Crazy Quilts in America: Then and Now
by Patricia L. Cummings
photos by James Cummings
Antique crazy quilts, often perceived as symbols of Victorian excess, were produced in great numbers in the United States from 1876 to 1920. Those particular dates will vary, depending upon the historian who is telling the tale!
During that time, almost every home in America is thought to have had a crazy quilted item of some sort. Commonly made objects included piano covers, small quilts that could be placed kitty-corner on top of a counterpane or Marseilles spread, antimacassars to place on furniture, and heavily embroidered and embellished quilts made of silks, satins, brocadesand other "fancy" fabrics for display on the parlor sofa. For the most part, these pseudo-quilts, which had no batting, had no intended practical purpose. Symbols of leisure, crazy quilts were sewn during a time when needlework skills were highly valued and were the mark of affluence.
Quintessential Victorian Crazy Quilt, with fans and decorative stitches,
as well as a handmade lace border. See description further down in the text.
Foreign Influences
In the United States, the widespread pastime of making crazy quilts was inspired by Japanese and British influences. At the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia in 1876, Americans fell in love with asymmetrical designs found in Oriental art. Among other things, the almost ten million visitors to the Exposition viewed decorative arts from Japan, including table china with a crackled glaze. Collective thought attributes the term "crazy quilt" to that "crazed" china. (Contrary to a report in The Carpet Trade and Review, published in the late 1880s, crazy quilting was not invented in an English "madhouse" by someone who was mentally challenged or who was trying to act "crazy" in the sense that we know the word today).
In addition to the Japanese influence, the Victorian Aesthetic Movement in England also had an impact in the United States. John Ruskin and William Morris both had a hand in creating certain ideals, which included the notion that a woman's place was in the home and that her duty was to provide comfort, elegance and pleasure for her family. Part of this domestic bliss was to be accomplished by taking needle in hand to do "fancywork." Indeed, a gentleman whose wife was tidily stitching at home could feel a sense of accomplishment, for such an example of domestic tranquility was proof that he was a sufficient provider!
An Example of a Painted Crazy Quilt Block
Decorative Touches
Finishing schools and female seminaries prepared young girls for their later duties as wives by teaching them needle arts and decorative painting. We can see the direct result of these lessons in theorem painting by looking at the painted velvets and silks contained in some old crazy quilts.
Before long, many additional decorative elements were added to crazy quilts: surface embroidery, photo transfers, campaign ribbons, writing with ink, and symbolic stitches with special meaning for the quiltmaker (such as three interlocking rings representing the virtues of truth, love and friendship--an Odd Fellows Society symbol). While the use of photos on crazy quilts was not widespread, a few historic examples have survived, such as a quilt now found in Alabama, which features many photos of Civil War heroes. The reasons for making crazy quilts were as varied as the reasons quilters have today. Some were friendship quilts, while others served as mourning quilts, sometimes with the symbol of a weeping willow stitched onto the surface. In one instance, a man made a crazy quilt for his fiancee's trousseau.
Although dates can often be found on crazy quilts, one cannot assume too much unless further information is provided about the quiltmaker. Sometimes a number of different dates appear on a single quilt and it remains unclear if such dates represent births, weddings deaths or other important events.
Fabric Choices
The quilters of long ago used whatever materials they had on hand. Most quilters today use 100 percent cotton fabrics, but in the late 1800s, the average quilter had easy access to silk. Pieces of silk (usually yellow bands) were given with cigar purchases, and beautiful little pieces of printed silk with butterflies, svelte ladies or other motifs were provided as premiums in cigarette packages. Advertisements for crazy quilt remnant batches even appeared in newspapers and ladies' magazines. Furthermore, many old crazy quilts were the work of dressmakers, who had ready access to fine fabrics and knew how to work with them.
Cotton/Rayon Crazy Quilt, circa 1940, Collected in Vermont
The Holmes family heirloom crazy quilt, pictured at the beginning of this article, is an exceptional example of the use of hand embroidery and fancy fabrics. The embroidered date of 1884 is the year that grandmother Homes was married. The family speculates that this quilt might have been a wedding gift made by another relative. Measuring 73" square, this quilt features a handmade lace called guipure, made with a netting needle. The lace lays atop a red ruffle of cotton sateen. The quilt which originated in Maine was pieced over paper, and silkateen thread was used for the decorative stitches. Some of the many silk pieces of cloth could have come from mail order sources, popularly advertised at the time. The overall style of the quilt is that of a central medallion, with a unit of nine squares forming the center. The use of bits of yellow fabric throughout helps the eye to travel around the surface of the quilt, thereby imparting an impression of unity. One could spend hours looking at all of the intricacies of this quilt.
Exceptions to fancy crazy quilts are those using rurally-made wool or cotton, which were indeed intended to provide warmth. Unlike their city cousins such quiltmakers did not have access to silk, satin, taffeta, velveteen or other dressmaking fabrics. One example of a cotton crazy quilt is one that was collected in Vermont. That unadorned quilt made circa 1940 consists of floral, bird, and geometric prints with a few pieces of rayon added for good measure. (Rayon is made using a binder to combine wood pulp and cotton linters, and actually is considered a "natural" fabric. The utilitarian version of a crazy quilt has thick batting, is tied, and would have indeed been a warm addition to any farmhouse during a drafty winter.
Durings the period of time I have been examining old quilts, I have only seen one machine-quilted crazy quilt--quilted in the ditch using a treadle sewing machine, reportedly. The quilt was made by someone of French Canadian descent, and was seen in New Hampshire.
Most crazy quilts are not considered true quilts because they are not layered. They fall into the same category of "non-quilts" as yo-yo quilts, cathedral window quilts, and biscuit (or puff) quilts.
