If you don’t know Atelier Sherwood and its podcast (in French) "Causons Couture," its recent episode (no. 25) on the history of patchwork would be a great introduction! 

Mathilde, of Atelier Sherwood, and her guest of honor, Marianne of Patchwork Débutant, discuss the origins of patchwork and quilting worldwide, but not only.  They also explore how modern quilting differs from traditional quilting and Marianne reveals where her inspiration for modern quilting comes from. 

I recently finished my project (the Big Sky Star Quilt) while listening to this episode of the podcast and it was the perfect accompaniment! 

If you want to know more about the origins and development of quilting, the American historian Barbara Brackman is considered an expert and she wrote several books that explore the subject from various angles.  Most of her books aren’t translated into French, unfortunately, but her blog (in English) is still active. 

On Amazon.fr, you can also find this book in French by Marie D. Webster: Quilts: leur histoire et comment les faire.  I haven't read it yet, so I can't recommend it personally, but it looks promising! 

Finally, if you want to know more about the modern quilt movement, you can go to the source: the Modern Quilt Guild in the U.S. has written an article about the topic. For an article in French, you can read this blog written by @ateliercocopatch !

If you know of other resources regarding the history of patchwork and quilting — especially resources in French — please leave us a comment and let us know!