|
|
QUILT
SCHOOL
CRAZY
QUILTS
&
CRAZY
QUILTING
A BRIEF HISTORY
After the Civil War, in the United States, many things were scarce.
It was essential to use everything to its fullest. Waste became a
bad word.
From this practical necessity emerged a new kind of quilting, which
we call Crazy Quilting. In simplest terms Crazy Quilting aims to
use every scrap of fabric. Many different quilting methods and
techniques were used in Crazy Quilting, but the most common feature
characterizing a Crazy Quilt is its random use of different fabrics
(satins, velvets, laces, cottons, wools) and the embellishment of
the quilt with fancy stitching, laces, embroidery, and
embellishment.
In the oldest
Crazy Quilts we note random or irregularly shaped pieces of scrap
fabric laid out in a jig-saw puzzle appearance and sewn to each
other across the entire quilt. Pieces varied in size, shape, color,
and texture. Some larger pieces may be cut down and redistributed
to maintain a bit of random order.
In more recent
Crazy Quilts, the pieces are sewn onto a foundation or backing
material much like paper piecing today in the traditional quilt
block style. The foundation was often made of sackcloth or other
inexpensive fabric. On to this foundation (often in blocks)
cottons, wools, linens, and silks were accompanied with ornate
fabrics like velvet, satins, and brocades. Often pieces or remnants
from special event items were added as remembrances. These included
such items as wedding veil, dress, uniform, or other item of
sentimentality.
The Centennial
Exposition 1876
In 1876, the United States celebrated its first Centennial. The
Declaration of Independence was signed July, 4, 1776, and the nation
had withstood all manner of threat and assault. It was still One
Nation in spite of a savage Civil War. As part of this Centennial
celebration a huge exposition was held in Philadelphia simply knows
as the Centennial Exposition.
People from around the world flocked to the celebration. From
Japan, China, and the orient, came displays of elaborate oriental
art. Americans loved it. It is estimated that some ten million
visitors visited the Japanese Exhibition.
One of the highlights of the Japanese exhibit, were beautifully
decorated tableware known as “crazed china”. These dishes were
decorated with elaborate crackeled glaze finish yielding vivid
asymmetrical designs. Some authorities surmise that the term “Crazy
Quilt” derives from the similar appearance in the “crazed china”.
The influence of the Centennial Exposition, is unmistakable. Within
months a frenzy of Crazy Quilting emerged all across America.
In 1887, the Cultivator And
Country Gentleman made reference to an embroidered friendship
cushion that displayed a crazy random, asymmetrical needlework
pattern. The article states, “You will think it a ‘crazy” cushion
indeed!” This was one of the first published references to needle
work described as crazy.
An
alternate explanation can be found in a report published in a carpet
industry periodical some ten years later. In this story, the rise
of Crazy Quilting emerged from a British sanitarium when a deranged
patient started just sewing quilts in a crazy manner. While this
might appear humorous to some, it does not seem likely.
Simultaneous with the exposure to
Oriental Art forms, Americans were impressed with the elegance of
the Victorian Aesthetic Movement in England. The idea of the
English gentleman and Lady strongly appealed to people in the United
States.
John
Ruskin And William Morris
Two Englishmen contributed to this
set of the Victorian family ideals, John Ruskin and William Morris.
John Ruskin was a well known British art
critic and writer. His art, essays, and poetry depicted a society
with strong Victorian ideals and views of life as it should be.
He was at the pinnacle of his success and influence during the
1870’’ and 80’s yeilding a huge influence on thought in American.
 
John Ruskin (1819-1900) William Morris (1834-1896)
Like John Ruskin, William Morris was a social mover
and shaker – “a pioneer of the socialist movement”. As an English
writer and artist, his influence shaped a whole generation. He
helped found the British Arts and Crafts Movement. One of his
greatest contributions was the design of patterned wall papers and
fabrics.
