QUILT INDEX RECORD
5-2-39
Where are the records for this quilt housed?
Illinois State Museum
Who documented this quilt?
Illinois Quilt Research Project; Illinois State Museum Collection
Illinois Quilt Research Project Registry Number:
Ie3--Kansas Quilt Project
Alternate inventory control number:
1987.51.1
Person filling out this form is:
Relative of quiltmaker
Ownership of this quilt is:
Public Museum, Library or Institution
Quilt owner's name:
Illinois State Museum
Date or year made:
1891
Name of the group that made the quilt:
Virginia Presbyterian Church ladies
Quiltmaker's country:
United States
How did the owner get the quilt?
Gift
How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?
Made quilt blocks or part of quilt top
Why was the quilt made? Was it made for a special occasion?
Fundraising
Where the quilt was made, city:
Virginia
Where the quilt was made, state:
Illinois (IL)
Where the quilt was made, country:
United States
Anything else we should know about this quilt? (i.e. customs, stories):
Women wrote to well-known people of the time and asked for scraps of fabric from their clothes or money to be used in buying fabric and materials for use in the quilt. Women in the church sewed the patches into crazy blocks, and donor's grandmother helped to put it together. Quilt was auctioned off in 1891 for $1000. Mr. and Mrs. John Stimpson purchased the quilt. He was in the lumber business and in 1902 they moved to Kansas and took the quilt with them. A grandson returned the quilt to Illinois in 1987. A book accompanies the quilt to identify the individual donors of the numbered patches--including Mrs. Gen. Grant, Mrs. Cleveland, Mrs. Hayes, and Mrs. Harrison.
List other materials available about this quilt. This may include oral history, articles, additional photos or publications, etc.
Newspaper article (Jacksonville, Sept. 3, 1967) gives details of history of quilt and is in Museum's files.
Date owner signed the form:
1987
Pattern name; used by owner or by maker:
Crazy
How was the inscription marked?
Embroidery
When was the quilt started?
1886
Date provided by maker/owner:
1886-91
Date estimated by IQRP:
1886-91
Who estimated the quilt's date?
Jan Wass, Curator
Further information concerning dates:
documented in book about it's making
Time period:
1876-1900
Length:
74
Width:
60
Block size:
16
Format:
Finished quilt
Piecing techinques used to make the quilt top:
Hand Piecing; Machine Piecing; Foundation Piecing
Stitches used to apply motifs:
Blocks were machine sewn together, batting is between top and foundation fabric. Embroidered flowers, attached velvet leaves, painted landscape on silk in center.
Construction (top):
Block pattern
Arrangement of quilt blocks:
Straight
Number of full blocks; pieced, appliqued, and plain:
9
Fabric; fibers:
Silk
Describe the fibers or fabrics in the quilt top:
velvet, satin, brocade
Predominant colors (top):
Green
Overall color scheme:
Multicolor
How are the layers held together?
Not quilted
Spacing of quilt blocks:
Side by side
Describe the borders:
Single olive-green velvet border, mitered, handsewn.
Binding and edge treatment:
Edges turned in/ no separate binding
Shape of edge:
Straight
Shape of corners:
Straight
Filler:
Cotton
Thickness:
Thin (Less than 3/16?)
Surface decoration:
Embroidery; Painting; Attachments (beading, charms, buttons, etc)
How many pieces of fabric were used to make the quilt back?
3
Backing; fiber content:
Silk
Description of the back:
Pre-quilted with diamond grid by machine
Backing; fabric:
Same fabric used throughout; Solid/plain
Backing; width of pieces (in inches):
22
Backing; color:
Red
Condition:
Good/moderate use
Describe specific damage to the quilt:
Disintegration of fabric
Inscription:
Other
Describe the type of inscription:
Numbers linking patches to famous people
What is inscribed on the quilt?
Mrs. Cleveland
Inscription: front/back?
on back
Describe where the inscription was found:
on one ribbon
Access and copyright information:
Restricted
Copyright holder:
Illinois State Museum
The quilt was made to be used for:
Decorative throw
Cite this Quilt
Virginia Presbyterian Church ladies. Crazy. 1891. From Illinois State Museum, Illinois Quilt Research Project; Illinois State Museum Collection. Published in The Quilt Index, https://quiltindex.org/view/?type=fullrec&kid=5-2-39. Accessed: 03/29/24