Crazy Quilt

In Danvers, in a bureau in our guest room in the mid-20th century, a colorful "Crazy Quilt" from the 19th century was folded and stored. 

My sister and I considered this quite a treasure. We liked to spread the quilt out and admire its features. 

The variety of fabric shapes and textures, colors, and decorative details fascinated us. Fancy embroidery along the seams added much to the interest, with many different styles of stitches and colors of thread. 

The shapes seemed random and crazy, but clearly there was an overall organization: 12 squares of similar size (approx. 13" x 13.5" each).

Who made this? When and where was it made?  We don't know, and didn't get (or don't remember) any answers from our parents. 

Now, in 2022, I am belatedly making an effort to learn more. 

Note the name "Puttman" stitched on a piece near the left edge. I don't know of any Puttman in our family (Putnam yes, but not Puttman).

I have taken these photos to share on this blog, hoping that some family members or other viewers might recognize it or be able to tell us more about it. 

[Click on an image to enlarge it. See more close-ups below.]

I'm happy that it is still so colorful – much as I remembered it from years ago.

The back side is one solid color, with white ribbons. There is no thick inner filling, nor any typical quilting stitches connecting the top and bottom. It is a thin, light "quilt". 

I've searched online for "crazy quilt" to see if that is a correct way to refer to such a quilt. I discovered a VERY helpful website hosted by the International Quilt Museum (University of Nebraska-Lincoln); they devote several pages to The Crazy Quilt Story.  Here's their first paragraph about "What is a Crazy Quilt?" 

The quintessential “high-style” Crazy quilt of the 1880s was a “parlor piece,” usually too small for use as a bedcover, and which included an array of irregularly-shaped patches cut from an astonishing range of luxurious fabrics, such as silks, satins, brocades, velvets, and ribbons. The patches were embroidered, embellished, or painted with various images from nature and popular culture, and their edges were covered with rows of decorative embroidery stitches. In broad terms, these are the elements that define the Crazy style.

That is a good description of our quilt, which measures 54" x 54" overall - smaller than this double bed on which I spread it today. 

See below for more close-ups...

Below are two more photos of the quilt, showing the 4 squares on the bottom left, and then the 4 squares on the bottom right. 

After taking these photos, I folded the crazy quilt and returned it to a bureau drawer, its usual resting place.