Crazy Quilt Made by the Women of the First Congregational Church

While many quilts were made in homes by women who were relatives or friends, some quilts, such as this example, came out of church sewing societies that often made them for fundraising purposes. Constructed by the women of the First Congregational Church, this quilt’s pattern is referred to as a crazy quilt, a style that was extremely popular in the last quarter of the 19th century. The wild, irregular patterns assembled from divergent fabrics and embellished with hand-sewn embroidery are said to have been inspired by forms found in Asian textiles on view in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The integration of local materials, such as the ribbon celebrating the annual reunion of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Veteran Cavalry serving in the Civil War, with foreign-inspired forms like the fan shapes and the metallic “Japanese” gold thread, points to the practice of melding various sources to create this uniquely American quilt.