QUILT INDEX RECORD

12-8-7946

Who documented this quilt?

Michigan Quilt Project; Michigan State University Museum Collection

Where are the records for this quilt housed?

Michigan State University Museum

Michigan Quilt Project Number:

85.1093

If this quilt is owned by a museum, enter the accession number:

6782.1

Object label:

Crazy Quilt
Roe G.Van Deusen (designer) and
Lois Van Deusen Darcus (quiltmaker)
Elsie, Michigan
Designed 1885-1887, pieced and finished 1887
Collection of Michigan State University Museum acc.#6782.1

Essay:

The work done for Digging Into Data aims to classify certain categories of quilts to answer questions about authorship and enhance the metadata collected about the quilts. In the project’s initial phase, algorithms have been developed to classify quilts into two specific categories,“Crazy Quilts” and “Indigo Quilts,” and high performance computing has been utilized for processing power.

Owner's name for the quilt:

Crazy Quilt

Quilt top made by:

Darcus, Lois

If you are the quilt owner, how did you acquire this quilt?

Received as a gift

Where the quilt was made, city:

Elsie

Where the quilt was made, county:

Clinton

Where the quilt was made, state:

Michigan (MI)

Time period:

1876-1900

When was the quilt started?

1882

When was the quilt finished?

2/22/1887

Details about why the quilt was made:

Made by teenaged Lois VanDeusen for her father, Roe G. VanDeusen, whose initial appears at lower left.

Quilt is presently used as:

Museum collection

Quiltmaker's gender:

Female

Quiltmaker's city:

Elsie

Quiltmaker's county:

Clinton

Quiltmaker's state:

Michigan (MI)

Quiltmaker's maiden name:

Van Duesen

Quiltmaker's father's name:

Van Deusen, Roe

Number of children:

1

How many of the quiltmaker's children were boys?

1

This is a:

Finished quilt

How wide is the quilt?

65

How long is the quilt?

74

Shape of edge:

Straight

Overall color scheme:

Dark colors

What is inscribed on the quilt?

R

What is the date inscribed on the quilt?

FEB. 22, 1887

Method used to make the inscription:

Embroidery

Describe where the inscription was found:

Lower left hand corner

Number of quilt blocks:

30

Arrangement of quilt blocks:

Straight

Spacing of quilt blocks:

Side by side

Number of borders:

1

Fiber types used to make the quilt top:

Silk

Fabric types used to make the quilt top:

Velvet

Piecing techniques used to make the quilt top:

Hand Piecing

Embellishment techniques used to make the quilt top:

Embroidery

Describe the source of the pattern:

Roe G. VanDeusen, maker's father

Exhibitions where this quilt was displayed:

Michigan Quilts: A Celebration of 150 Years of Textile Tradition, East Lansing, MI, September 12-November 1, 1987, Kresge Art Museum, MSU; Michigan Quilts exhibit, Chicago Hilton and Towers, International Quilt Market and Festival, May 9-14, 1989.

Related items such as diaries, obituaries, wills, household inventories, or pictures of the quiltmaker:

Cultural Calendar, Michigan Woman: The Magazine for Influential Women, Sept/Oct 1987. Michigan Quilts (1987) book, figure 70 page 57. Great Lakes, Great Quilts (2001) book, page 7. Notebook of designs made by her father that she used to create motifs in the quilt. 6782.2

Publications (including web sites) where this quilt or maker was featured:

Biography of Roe Van Dusen from a family history called "Leaves From a Family Tree" by Marie Bates (1967).

Source of the information on this quilt:

Museum employee

Ownership of this quilt is:

Public- Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's name:

Michigan State University Museum

Quilt owner's city:

East Lansing

Quilt owner's county:

Ingham

Quilt owner's state:

Michigan (MI)

How was this quilt acquired?

Gift

Tell the story of how the quilt was obtained:

8-2-1988, Clarence and Jean Husted, donor

Describe anything about the history of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

He also included floral drawings in watercolor and pen and ink which he asked Lois to copy in embroidery. If the needlework copy wasn't perfect, he reportedly made her take it out and start over.

Access and copyright information:

Restricted

How did the quiltmaker participate in the creation of the quilt?

Made entire quilt

Describe anything about the design of the quilt that wasn't already recorded in a previous field:

The father designed the stitches, which he drew in a notebook entitled "Fancy Stitches for Crazy Work."

Copyright holder:

Michigan State University Museum