Some women would work on two quilts at the same time: one quilt would be to showcase her needlework and fine stitches. This would be sewn during daylight hours. At night, when the lighting was bad, the remains of fabric from this quilt might be stitched together for a second quilt.
Other authorities believe the crazy quilt was influenced by the 'International Exhibition of Arts, Manufacture and Products of the Soil and Mine', a World’s Fair held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA) in 1876. The exhibit from Japan included pottery with a crackled glaze and textile designs with more asymmetrical patterns than Americans were accustomed to.
Crazy quilting became very popular in the USA in the late 1880's (they were still being made up to the 1920's), when middle-class and wealthier women began mixing velvets, tulle, silk, and pieces cut from wedding dresses in the quilts, and decorating them with lace, buttons, ribbons and satin stitches.
See also American crazy patchwork
Sources:
- www.quiltmuseum.org (retrieved 7 May 2016).
- www.americanhistory.si.edu (retrieved 7 May 2016).
Digital source of illustration (retrieved 30 June 2016).
SA