This set of ideals is reflected in the popular notion of the time,
that a true gentleman provided security, and livelihood for the
family, while his Lady remained at home. Her responsibility
included creating a comfortable, elegant, pleasurable environment
for her family. As a wife and homemaker, it was her duty to insure
domestic bliss or tranquility. One the chief signs of this
achievement, was her fancy needlework or “fancywork”. Displays of
her handiwork, were also a sign that her husband must be a true
gentleman.
An European practice of sending children to finishing schools also
contributed to this influence. Imitating this practice, many
wealthy American families sent their daughters off to seminaries or
schools for training to become ladies. Public schools and private
schools taught needle arts as a vital part of their curriculums.
During this training, girls were taught a wide range of needle arts,
decorative skills, painting, and various other forms of art. With
the spread of artistic expression, needlework skills, and the status
achieved through them, came a wide range of enhancements to
ordinary quilts.
VICTORIAN ERA
During the Victorian era, 1876 to 1920’s, the Crazy Quilt became a
symbol of elegance, family values, and pride. All across America
in mansion, row house, and even log cabin, the home had to have its
own Crazy Quilt. These quilts were made into the usual blanket
style quilt, but were also widely used for decoration as well as
practical applications. It was quite common to find piano covers,
sofa covers, throws, comforters, and other applications. It was
customary to place a Crazy Quilt strategically on top of, beside, or
draped over fine furniture. Priscilla Schrock writes a poem
reminiscing about her Grandmother’s Parlor with a Crazy Qult draped
over a favorite chair. She writes, “A guilt full of pictures, seen
flying above… made with purples and reds and colors so bright…”
CRAZY QUILT MASTERPIECE
One might well
expect, a woman to work on her “ordinary” quilts for practicality
into the dim hours of candle light or beside a fireplace at the end
of her long day. She would save pieces, scraps, odds and ends for
use in her special creation. When she worked on her Crazy Quilt, it
was like a special way to express her inner talents. One might
well describe Crazy Quilting as the lady’s masterpiece quilt. This
quilt deserved her very best efforts and would be the focus of her
prime time efforts.
By the 1880’s the embellishments on
Crazy Quilts became increasingly graphic as well as ornate. They
often became the means to tell stories, record family histories,
celebrate weddings, births, and other important events. Also known
as Crazy Patchwork, this phenomenal art form reached its heights in
the late 1880’s, but continued to be popular through the 1920’s.
Due to the nature of a Crazy Quilt, it offered the quilter a rare
and exciting way to display her skills. The needlework skills
displayed became a statement of great pride. The use of silks,
satins, and brocades thoroughly embellished with elaborate stitching
became the art form of the period. In some circles, the Crazy Quilt
became a symbol of leisure and grace even prosperity. Crazy Quilts
were popular at county fairs and special showings to highlight the
woman’s needle art skills. The Crazy Quilt became a status symbol
for the whole family.
What may have started out as a frugal effort to use every piece of
scrap fabric, gradually became a dynamic art form in itself. While
many Crazy Quilts were actually only quilt tops, lacking batting, or
a backing fabric; they evolved from being practical everyday items
to becoming show pieces. Surface embroidery, ribbons, special
stitches, even photo transfers were added.
CHAMPIONS & CRITICS
Newspapers, magazines, and especially publications
for women expressed their opinions about Crazy Quilting quite
vigorously. Some encouraged Crazy Quilting. Several textile houses
and merchants even offered collections of random mixed fabrics and
embellished items for easy use by Crazy Quilters.
Crazy Quilting like almost
everything else that becomes popular, had its critics and nay
sayers. Dr. William Rush Dunton, Jr.( psychiatrist) writes, "Of
that dreadful monstrosity, the so-called crazy quilt, the less said
the better. It should sink into well-deserved oblivion."
A variety of magazines and other circulars joined the disdain for
the Crazy Quilt. The basic position was one of rejecting the petty
desire of women to gain approval through gaudy displays of
idleness. Some argued that all the embellishment work was a waste
of time for not good reason.
Why were Crazy Quilts
made?
Every conceivable
reason. Friendship, memory, trousseau, and a hundred others. Some
were made for warmth like other quilts or comforters, while others
were made purely for decorative or ornamental purposes.
