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Discover Mid-America - June 2005

Tips for recognizing quilt types

Detail of a crazy quilt(1870-`1880), Rochester, Vermont. (photo courtesy of Shelburne Museum, Vermont)

Interest in collecting antique quilts just keeps growing. Not only are there many odd names for patterns but quilt types as well. Since there is a vast difference in the prices for the various types, proper identification is a must. It also helps to date them. Among the most familiar types are Album, Crazy quilts, Log Cabin and Amish.

CLUES:

Trapunto quilting began in fourteenth-century Italy. In America it was done from 1800 thru the Civil war. Two layers of cloth were stitched together with a design.

Popular subjects were flowers and vines. Batting stuffing was used in the largest design areas to give it a raised look.

Crazy quilts are a good example of unusual names, based on the fact that they had no fixed design. However, their form and function has changed since they were first made in the American Colonies. These were made from whatever fabric scraps were on hand, fitted together like a picture puzzle.

As cloth became more available in the Colonies, the Crazy quilts became a thing of the past, usually discarded. The Crazy quilt of the 1870s was totally different, with its combination of everything from velvet to cotton, wool and silk.

Other fabrics used were plush, satin and linen. It was called the crazy patch quilt, with each block hand-sewn to a backing of coarsely woven material. Once sewn together they were connected with fancy stitchery in variously colored threads.

Collectors today look for examples with embroidered flowers, bugs and people as well as names. Even advertisements or pictures printed on satin as well as woven silk badges were used.

Among the most expensive quilts are those known as ALBUM quilts, made in Baltimore, Maryland between 1846 and 1854. The finest can sell for thousands of dollars.

The name album was taken from the then popular hobby of putting mementos into scrapbooks. The album quilt used the same idea with cloth squares. Each of the squares had a central motif such as an animal or a flowering tree.

Other subjects for the applique squares used identifiable Baltimore buildings, religious motifs and overall geometric patterns. What makes them so special is the intricate piecing and applique work. For the very special album bridal quilts, almost invisible, tiny stitches were used. Each square was supposedly made by a different friend of the bridge and autographed by the maker in India ink.

Log Cabin quilts are easily recognized since part of their designs always resemble the logs that were stacked in pioneer homes. As such they are symbolic of the actual log cabins. The center square is usually red, representing the placement of a fireplace or hearth. They were popular in the late 19th century.

Patriotic or Freedom quilts always surfaced in times of war or surrounding some historical event such as the 1876 Centennial. They used such symbols as the Stars and Stripes, American heroes and statesmen. The most popular symbol was the American bald eagle. For quilters commemorating the 1976 Bicentennial, the eagle was an important motif.

A most fascinating and lesser known type, is the Hawaiian (Kapa) quilt. It was a spinoff from missionaries’ patchwork. It was made from two whole pieces of material and appliqued in a free-style island motif, usually a single color on white.

Pattern designs included the breadfruit, turtles, ferns, the crescent moon and baskets of flower5s. Currently popular because of their bold colors and large geometric designs are Amish and Mennonite quilts. Printed fabrics were rarely used. Amish Crib quilts can be expensive when they come to market , not only because not many were made, but few have survived.

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