Most nineteenth century signatures were written with indelible ink, while in the twentieth century they were often embroidered. Occasionally, one person chosen for her beautiful handwriting would inscribe all the signatures.
Autograph quilts are sometimes classed as signed remembrance quilts, but remembrance forms tend to be linked with the death of someone, rather than commemorating a specific event. It would appear that many early album quilts (1840-1860's) were made up of blocks that included inked drawings, signatures and verses. By the time of the Civil War in the 1860's, album quilt inscriptions had become shorter and many only included the block maker's name, their hometown and sometimes a date.
Source: BRACKMAN, Barbara (1989). Clues in the Calico: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Quilts, EMP Publications.
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 30 June 2016).
SA