This great Victorian crazy quilt was brought to me as a top. I replaced one missing corner area with a brown silk, covered several worn pieces with crepeline to protect the fraying fabrics, backed it with a black cotton, and bound the edges with a brown silk.
Here is a square with several crepeline-covered pieces - the white piece on the left, the two central light pieces, and the one on the lower right, where the broken silk is very easy to see. From this photo, you can get an idea of how nearly invisible the fine crepeline silk is.
This quilt stands out for me because it has two really nice commemorative ribbons. They are dated 1882 and 1883, so that puts the quilt's construction in or after the fall of 1883.
Other traits indicate an 1880s date as well. It is small-ish, 44" x 53". There are fans in the piecing, part of the fascination with everything Japanese after the opening of Japan to the western world.
The general quality and range of the fabrics used are typical of this era and style of quilt. I really loved the great brocade fabrics used in this quilt.
I especially love this one!
Here's a particularly imaginatively embroidered patch.
And here's a hand-painted velvet patch, also very typical of the era.
All in all, it's a great rendition of the Victorian home decor statement of "more is more".
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