Most quilts today
are made of 100% cotton and it is often called quilting cotton.
Crazy Quilts, however, are different. In keeping with the
traditions dating back to the 1880’s, Crazy Quilts utilize a wide
range of fabrics. Indeed, if it is fabric or even like fabric, it
may be used in a Crazy Quilt.
Over
time some of the Crazy Quilts have suffered decay due to the
vulnerability of certain fabrics such as silk. The way fabrics were
processed often led to fraying fibers, rot, and decay when exposed
to wear, sunlight, or moisture.
Antique Crazy Quilts may
actually lose some of their value due to decay unless extreme
measures are take to preserve them.
Traditional Methods of Crazy Quilting
Several different methods were used
in Crazy Quilting. Generally, skills and techniques used in many
other kinds of quilting are brought together in a free for all
approach. Two basic methods were used: fabric pieces sewn to each
other with no foundation fabric, and fabric pieces sewn onto a
foundation fabric usually in blocks and assembled.
If we step back in time and look
over the shoulder of early Crazy Quilters we might see something
like this. A frugal mother is diligently using every piece of scrap
fabric to make a warm blanket for her children. Randomly she
shapes, cuts, and pieces the bits of cloth together. Fabric was
expensive and precious. Worn parts were often patched and
repaired. Sometimes there was no money available for batting or
quilt filling. An old blanket by be reused in this way. Sometimes
odd pieces are sew onto a foundation piece of fabric much like
modern paper piecing. To make the quilt look better, the seams were
decorated and embellished. It did not matter what kind of fabric
was going to be used, just use every bit. The Crazy Quilt is in a
sense an art form born out of necessity and perhaps even some
desperation.
The amount of embellishment enjoyed an ebb and flow.
The 1180’s produced some of the most ornate Crazy Quilts every
made. Gradually, there developed a somewhat simpler approach to
Crazy Quilting using every day fabrics and less embellishment.
CRAZY QUILTING
DEFINITION, RULES, & PRINCIPLES
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia states, “The term "crazy
quilting" is often used to refer to the textile art of crazy
patchwork and is sometimes used interchangeably with that term.
Crazy quilting does not actually refer to a specific kind of
quilting (the needlework which binds two or more layers of fabric
together), but a specific kind of patchwork. Crazy quilts rarely
have the internal layer of batting that is part of what defines
quilting as a textile technique.”
Patchwork as we commonly think of it uses carefully
predetermined usually symmetrical designs with pieces of fabric
carefully arranged. Crazy Quilting or crazy patchwork , however,
avoids rigid predetermined designs in favor of a more free flowing
random often asymmetrical pattern often appearing almost haphazard.
Both patchwork and Crazy Quilting may use a base or foundation
fabric, but Crazy Quilting may not always use foundation. If you
are making a Crazy Quilt and including stretchy fabrics, it is a
good idea to use a foundation fabric to maintain block integrity.
Sometimes part of a crazy quilt is haphazard while other parts are
placed in a planned pattern. A common example of this the placement
of patches in a fan pattern.
From this and other similar definitions, we discover what Crazy
Quilting is and is not. Crazy Quilting is a free flowing expression
of color, texture, shapes, and forms. There are no rules. Any
pattern is ok, and none is wrong. Crazy Quilting embraces the
widest variety of fabrics, stitches, techniques, threads, beads,
buttons, pieces, and stuff imaginable. There is no improper mix of
stitches, threads, colors, textures or any other element.
Everything is permitted. Anything goes.
NO RULES!
CAN NOT GO
WRONG!
ANYTHING GOES!
WIDEST VARIETY
POSSIBLE!
Crazy Quilting is not
the same old quilt stuff. It is not restrictive expression. It is
not rule bound.
Crazy Quilting may
draw from a hundred different sewing and quilting techniques and
patterns to freely if even randomly express the beauty and wonder
of fabric and thread.
