Crazy quilting

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Crazy quilt by Granny Irwin, Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Tennessee Crazyquilt-museumofappalachia.jpg
Crazy quilt by Granny Irwin, Museum of Appalachia, Norris, Tennessee

The term "crazy quilting" is often used to refer to the textile art of crazy patchwork and is sometimes used interchangeably with that term. Crazy quilting does not actually refer to a specific kind of quilting (the needlework which binds two or more layers of fabric together), but a specific kind of patchwork lacking repeating motifs and with the seams and patches heavily embellished. A crazy quilt rarely has the internal layer of batting that is part of what defines quilting as a textile technique.

Contents

Rebecca Palmer. Crazy Quilt, 1884. Silk, velvet. Brooklyn Museum Crazy Quilt, 1884.jpg
Rebecca Palmer. Crazy Quilt, 1884. Silk, velvet. Brooklyn Museum
Tamar Horton Harris North. "Quilt (or decorative throw), Crazy pattern". ~1877. 54
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1/2 x 55 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tamar Horton Harris North - Quilt (or decorative throw), Crazy pattern.jpg
Tamar Horton Harris North. “Quilt (or decorative throw), Crazy pattern”. ~1877. 54 12 × 55 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Embellishing

Crazy quilts differ from “regular” quilts in other ways as well. Because the careful geometric design of a quilt block is much less important in crazy quilts, the quilters are able to employ much smaller and more irregularly shaped pieces of fabric. In comparison to standard quilts, crazy quilts are far more likely to use exotic pieces of fabric, such as velvet, satin, tulle, or silk, and embellishments such as buttons, lace, ribbons, beads, or embroidery.

Crazy quilts range from carefree and relatively easy, to extremely labor-intensive. A Harper's Bazaar article from 1884 estimated that a full-size crazy quilt could take 1,500 hours to complete. [1]

History

Detail on a crazy quilt Crazy quilt - DPLA - 7bea659942383fbec9c8830e09f8030b (page 3).jpg
Detail on a crazy quilt

Crazy quilts became popular in the late 1800s, likely due to the English embroidery and Japanese art that was displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. American audiences were drawn to the satin stitches used in English embroidery, which created a painterly surface, which is reflected in many crazy quilts. The displays shown at the Japanese pavilion of silk-screened work and Japanese pottery with a cracked-glaze inspired the American audiences. Similar aesthetics began to show up in crazy quilts, including unique patterns, and stitching that resembled spider webs and fans. [2]

Crazy quilting rapidly became a national fashion amongst urban, upper-class women, who used the wide variety of fabrics that the newly industrialized 19th century textile industry offered to piece together single quilts from hundreds of different fabrics. Long after the style had fallen out of fashion amongst urban women, it continued in rural areas and small towns, whose quilters adopted the patterns of the urban quilts but employed sturdier, more practical fabrics, and dropped the earlier quilts' ornate embroidery and embellishment. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embroidery</span> Art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn

Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to stitch thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on hats, clothing, blankets, and handbags. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quilting</span> Process of sewing layers of fabric together to make a padded material

Quilting is the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. An array of stitches is passed through all layers of the fabric to create a three-dimensional padded surface. The three layers are typically referred to as the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material, and the backing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchwork</span> Form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design

Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes. These shapes are carefully measured and cut, basic geometric shapes making them easy to piece together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quilt</span> Bedcover made of multiple layers of fabric sewn together, usually stitched in decorative patterns

A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, and a woven back combined using the techniques of quilting. This is the process of sewing on the face of the fabric, and not just the edges, to combine the three layers together to reinforce the material. Stitching patterns can be a decorative element. A single piece of fabric can be used for the top of a quilt, but in many cases the top is created from smaller fabric pieces joined, or patchwork. The pattern and color of these pieces creates the design. Quilts may contain valuable historical information about their creators, "visualizing particular segments of history in tangible, textured ways".

