Crazy Quilts Were Way for Women to Decorate Home

By Esther Nunley

Original Publish Date: September 10, 2022

Random shapes sewn together in blocks in a way that appears to make a quilt look a little jumbled or erratic is not what it seems. These quilts are called crazy quilts. They are actually created using a planned design sometimes taking years to complete.

We don’t know too much about who made the quilts we have and whose home they were a part of but we do know some of the history that made these quilts so popular.

It was during the Victorian Era, a time when everyone was influenced by Queen Victoria and her husband Phillip. The influence affected everything from tableware to furniture. It was a time of industrialization with many new inventions and growth in the textile industry. Influence to American women came through the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia in 1876, which had displays of English embroidery, Japanese silk works and other art work that complimented the home.

Women started to decorate the home using patchwork. As a result, crazy quilts became another way to decorate the home. These vintage quilts are considered the “woman’s art statement on the wall.”

As time went on, silk manufacturers sold kits of scrap silk that women used to create the quilts. Also, silk could be found wrapped around bundles of cigars and tucked into cigarette paper packages as gifts for women. Women also used old clothing and pieces left over from other quilts. Magazines would feature iron-on, traced, or transfer patterns. Later on, fabric manufacturers printed whole cloth that imitated the crazy patchwork.

The crazy quilt popularity faded away in the early 1900s, when women started making utilitarian quilts again. However, it is said that with all sorts of new embellishments available in today’s market that quilts similar to the vintage crazy quilt are being created by quilters, but instead of the industrial era influence, they are creating these quilts as valued artwork.

The design and the embellishments for each quilt is unique. No two are the same as there was no standard pattern followed. Many women exchanged fabric pieces to use in their own quilt. Decorations can include buttons, ribbons, lace, beads, and embroidery thread. One or two strand embroidery thread with a rainbow of colors serve as a way to hold the pieces together. Fancy stitches using embroidery thread enhance the quilt and become its sharpest statement adding to its uniqueness. Many of these quilts have no backing and those that had it did not have the batting because they were meant for décor.

Memories were cherished through the design of the quilt. One of the quilts, I will call the Hillyer quilt, in our display is named a “Friendship Crazy Quilt” because it contains several different names embroidered on the pieces which most likely were collected and preserved among family or friends for an unknown amount of time. It appears to be from the Hillyer family with names of Mrs. Horace Hillyer and Mrs. Jas Hillyer, signed using some kind of marker. However, the name E. Stothers is embroidered into the pieces of the quilt. Also embroidered are the names Minnie, Carrie, EB, K.V., H.I.M.N. and N. It could also mean that the signatures were the ones who contributed to the quilt. It is unknown why two of the signatures are not embroidered.

The other quilt is from the Mary Haskin family. You will find a selection of nature in this one. It also appears to be similar to a friendship quilt as it is also personalized with names and initials. There is a butterfly, horse, owl, rooster, and flowers embroidered on the pieces. There is also a marriage date with embroidered initials “JWK CML married Dec. 11, 99.” In both quilts you will find fabric pieces of all sizes from silk, velvet, cotton blends and wool plains. There are patterns, solids, plaids, ribbed and striped fabrics, and colors of green, brown, orange, red, and blue. There is also a small American Flag which is fun to look for. One of the quilts has a backing of muslin fabric and is bound on three sides. Both quilts are sewn by hand.

We have many crazy quilts in our quilt collection and a few are written about in our own quilt book, “Stories Among the Threads” by Suzanne Hill McDowell and Mary McFee Alton. It is available in our gift shop along with many other local writings.