Quilt, Crazy Quilt

Dateca. 1890

MediumSilks, cottons

Dimensions62 1/2 X 63 inches

Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2024.609.12

DescriptionSmall square "Crazy Quilt" composed of twenty-five blocks, each patched with multicolored silks, velvets, and cottons in various shapes and sizes, joined with fancy embroidery stitches including herringbone and feather stitch variations. The center of the quilt consists of a dark reddish-brown velvet appliqued with a wreath of silk ribbon flowers and embroidered silk and chenille flowers centered with embroidered initials, "M H." The surrounding patches are lavishly embroidered with appliqued flowers and outline stitch motifs that include appliqued and satin stitched flowers, including pansies and daisies, along with standing girls wearing calashes, an old woman with a cane, two people fishing from a bank, a girl with an umbrella, a girl in a rocking chair fanning herself, a child in a bath, frogs, butterflies, mice, and a large bird on a branch. One patch is a ribbon from cigars, reading "Reina Maria Victoria." The quilt is bound with a red ribbed ribbon, machine stitched to the edges, and tied at intervals with yellow threads to a backing of faded reddish- pink cotton sateen. A few patches are disintegrated or worn.Label TextQuilts embellished with odd-shaped patches and needlework came to be known as "Crazy Quilts." They were especially fashionable in the late nineteenth century and often used as decorative parlor throws. According to family history, the quilt was made by Cornelia Josephine Dickens Hughes (1848-1915) of Halifax County, Virginia and descended through the family.Mark(s)Inked tag stitched into corner reads "V.91.75.1"Provenanceca. 1890, Cornelia Josephine Dickens (Mrs. Eneas Jessie) Hughes [1848-1915] (Halifax, VA); date unknown to their daughter Mary A. L. Hughes (Mrs. Benjamin Peele) Fitcher [ca. 1878-?] (Halifax and Richmond, VA); date unknown to their Son Eneas Hughes Fitcher [ca. 1900-1959] (Richmond, VA); date unknown to their daughter Muriel Janet Fitcher (Mrs. William Howard) Crostic [1929-2004] (Richmond, VA); 1991 gift to Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2024 gift to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).