The oldest quilt that Aug owns is probably the least attractive to look at, she said. It was made between 1790 and 1810 in New England. The fabric was printed using a copperplate method. "Copperplate fabric resembles wallpaper. It's done in monotones." Yet, for its time, "it's indicative of luxury. It's French, and it would not have been common in New England in the late 1790s."

Another interesting thing about the quilt is that the back is made of plain linen. "This was made before women cared much about the back. So the knots show. Backs didn't become important until 25 years later."

Aug has several quilts from the 1840s that were made of a color known as Napoleon blue. One that was made in Virginia has decorative edges on three sides of the quilt; that was about the time that edging became popular.

She has quilts done with block-printed material; some with stenciling. "Stenciling was very popular around 1800; then it was revived in the 1870s. It was revived again in the 1980s. And now women are doing crayon pictures." Fabric design often reflects other arts, she said. "Stenciling was popular when tole painting was popular."

Quilts trace the rise of other technologies. For example, when the sewing machine was invented, women who had them often used a different color of thread on the bobbin than on the top. "That way, other people would know they had a sewing machine because it would not be possible to do the two colors by hand," said Aug.

Quilts reflect life in other ways. Politics, for example, were often woven into the bed coverings. Whig Rose, Tippecanoe and Tyler Too, Pride of Ohio, Mr. Roosevelt's Necktie are all quilt patterns. Log Cabin quilts are associated with Abraham Lincoln or Andrew Jackson. Flag quilts are common; eagles are a popular motif on applique quilts.

Around World War I, Red Cross quilts became quite the thing. Often people paid to sign them, and then the quilts were raffled off to raise money for the war effort. "I have a dozen I collected before 9/11. After that, they doubled, even tripled in price, because people saw them as patriotic."

By the way, she said, red and white is also a popular color combination for quilts. "It's second only to blue and white. The red-and-green combination is third."

Collecting old quilts has become more popular in recent years, said Aug. But, as with any art form, prices can fluctuate greatly. "A lot depends on the market and the economy. For example, seven years ago, an 1852 signed-and-dated appliqued Baltimore quilt was sold at auction for $267,000. Three years ago, it was reauctioned and sold for $60,000."

Aug has seen quilts sold for thousands and thousands of dollars, and some for less than a hundred. Even newly made quilts can be expensive, she said. "You may have $300 in the fabric and the materials. Then look at the labor."

And some have intrinsic value that can't be measured. If you have a heirloom quilt, handed down through your family for generations, said Aug, to you, that can be priceless.

Whether you have old quilts or new quilts, "preserve them for the next generation. They tell so much about life."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com