African American slaves, and particularly those that were women, were heavily involved in the American textile industry for every step of the process. Quilting was a domestic part of this process, and some slave seamstresses even became famous for their skill. Following the Civil War, some African American women acquired work in households to perform domestic duties, quilting often still being part of the job.[1]

Pine burr quilts (also known as pinecone quilts, cockleburr quilts, Lumbee pinecone quilts) are a type of quilt at this time composed primarily from scrap from sacks, old clothing, or remnants left over from other sewing projects. Creating quilts for practical purposes from scrap is not something new or exclusive to the African American quilting community, and many African American quilters did follow the trends at the time, incorporating their own personal unique flair to already-popular patterns; the pine burr pattern was rather widespread as well, seeing use in the UK as well as similar versions in certain Native American tribes (particularly the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina, from which this pattern gets one of its nicknames).[2] [3] African American Quilters in particular became known for especially bold colors and patterns included in their quilts arranged in dynamic or unusual combinations, elements present as hallmarks of many African cultures’ textile designs.

However, the pine burr pattern in particular has become so embedded in American history that in 1997, it was established as the state quilt of Alabama, and the document that did so acknowledged its importance as an artifact from as recently as the Civil Rights era as part of quilting cooperative Freedom Quilting Bee’s fundraising efforts for Black Americans, as well as the pattern’s significance specifically originating from the Black community.[4] From the early to late twentieth century, “the [Pine Burr] quilt was popular among southern African American quilters" according to quilt historian, Cuesta Benberry.[5] It’s unsurprising that such a popular design would become an integral part of the history of Black American creative expression and quilting history, and that an appreciation for the skill put into these quilts would make them well sought-after (Pine burr quilts were, especially in the African American quilting community, admired similarly to the way appliqué technique was revered in White communities).

I was absolutely enamored with this transformation of what was thought to be a pre-established and popular pattern into something so significant; the quilts I observed during my research were gorgeous as well, to be frank. I wanted to explore the techniques and challenges that I expected would come from a pattern like this to hopefully gain a more full appreciation for the skill and creativity it requires given the limitation of the materials (scrap) used. 

Aside from simply enjoying the aesthetic of the pattern, part of why I chose the pine burr quilt pattern to emulate was because it seemed the most accessible to someone with limited sewing knowledge like myself (other quilt types often involve sewing three or four corners together at a point, which is something I struggle with still; pine burr quilts don’t). I also felt it lent itself well to the time constraints of this project compared to other quilt types I encountered in my research such as story quilts or string quilts. 

Pine burr quilts boast a circular pattern of overlapping folded triangles, where only one edge of the triangles are sewn down, giving a three-dimensional look resembling a titular pine burr (or pinecone). A single spiral only sometimes composes the body of the quilt (a style more popular as an art form rather than for practicality since the resulting quilt can become extremely heavy due to the sheer amount of fabric), but more often instead multiple smaller blocks containing pine burr circles are pieced together in a grid to form the quilt. They are usually created with multiple fabric types and/or patterns, loaning themselves well to be made from scrap materials as they often were, since scrap derived from old clothes, sewing projects, or even utilities like sacks were abundant in the post Civil-War era that this pattern was especially popular during. Pine burr quilts subsequently sport very unusual colors and patterns and a striking visual texture from the raised three-dimensional aspect.

I elected to create a single block that is approximately an 8” square. I used the fabric I had on hand, which was a heap of halloween-print linen scraps. The colors were chosen practically for each ring based on the amount of fabric scraps I had and the size of each scrap piece (since some swathes of the linen were mangled by past projects), though I did attempt to consider aesthetics and arrange the colors into the dark to light gradient that’s in the final product.

Pine burr quilts require a careful attention to detail to center the spiral of burrs on the square on which they’re arranged. There’s a tendency for the spiral to end up slightly off center, and extensive measuring and planning is the only real way to combat this problem. Despite my best attempts, my circle ended up off-center and I subsequently had to trim stray edges to nudge the project’s shape closer to the realm of a square rather than a rectangle. 

Arranging the triangles was a surprisingly laborious process, Each triangle is composed of a 3” square, folded in half twice. To assure the triangles lay flat, it’s necessary to iron each triangle down to set the crease, something that significantly increased the time it took to make even this 8” square. 

Another difficulty I encountered while arranging the triangles was that I found it difficult to properly hide the seams of where each previous layer of triangles was sewn down.  It required an astonishing amount of pins to assure the triangles didn’t shift from where I had meticulously and strategically placed them to cover the stitches underneath. There were points where some did shift as I was sewing other parts down, and I didn’t notice until I had already sewn them, necessitating a very annoyed use of a seam ripper to correct the mistake.

I intentionally left the edges, in a way, “unfinished”  to allow for the opportunity to expand the quilt. I had considered adding a backing or border to this, but I decided against it since the inherent nature of what I was making was to be a singular piece as part of a larger whole; it felt unfitting to do anything else.

Going into this project, I didn’t anticipate this pattern requiring as much problem solving nor creativity as it ended up demanding from me. It gave me a greater appreciation for the care that goes into arranging limited amounts of patterned scrap fabric in an aesthetically pleasing and skillful way that particularly African American quilters expressed through the creation of these quilts.

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[1] “Slavery And Its Aftermath: World Quilts: The American Story,” World Quilts: The American Story, 2013, https://worldquilts.quiltstudy.org/americanstory/identity/slaveryaftermath.
[2] “African American Quilting: A Long Rich Heritage,” African American Quilting From Slavery to the Present, 2001, http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/afam.html.
[3] “The Pine Burr/Pine Cone Quilt,” Quilts Inc, 2020, https://www.quilts.com/suzys_fancy/pine-burr-quilts/.
[4] “Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama,” Alabama Department of Archives and History, 1997, https://archives.alabama.gov/emblems/st_quilt.html.
[5] Benberry, Cuestra, A Piece of my Soul: Quilts by Black Arkansans (University of Arkansas Press, 2000): 11.