It's a Crazy, Crazy World

Guest Author - Tamara Bostwick

Webster's Dictionary defines crazy quilting as "a patchwork quilt without a design".

In the past, during times of hardship in America, it was necessary to save every scrap of fabric and reuse it in another form, generally by piecing them into a quilt top that could then be used as a bed covering. This was also common during the late 20s and 30s in the United States as Americans were recovering from the Depression. Some of the scraps were put together into a patterned quilt like the one I discuss in my previous article "A Remembrance From the Past", but often were haphazardly pieced onto backing blocks until the block was covered. When enough blocks had been completed, they would be assembled into a quilt top and finished.

This may have been the usual method in the early days of piecing scraps, but during the Victorian era, the term "crazy quilt" took on another meaning after the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Japanese art was prominently displayed and became quite the rage and greatly influenced the esthetic of the Victorian age. There is a marked difference between Eastern and Western art and the asymmetry and motifs of the oriental style became very popular during the final decades of the nineteenth century. Of particular interest were the ceramics that had a glaze that was "crazed" or covered with random cracks. Combine this with the affluence enjoyed by the upper class in America during the Industrial Revolution and the greater availability of expensive fabrics with the increasing automation of fabric production in mills and you have the development of "crazy" quilting as an art form.

During this time, those women who were lucky enough to be well to do and were able to hire help to clean and cook had a great deal of spare time and needlework was considered an "appropriate" use of that time. Also, they were sufficiently well heeled to be able to buy silks, satins and velvets for use in their projects. Not only were the fabrics ornate but the seams and fabric pieces were heavily embellished with embroidery. There are some beatiful examples in private collections and in museums. Unfortunately, fabric is a fragile substance, especially silk, and they are difficult to preserve.

Crazy quilting was at it's height of popularity during the 1880's and began to wane by 1910 and by 1920 crazy quilting had become a relic of a more frivolous age. The teens were a difficult and turbulent decade: the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the advent of the first World War in 1914, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911, the suffrage movement that began in 1910. Oh yes, times were changing. Interest in crazy quilting died out and only recently has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as evidenced by sites on the internet and newly published books about the art. Come back soon and read about new trends in crazy quilting including embellishments and new applications of the method in clothing and decorative home accents.

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