American, Connecticut

This piece, made by many different hands, illustrates some of the pleasures of crazy quilting. The makers discarded the rules of geometry and symmetry, instead layering color, texture, and pattern to create the design. Embellishing the surface with fancy silk embroidery stitches, narrow trims, paint, and beads added even more scope for individual creativity.

Crazy quilting became a fad in the late 19th century, fueled by the availability of plain and patterned American-made silk fabrics, competition within the silk thread industry, and the lessons learned from exposure to Japanese aesthetics, which valued asymmetry and spontaneity.