Quilt
Artist
Maker unknown
(American, Utica, New York)
Date1889-1890
MediumSilk, velvet, pigment, cotton, metal
DimensionsOverall: 74 × 70in. (188 × 177.8cm)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineEsther J. Cunningham Bequest
Terms
Object number80.12
DescriptionLog cabin pattern quilt of silks and velvets embroidered, painted and appliqued. Includes firemens, military and fraternal convention badges, three-dimensional tokens, clothiers' labels, campaign medal, embroidered fraternal symbols, and family initials and dates. Made by ancestor of donor.On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextA log cabin pattern is formed by narrow strips or "logs", sewn together in multicolored concentric squares. The blocks often feature red centers to represent the hearth in the center of the cabin.
Women often created lasting fabric records through their needlework. This commemorative fireman's quilt documents a wealth of personal sentiment and local history. Personal meaning has been achieved by incorporating clothiers' labels, Masonic badges, hand-painted and embroidered animals, family initials and dates, and three-dimensional commemorative tokens.
Crazy Quilt Show Label Copy:
Instead of the meandering irregular piecing that is characteristic of crazy quilts, the 132 blocks that make up this quilt are arranged in a traditional log cabin pattern, where strips of fabric are built out around a central square or rectangle. Despite the departure in pattern, this quilt features many of the hallmarks of crazy quilting, including the use of silk and velvet, painted and embroidered decoration, as well as typical motifs such as owls, anchors, birds, and monograms. Also common to crazy quilts is the incorporation of badges and ribbons. In the 19th century, textile badges could be worn to show an individual’s membership in an organization or society and commemorative ribbons were frequently produced to memorialize a political campaign or significant event. These materials, as well as clothier labels and three dimensional tokens, join to create a rich, if enigmatic, document of life in Utica at the close of the 19th century.
