Latina Moms have been making colchitas or colchas to keep their families warm for centuries! The term quilt comes from the Latin culcita. The word culcita can be used as a noun, describing the three layers that make up a quilt patch, or as a verb, meaning the actual act of sewing the three layers together. A quilt is basically a cloth sandwich. The top layer is the part with the decorations. The middle is a filler, and the back is usually plain. Quilts fall into three categories—whole cloth quilts, applique quilts and patchwork quilts.
The colchitas that our Latina moms made were usually simple and made from materials they obtained for free. Clothing that became frayed, stained or was otherwise unusable, was set aside and pieces of it were used for quilt-making. The colchitas were not a means for artistic expression. They were needed, so they were made—and that was that.
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