Fabric in the mid 19th century was still considered a luxurious commodity.  Fabric used in quilts was often that left over from some other endeavor and almost never purchased solely for the purpose of making a quilt.  Quilting fabric may have been salvaged from some larger project like bed or window curtains, or could have been cut from hand me down clothing that needed to be altered.  Many quilts from this era were scrappy because women used whatever "scraps" they could find to make their quilts.  None the less the creative and talented women of the 19th century put as much thought into their quilt designs as we do today.

Leisure time in this bygone era was precious.  Almost all of the 19th century quilts that we see today were made for utilitarian proposes and it is rare to discover that a quilt was made simply for decorative purposes.  However, like today, quilting was often a social event as friends gathered to talk about the news of the day and quilt.

Jeanne Horton's passion for Civil War era fabric designs is made evident by the wonderful selections that make up her Simpler Tymes Collection.  Just as the name suggests the fabric in this collection evoke a feeling of a day in history when times were difficult, but life seemed simple.