Title: Holy Bible Coverlet
Artist(s): Maker Unknown
Dimensions: 70 1/2" x 73"
Date Made: ca. 1892-95
Place Created: Possibly made in Pennsylvania
Collection: Great Lakes Quilt Center/Michigan State University Museum, #2001:160.4,
Deborah Harding Redwork Collection
Photo Credit: Fumio Ichikawa

The format of the "Holy Bible Coverlet" mimics a Crazy quilt, a style popular during the same period as Redwork. A Herringbone stitch, know during the late nineteenth century as a Featherstitch, creates the appearance of individual sections, thus creating the look of a Crazy quilt. In contrast to Redwork quilts that utilized one color, one fabric, and only a few stitches, Crazy quilts typically showcased a variety of decorative stitches on a range of fabrics including silks, satins, and velvets.

Rendered on the Bible in the quilt's center is a passage from Revelations 14:13: "Blessed Art the Dead, Which Die in the Lord." Does this passage imply the quilt was made as a memory quilt honoring someone who had died? An examination of the images depicted offer clues, but the quilt's provenance is not known.

Several of the quilt's embroidered designs reflect the ingenuity of its maker who used images found in advertisements for products such as Cuticura Soap, Imperial Granum, and Cod Liver Oil and probably tracings of items such as a teaspoon, keys, or a Bible.