A short history of textiles and quilts in Finland

19th century and before

Patchwork quilts were rather common in the peasant houses and at the end of the eighteenth century their use spread to the upper class homes. The rya rugs were very typical Finnish textiles, used primarily in the open fishing boats and sleighs, later also as indoor textiles from the 16th century. Rya rugs were used both to display one’s status and also in daily use in castles, manor houses and commoners’ houses. Rya rugs were hung on the walls and used as bedcovers. Finland has a long history of patchwork quilts, but very little has been studied and documented in writing. However, there are several patchwork quilts in Finnish museums and whole cloth quilts and quilt frames were very common in Finnish countryside homes.

The Porvoo Museum (Porvoo, a little old town 50 km east of Helsinki) has on display a few old embroidered silk quilts. These have been used as bridal quilts and were popular from 1700 to 1900. Viipuri (a town now in the Russian side of the border) and several other towns also have a history of quilting groups, where whole cloth bedcovers for the winter were quilted.

The Finnish Orthodox Church in Kuopio (a town 4 hours north-east of Helsinki) owns several beautiful antique patchworks, even though only a small part of the churches belongings were saved when moving to Finland during the World War II and the Finnish Winter War. The patchwork quilts are church heritage, most of them from the monasteries of Karjala and Petsamo. These sacred textiles of the Finnish Orthodox Church are real treasures. Their materials include silk, satin, brocade,and velvet with decoration of handmade bobbin lace or machine-made brocade ribbon. The oldest patchworks are from the 18th century.

Western part of Finland also have a tradition of quilts during the nineteenth century and at the beginning of 1900’s. They has a lot of influences from the USA and Canada because a lot of people emigrated to North America at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Naturally, the Swedish speaking population has upheld contacts with Sweden. Old quilts from 1870 after are machine sewn. A book called “ Under the Quilt” by Mirja Muurinen and Anna-Maija & Gunnar Bäckman tells about patchworks and quilts in Ostrobotnia, the Western coast of Finland.

1930's

The next patchwork trend was utility quilts, which started in the 1930’s. The trend saw the emergence of quilting books and magazines.

1960's

A new wave was born in the Sixties, staring with art wall hangings, patchworks and appliqués.

1980's

The latest quilting wave to hit Finland was from the end of Eighties: patchworks, quilts, everything. This wave is catching.

1990's

The Finnish Guild was founded in 1990. Patchwork and quilting is part of handicraft teaching curriculum in most elementary and high schools. In very many Adult Education Centres all over the country the quilting classes are among the most popular workshops.