A colorful crazy quilt with numerous designs and motifs.

Images(7)

A detail of a patch embroidered with the date and another with pansy flowers.

A detail of a patch with a horseshoe, key, sword, scissors, and a horn.

A detail of a patch with two women conversing.

A detail of two patches featuring political figures.

Crazy Quilt

Maker Kathryn Armstrong , late 19th Century (American)

Maker Mame Armstrong Trevete , late 19th Century (American)

Date1885

MediumSilk, velvet, and cotton with silk embroidery

Dimensions77 1/2 × 66 1/2 inches (196.9 × 168.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Barbara Armstrong Church.

Object number2003.21

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CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextMary "Mame" Armstrong Trevett and Kathryn "Kate" Armstrong, who were sisters, created this quilt in their youth in Kent, Ohio. Crazy quilts were popular sewing projects among American women in the late 19th century. Unlike other quilts with pieces sewn in rigorous geometric patterns and color schemes, "crazy" quilts often incorporated a wider variety of fabrics in a range of shapes, assembled in a deceptively haphazard manner. Like many quilters in this genre, Trevett and Armstrong finished the pieces with embroidery, but their elaborate depictions of flowers, animals, and figures are especially rich. The quilt serves as a memento of their youth, with the date, special motifs, and political ribbons for figures like President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908). It also includes a possible self-portrait, with "M & K" stitched next to a depiction of two young women in 18th-century style clothing talking together, entitled "Gossip" on the other side.

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