Friendship Quilts: A Small History

What is a Friendship Quilt? A Friendship Quilt is a quilt that has been made by a group of friends, relatives or members of a club or organization. They would embroidery each participants name on the blocks that made up the top of the quilt.

There are several “Friendship Quilts” on display at the Pushmataha County Historical Society Museum located in the “Old Frisco” railroad depot located at the railroad tracks on West Main Street in Antlers.

One such display was a quilt that was made in 1933 as a fund raiser to build a community church in Jumbo. The backing or lining of this quilt is made of “Bull Durham” tobacco sacks. The sacks were collected and the seams removed. The sacks were then washed and ironed. Then the sacks were sewn together to make a spread large enough to be used as the lining for the quilt that was being made. Depending upon how much material was turned when sewing the sacks together, it would take approximately 275 sacks to accomplish the job.

You might wonder why tobacco sacks? In times past when there were not a lot of local stores or sources to buy or obtain material, they used what was available. By today’s standard using what was available is not usually even thought of.

If for some reason stores were not available to fill your needs today, how many of our friends, neighbors, etc. would be able to figure out an alternate way to get the job done?

The Historic Frisco Depot and Museum will reopen on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, following the Holidays. It will be open on Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon and on Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

We would like very much to have you stop by for a visit. There are many items pertaining to the History of Pushmataha County on display.