Crazy for Crazy Quilts

I have no idea why I am attracted to some of the things that I am attracted to...I love symmetry...(my sister has a name for that which I won't use in polite company). I like order and

neatness. When things are strewn about, I get antsy. (Is that a real word? I can't find it in the Oxford American Dictionary.) But that's the feeling I get...like fingernails scraping a blackboard. I don't mind if someone writes "Wash Me" on the car's back window in front of me as long as the letters are scribbled neatly. I am not a neat freak...well, maybe slightly, but I PREFER order.

Long story, short. One of my favorite collectibles is the Crazy Quilt. Now if you don't look closely, you won't see the order...you will see a jumble, but if a Crazy Quilt is done correctly, orderliness and symmetry emerge.

This was my first CQ acquisition...I was hooked, but good. It came from upstate New York and the backing is an old feedsack.

The only thing I did to the quilt piece was to replace the maroon triangle at the bottom..the rest of the silks and satins were pretty well intact. It was love at first sight. Thus began my quest...

I ran across this piece in a basket of "junk" pieces..I kept searching and then a dream came true. After many years, I actually talked the "hubster" into going to PA to Lancaster County...Amish country. He wasn't one bit happy (he prefers sunny Florida, not a place where electricity is frowned upon) but I finally wore him down and off we went! Oh, it was glorious and on our way out of Lancaster, I stopped at a little Flea Market and down in a big ole basket of linens, there IT was...my prized possession...a piece of an Amish quilt. ( I went to PA fully intending to buy a whole Amish quilt. I took $200...what a joke! I couldn't touch one for less than $400.) So I came roaring back across the Mason Dixon line with the following: a child's snow shovel, a piece of redware pottery by Ned Foltz, some assorted salt glazed pottery, an Amish made iron bowl holder and THE PIECE OF AN AMISH CRAZY QUILT!

Now, this picture does NOT do it justice. I pinky promise, it is beautiful!

Check out those stitches...every once in a while you will see one that's not just perfect, but all in all it's some of the most symmetrical stitching I've ever seen....love it!

I continued my search and found several more pieces here and there. This one is also in my living room and it sports a big white velvet heart right in its center! Stitching isn't as pretty, but I like the heart. Then one day I woke up and said to myself, "Self, why don't you try some Crazy Quilting?" I argued with me but I won and I started doing research on Victorian CQ's and

decided that I'd give it a try.

My first feeble attempt...a little cushion for my son's old rocking chair. Ok, this wasn't too hard...let's try something a little more...well, decorative, I am NOT Amish I reasoned.

I paid too much for this chair at an auction...I let my desire get the better of my sense and I kept on bidding...that lady with the hot pink blouse on was NOT going to beat me out of this chair...so to sort of "hide" my purchase, I designed and made this pillow. Does that make sense?

I used Amish colors but just sort of jazzed them up...a little...anything worth doing is better with a few sparkly beads I always say.

Why not do a little something for the bathroom? Maybe a 20x24 design...oh, brother.

A few beads here, a golden spider web there...thus, began my spider web period...uh, oh.

Let's buy a book of fancy stitches to go with the beads....
Book was by Linda Causee.

Now I progressed to "not so" Amish colors... and satin ribbon roses...such fun!



Have I lost you yet? Oh, poor reader, I am so sorry, but when I get on the CQ rampage, I can't help myself...it's almost over! I promise!

A pin cushion for my Mother.

So there you have it...a few of my pieces of another's life...the Crazy Quilt...a thing collected by a Crazy Girl! If you've never tried your hand at crazy quilting, then you really need to!

I am linking to The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday...grab the button on the right to join us.

May all your days be crazy,

My Great Grandmother's Handwork

I must say my life has been pretty low-key the past few days...I am still in the middle of "purging" my closets and I am not sure how much longer I can stand all the excess that is spilling out into the hall and other rooms. I am determined to do it right and this means I will just have to suffer "the visual noise" for a few more days!


While organizing my pictures, I thought it might be nice to show you some of my Great Grandmother Sallie Atkinson Whitfield's handiwork. She was quite the seamstress and a poet! (I may have inherited something from her, but not her height or build...can somebody say "skinny"...after 8 or 9 children?! Yikes)


As a teenager, Sallie sewed not only her own clothes but the clothes of her 8 younger brothers and sisters.I am privileged to have a precious blue stripe "day" dress and a blue checked gardening bonnet of hers. Below is a picture of a picture I quickly snapped in the hall, without proper lighting, behind glass and my battery pack in the camera was dying! However, it is my Granddaughter Gracie wearing her Great, Great, Great Grandmother's blue bonnet. (I will post a better rendition of this picture later! )



Miss Sallie began dressing china dolls in 1938 well after she was 60 years old. My own grandmother, Edna Whitfield Alexander, was able to keep that doll collection of over 60 dolls intact until a few years before she herself died. The china heads, hands and feet were from Germany and the bodies were muslin stuffed with sawdust. Grandmother Whitfield copied Victorian costumes from the famous Godey's Lady's Book. (This magazine was probably the most influential woman's magazine of its time. Hand-tinted foldouts showed the Victorian lady the most up to date fashions.) Her dolls ranged in size from 10-24 inches and were shown throughout the south and the east including Washington, D.C. Below are two pictures. The first is the cover of the National Geographic that included a picture of my grandmother and the dolls and the second picture is the one that actually appears in the 1951 magazine. (Grandmother is third from the left.)




A 1985 news article stated,
"Each doll wears the authentic hairstyle of her period and each little costume
hides tiny cotton pantalettes and slips trimmed with lace and ribbons. Accessories
include bonnets adorned with ribbon and tiny silk posies, parasols, fans and
handkerchiefs."


Some of the dolls from my collection are pictured below. If you appreciate beautiful detailed handwork, you would love to see these "up close" and personal!

I keep this doll under a hand blown glass dome. She is over 73 years old. Her black silk dress is beautifully beaded. She carries a silk purse and has tiny lace and flowers on her bonnet.



Many dolls were special ordered and purchased by ladies throughout the southeastern United States. Below is a picture of a doll with a note attached. My G Grandmother did not select this material and felt the plaid was out of scale to the doll. The doll was in a special collection in Springfield, Illinois.


Below are some of the smaller dolls in their day dresses.







The baby in the cradle was similar to a Frozen Charlotte doll. The cradle was made by my father for his mother's little doll. Many of the fabrics have faded over time.

I have a postcard featuring the dolls. The cards were sold in various shops around the south. You can see the various details of some of the dolls on the postcard below. One of my favorites is the doll in the green on the left with the purple parasol. (That's Victorian speak for umbrella!)



These little beauties were much trouble! They wore silk, which frayed easily over the years. They had to be stuffed with tissue when packed and everywhere they went they caused quite a commotion! However, you can see why I love them and try to treat those I have left in my possession with the very best of care. I hope GG Sallie would be pleased!