<i>Sashiko</i> Traditional Japanese embroidery technique

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appliqué</span> Piece of textile ornament, or work created by applying such ornaments to a ground fabric

Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand stitching or machine. Appliqué is commonly practised with textiles, but the term may be applied to similar techniques used on different materials. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sewing</span> Craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread

Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and leather clothing using bone, antler or ivory sewing-needles and "thread" made of various animal body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patchwork quilt</span> Quilt with a design of pieces of fabric

A patchwork quilt is a quilt in which the top layer may consist of pieces of fabric sewn together to form a design. Originally, this was to make full use of leftover scraps of fabric, but now fabric is often bought specially for a specific design. Fabrics are now often sold in quarter meters. A "fat quarter" is one square meter folded into four and cut along the folds, thus giving a relatively square piece of fabric 50 cm on a side, as opposed to buying a quarter of a meter off the roll, resulting in a long thin piece that is only 25 cm wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean embroidery</span> Embroidery style of Korea

Korean embroidery techniques and artifacts have a long history, but there is the most evidence from the Joseon Dynasty, after the 14th century in Korea. This article talks about the history, styles, preservation, artists, and examples of screens, costumes, and domestic wares of this exacting and beautiful art form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of quilting</span>

The history of quilting, the stitching together of layers of padding and fabric, may date back as far as 3400 BCE. For much of its history, quilting was primarily a practical technique to provide physical protection and insulation. However, decorative elements were often also present, and many quilts are now primarily art pieces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embroidery of India</span> Any of the various styles of embroidery indigenous to India

Embroidery in India includes dozens of embroidery styles that vary by region and clothing styles. Designs in Indian embroidery are formed on the basis of the texture and the design of the fabric and the stitch. The dot and the alternate dot, the circle, the square, the triangle, and permutations and combinations of these constitute the design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straight stitch</span> Type of simple embroidery and sewing stitch

The straight or running stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric at a regular distance. All other stitches are created by varying the straight stitch in length, spacing, and direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawaiian quilt</span> Quilting style of the Hawaiian Islands

A Hawaiian quilt is a distinctive quilting style of the Hawaiian Islands that uses large radially symmetric applique patterns. Motifs often work stylized botanical designs in bold colors on a white background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nakshi kantha</span> Type of embroidered quilt

Nakshi kantha, a type of embroidered quilt, is a centuries-old Bengali art tradition of the Bengal region, notable in Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and part of Assam. The basic material used is thread and old cloth. Nakshi kanthas are made throughout Bangladesh, but the greater Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Bogra, Rajshahi, Faridpur and Jessore, Chittagong areas are most famous for this craft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corded quilting</span> Decorative quilting technique

Corded quilting is a decorative quilting technique popular from the late 17th through the early 19th centuries. In corded quilting, a fine fabric, sometimes colored silk but more often white linen or cotton, is backed with a loosely woven fabric. Floral or other motifs are outlined in parallel rows of running stitches or backstitches to form channels, and soft cotton cord is inserted through the backing fabric using a blunt needle and drawn along the quilted channels to produce a raised effect. Tiny quilting stitches in closely spaced rows fill the motifs and provide contrast to the corded outlines.

<i>Boro</i> (textile) Traditional Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched

Boro (ぼろ) are a class of Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched together. The term is derived from the Japanese term "boroboro", meaning something tattered or repaired. The term 'boro' typically refers to cotton, linen and hemp materials, mostly hand-woven by peasant farmers, that have been stitched or re-woven together to create an often many-layered material used for warm, practical clothing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese patchwork</span> Traditional Chinese patchwork

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of quilts</span>

The conservation and restoration of quilts refers to the processes involved in maintaining the integrity of quilts and/or restoring them to an acceptable standard so that they may be preserved for future generations. Quilts have been produced for centuries, as utilitarian blankets, decorations, family heirlooms, and now treasured museum collections objects. Quilts are three-layered textile pieces with a decorated top, a back, and a filler in the middle. The composite nature of these objects creates an interesting challenge for their conservation, as the separate layers can be made of different textile materials, multiple colors, and therefore, varying degrees of wear, tear, and damage.

<i>Tanmono</i> Traditional bolt of narrow-loom Japanese cloth

A tanmono is a bolt of traditional Japanese narrow-loomed cloth. It is used to make traditional Japanese clothes, textile room dividers, sails, and other traditional cloth items.

References

  1. "What Makes a Crazy Quilt?". The International Quilt Study Center & Museum. Archived from the original on 2015-04-12. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. Workt By Hand Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts Archived 2014-05-23 at the Wayback Machine . Edited by Katherine Morris. Brooklyn Museum. 2012.
  3. "The Idea of Fairyland". The International Quilt Study Center & Museum. Archived from the original on 2015-04-12. Retrieved 11 April 2015.

Sources

Examples of ways of combining patches in a crazy quilt:

Learn more about crazy quilt history:

Crazy quilt exhibitions and examples from museums:

Modern crazy quilting: