thread for tatting and crochet.  Ms. Heirs saw her first feed sack quilt at age four, when she received a doll quilt from her mother.  The quilt shown in the  photo is named  ”Conversations With Granny Carrie and Grandma Ethel”,  and was made in  2007 with vintage fabric and feed sacks by Ms. Heirs.              .

For more information about the MMQG,  visit the website: mistymountainquiltguild.com.