Quilt, Virginia Crazy

Date1888

MediumSilks, cottons; silk ribbon; wooden balls; paint; silk, chenille, and metallic embroidery threads

DimensionsOH 90" x OW 55 1/4" (229 x 140 cm)

Credit LineGift of Lelia E. Robertson

Object number1979.609.5

DescriptionThis is a rectangular crazy quilt consisting of 25 large blocks of pieced silks, velvets, and cottons of various shapes and types. The quilt is decorated with embroidery and fancy stitches, as well as painted decoration. Some sections bear initials or names of makers including, "LCI/age 81"; "H"; "ALN"; "Carrie"; "S.H."; "B"; "Sister"; "Should auld/acquaintance/be forgot--/Bettie"; "M C"; "Lucie Knight"; "S K B"; "L"; "A B D"; "'Old lady' Bill"; "C B"; "F. H."; "N P"; E B"; "A J B" "Belle"; "M"; and "Martha." The gold polished cotton backing consists of three strips and is machine quilted to a batting in an approximate one-inch diamond pattern. The throw is edged with a twisted cord of yellow chenille and maroon braid and eighteen tassels consisting of wooden balls covered in maroon and olive-green silk, which are sewn at four-inch intervals. (Three of these are missing.)

Stitches: buttonhole, chain, couching, fly and double fly, herringbone, knots, lazy daisy, long arm cross, outline, satin, straight, tied bundle of satin,
Label TextCovers of this type have long been known as "crazy quilts," an apt term for their apparent disregard of overall design and the mix of irregularly shaped fabric swatches traditionally used in them. These covers, or throws, were often composed of silks and other fine fabrics, and the seams of many were covered with fancy embroidery. Generally intended for show more than for practical use, they occasionally covered a person taking a nap or decorated a parlor table or piano.

This example was created in celebration of the September 25, 1888, marriage of Walter Harris Robertson and Lelia Graham Eggleston of Richmond, Virginia, parents of the donor.
ProvenanceThe quilt descended from Walter Harris Robertson (ca. 1859-1931) and Leila Graham Eggleston Robertson (1862-1939) to their daughter Miss Lelia E. Robertson (1890) of Norfolk, Virginia, who donated the quilt to the museum.