CRAZY
QUILTING TODAY
Crazy Quilting is a medium of its
own. It is distinctly different from other forms of quilting. In
recent years, Crazy Quilting has experienced a huge resurgence. Now
with the easy of machine quilting, there are virtually not limits to
the creative potential of Crazy Quilting.
The Crazy Quilting remains a medium
loved by some and hated by others. The old ways are giving way to
exciting modern methods and applications. While it was once all
sewn by hand, the advent of the modern sewing machine with hundreds
of decorative stitches gives Crazy Quilting a big come back.
Today the availability of specialty
trims, embellishment materials, and machine embroidery has
revolutionized Crazy Quilting. The potential for creating gift
items, clothing items, decorating items, and other items is
virtually limitless. Today we have better fabrics, threads, and
materials than ever before. Today we have a wide array of threads
like cotton, poly, metallic, rayon, and silk threads. Modern
resources are a boon to Crazy Quilting, and Crazy Quilting is an
ideal way to express our creativity utilizing the greatest variety
of materials.
Among the
contemporary leaders promoting Crazy Quilting are Judith
Baker Montano a well known fabric designer, Josephine Ruth Paine,
Eileen Johnson, Ann Johnson, Penny Mc Morris, Dixie Haywood and
Janet Haigh, J. Marsha Michler, and Carole Samples. You will find
many books, magazine articles, and websites dedicated to Crazy
Quilting.
A few of the internet resources
available include:
Quiltropolis Chat List at:
http://www.quiltropolis.com;
Crazy Quilt Central at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/6531/
Vintage Vogue at http://www.vintagevogue.com;
The Kirk Collection for Crazy Quilt at
www.kirkcollection.com/;
The "Quilting Show to End All Quilting Shows" at http://www.aqs.com.
Today most Crazy Quilts are machine
pieced and quilted. The basic principles of Crazy Quilting for
today are very simple: Crazy Quilting is a free
flowing expression of color, texture, shapes, and forms. There are
no rules. Any pattern is ok, and none is wrong. Crazy Quilting
embraces the widest variety of fabrics, stitches, techniques,
threads, beads, buttons, pieces, and stuff imaginable. There is no
improper mix of stitches, threads, colors, textures or any other
element. Everything is permitted. Anything goes. Just make it
beautiful.
POSSIBILITIES
Crazy Quilting may be expressed in a traditional
blanket style quilt or in a hundred different quilt projects.
Whatever you can imagine, you can achieve! Remember, anything
goes! Crazy Quilting offers unlimited possibilities for one of a
kind creative products and projects.
Here is a short list of some of
the possible Crazy Quilting projects:
Christmas Projects
(gift bags, ornaments, stockings, tree skirts, wreathes,);
Practical Projects (baby bibs, bags, book covers, clutch
purses, evening bags, exercise mats, needle holders, pin cushions,
purses, sewing pouches, sachets, tote bags, card bags, treasure
bags);
Clothing Projects (bodices, capes, collars, cuffs,
doll clothes, jackets, pockets, scarves, stocking caps, vests,
wedding dresses, appliqué);
Household Items (basket lid tops, chair covers, coasters and
trivets, eye glass cases, landscape pictures, picture frames,
pillows, pot holders, sofa covers, tea cozies, soft jewelry, teddy
bears, toys,)
When
considering your own Crazy Quilt, try to imagine all the different
possibilities for fabrics, ribbons, lace, threads, buttons, charms,
embroidered pieces, cords, photo transfers, etc. Collect all the
different items and get ready to quilt. Some of the other things
you will need include, a good sewing machine, sewing needles,
muslin, scissors, quilt binding, and batting if desired.
AUTHOR:
Donna Trumble is a professional designer, seamstress, author, sewing
educator, and sewing business owner. She leads several
Sewing Show And Tell groups in her stores guiding participants to
shop sewing machines and learn about sewing and quilting.
RESOURCE:
For more information on sewing show and tell groups, check out
"Sewing, The World's Greatest Hobby"
by Donna and David Trumble. And check out the local Sew And
Quilt Stores in Killeen, Temple, and Waco, Texas or at
www.sewandquiltstore.com.
|