Not surprisingly, many of the crazy quilts made during Victorian times haven't found a place in modern homes. They have disintegrating silks that literally fall apart before your eyes. Why? In order to charge more for silk, merchants of the day weighted the fabric by soaking it in tin salts or other metal salts. Of course, no one at the time gave any thought to the long term effects this practice would have. The result we see today in quilts containing these silks is shattering and fraying fibers. For this reason, some of these old silk quilts are not desirable for purchase--in fact, they are just about the only antique quilts that you can acquire which will likely decrease in value over time.
Critically Unacclaimed
Over the years, crazy quilting has not been without its critics. Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr., a psychiatrist who loved Baltimore Album quilts, wrote a book titled Old Quilts (self-published in 1948), Dr. Dunton came to the conclusion that quilting was very therapeutic and could be beneficial for "nervous ladies." However, at the end of his book, the good doctor strongly states, "Of that dreadful monstrosity, the so-called crazy quilt, the less said the better. It should sink into well-deserved oblivion." On a similar note, in 1884, Harper's Bazaar was convinced that the making of crazy quilts represented a petty aim of "misdirected energy and perseverance." By 1887, the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, a popular journal of the time, found "the time, patience, stitches, and mistakes the crazy quilt represents...too awful for words."
In spite of objections by the popular press, crazy quilting flourished in the Victorian age, a time when young ladies were clamoring for each other's scraps of fabric, according to well-known author Penny McMorris. Like any other quilt, a crazy quilt is a reflection of the quiltmaker's needlework skills and the materials available to her at the time. Add to that equation the level of education she attained, her social status, and her reason for making the quilt. In any old piece of needlework, we can tell a lot from the surface just by looking at the workmanship, types of stitches used, and any additional elements. And, like all quilts, crazy quilts reflect a part of someone's life, her emotional commitment to the task, and her quest toward individual expression.
Just as with cars, there are the Cadillacs of crazy quilts and the old junkers. Some are quite ornate, and some suffer from drabness. The crazy quilt shown in the photo (top right) is something I believe to be the work of a child just learning to sew, although it is curious to note that the back of the quilt is 100 percent silk. The simple embroidery stitches are various colors, but the quilt itself was tied with black floss. The stitches look to be the work of a beginner. The basic construction also probably reflect that of a child. Of course, because the quilt was never documented when it was made, we will never solve the mystery of exactly who the quiltmaker was or why the quilt was sewn.
Children's Project?
In The Witches Handbook by Malcolm Bird (St. Martin's Press, May 1987), a book for children, the following information is shared:
"The crazy quilt is simple -- it needs no pattern and a very random selection of fabrics. Place a sheet on the floor, then fly into a rage. Cut up all the fabric in pieces and hurl (them) into the air. Begin in one corner of the sheet and hemming each edge as you go, overlap all the bits of fabric until the quilt is done." (Information sent to me by a reader on February 2004. Thanks, Sukie.) By the way, when I checked the price of this out-of-print book, there were only three copies left and the least expensive one costs $89.00!
Antique Crazy Quilt with silk backing, possibly made by a child.
Close-up of Victorian Crazy Quilt, possibly made by a child.
Notice the appliquéd fabric with a morning glory, and the embroidered bee.
Crazy Quilting Today
Althought crazy quilting remains a technique adoroed by some and abhorred by others, it is again finding much interest among 21st century quilters. Currently we have adapted the old ways of crazy quilting to more modern methods and uses. More than ever, there are wonderful embellishments available, patterns galore for use in making crazy quilted gift items, decorations and clothing, and many new fibers for hand and machine stitching including metallic, rayon and silk threads, as well as variegated and overdyed flosses.
Paper-piecing is being translated to this medium, as well as printed muslin foundations. The lure of crazy quilting provides the opportunity to make
one-of-a-kind items using one's own imagination. With all of the lovely embroidery stitches on computerized sewing machines, one can easily adapt machine techniques to embellish today's crazy quilted projects.
And so we have come full circle. A technique that was so in vogue in the late nineteenth century has been rediscovered years later, but has undergone a face lift in the process. Today, we can thread our needles and choose our fabrics from a vast selection of materials, but the old ways can still be appreciated as we celebrate the richness of our crazy quilting legacy.
Portions of this article previously appeared in The Quilter magazine, November 2001.
Additional Articles, On This Site, About Crazy Quilts:
Louisiana Crazy Quilt Block: a quilt block with a commemorative ribbon that led to an investigative research project.
Crazy Quilts in Miniature: Ideas and Techniques: This is a file with lots of photos and ideas to inspire you to make your own crazy quilt, if only in miniature! Tips on personalizing, and framing are included.
Crazy Quilts to Wear: items of crazy quilted clothing from my personal collection
Crazy Quilt "Topper" - A Marseilles spread and a crazy quilt "topper" are featured, as well as some of the designs and fabrics in this crazy quilt made for a specific function in the 19th century.
La Rosa Blanca" - a Crazy Quilt block inspired by a verse of a poem by José Martí.
Additional Information:
To see additional examples of beautiful antique Crazy Quilts, visit Betsey Telford's site: Rocky Mountain Quilts at:
http://www.rockymountainquilts.com/files/antique_quilts_crazy.php
Crazy Quilt, circa 1890, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection:
http://tinyurl.com/2pk6y2
Piecework magazine, Vol. IV, Number 2, March/April 1996, "The Murder Quilt," by Gayle Neyman. pages 30-34. If you can borrow a copy of this magazine or request the pages from Interlibrary loan, you will be able to read about a most fascinating crazy quilt "made during a murder trial in 1915 (that) both illuminates and obscures the story of the trial.'
©Copyright 2001-2008. Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, New Hampshire. All Rights Reserved.
Questions/Comments? Write to: pat@quiltersmuse.com