Crazy Quilt Party

a fictional story by Patricia Cummings, with roots in history

Crazy Quilt Party

Mehitabel, Joseph, and Agnes (fictitious names) enjoy a Crazy Quilt party, circa 1885.

I purchased the photo seen above on eBay. Apparently, a colorized version of this same photo is in the hands of the Minnesota Historical Society and can be seen in Cindy Brick's book, Crazy Quilts.

Once upon a time, there were two sisters, Mehitabel and Agnes. They lived during the age of Queen Victoria of England, a time when making “Crazy Quilts” was the latest style in America. Fashionable women, like them, would have no part of those "inferior" cotton quilts that were stitched with abandon in the 1870s. At that time, yards of cloth would be purchased at the general store, and it would all be cut into pieces, and sewn back together into quilt blocks. These would be assembled to make a warm bed cover.

Some “crazy” people even tried to see just how many pieces they could put into one quilt. One lady was so tired from piecing 1/4" diamonds into hexagons, 82,000 pieces to be exact, she laid down and died. The quilt never did get finished and now it resides in a museum drawer. That is another story!

Yes, as ladies of fashion, these two ladies did not want to sew practical, utilitarian textiles. They desired fancy Crazy Quilts and derivative items to place around their homes. After all, every home in America possessed at least one crazy quilted object, at that time.

By piecing a “Crazy Quilt,” these ladies could recycle remnants of “fancy fabrics,” like silk, velveteen, and brocades. Sometimes, their pieces came from cloth remnants that their mother had saved in a scrap bag. Other times, they relied on scraps from their own dressmaking efforts.

Crazy Quilt block with painted flower

Crazy Quilt block in the collection of Patricia Cummings

They were known all about the town for their sewing skills. Why, even the minister’s wife herself had come calling, asking that some special dresses be made for the occasions she needed to attend. Her presence was valued, and she always wanted to look her very best.

So, the two seamstresses set about the task of creating a dress for funerals, weddings, and baptisms, so that Mrs. Sanborn could present an image of herself as the height of fashion. They assisted by helping her to look her best, and she was a very pretty woman. Best of all, they were able to keep the scraps from her fancy dresses which they recycled into new textiles.

With just one old treadle sewing machine between them, they had it placed in Agnes’ small parlor. In the photo seen above, the two women had already finished piecing their asymmetrical quilt blocks, and now they are busily embroidering the seams of their crazy patchwork creations.

Seeing the two ladies hard at work, Mehitabel’s husband, decided to bring out his guitar to serenade them. His hands were rough from working outside and, therefore, could never handle the fine silk threads needed for a project like theirs. He’d rather be chopping wood, anyhow, than attempting to quilt. That was women’s work!

In his deep, melodic voice, he sang some Stephen G. Foster tunes such as “Oh! Susanna,” and “My Old Kentucky Home.” He added a rendition of another Foster tune, “Old Folks at Home,” before turning to more quilt related tunes that he thought the womenfolk might like.

He was surprised when he did not succeed in pleasing them with those quilt songs. They only brought back memories of sitting around a frame, laboriously quilting large cotton bed quilts, by hand. The thought of competing with the others as to who could put in the finest, most even stitches was not a pleasant memory. Now, if Joseph only could have made up a song titled, “Crazy Quilt Rag,” perhaps they would have approved.

Nonetheless, the embroiderers thoroughly enjoyed some attention from Joseph, while they stitched. The time together was well spent, and repeated on subsequent occasions. Both of the sisters won ribbons for their crazy quilts at the local fair, an extra “reward” for taking the time to put endless stitches, of different kinds, and in many colors, along the edges of countless patches, just to be “in vogue.” After all, they had to keep up appearances!!!

~ The End ~

Read a poem from the period titled, “The Crazy Quilt,” and see many other files about crazy quilts on this website.