Appalachian quilts of Floyd County, Virginia

The purpose of the research was to study the evolution of quilts in Floyd County, Virginia, as a means of documenting the life and culture of the county natives. Both documents and relics were examined and methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis were utilized. The relics were any existing quilts made in Floyd County, while the documents included not only those in traditionally written form, but those in the unwritten form--in this case, twenty-two oral interviews. A visual instrument was developed to substantiate subject responses to interview questions.

Geographic, economic and cultural factors were shown to have played an important part in determining the characteristics of Floyd County quilts. County aesthetic values were determined to be closely related to nature. Design lines were moderately complex and color preferences fell in the primary and secondary color range. Due to the historic functional use of quilts, no relation was found between the women's craftsmanship and design ability.