Crazy Quilt Makers -- Quilt Artists of the 19th Century,

Crazy-quilt makers of the late nineteenth century were perhaps the first quilt artists.  They used embellishments, fanciful stitching, painting, beading, three-dimensional ribbon work, and other needle art skills to enhance their foundation piecing of silks, satins and velvets.  Sue Reich will present the extraordinary skills of Crazy-quilt makers with images of designs and quilts from her collection and a trunk show for a close-up view of these artistic textiles.

Ms.Reich is a quilt historian and lecturer who has been the head of the Connecticut Quilt Search Project since 1991. A quiltmaker since childhood, she lectures widely on many aspects of quilt history, and is a certified AQS quilt appraiser. She co-authored Quilts and Quiltmakers Covering Connecticut, and authored Quilting News of Yesteryear: One Thousand Pieces and Counting as well as Quilting News of Yesteryear: Crazy as a Bed-Quilt. She has been guest curator at the New England Quilt Museum, the Museum of the American Quilter, the Litchfield Historical Society, the Mattatuck Museum, and the Gunn Museum. She has lectured at the Quilter's Hall of Fame, The Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge, TN, the Women's Creativity Conference Quinnipiac University, the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, the Wethersfield Museum, the New England Quilt Museum, the American Quilt Study Group, and the Bruce Museum, among others. Ms.Reich contributed to the CT Memorial Quilt.

Quilt making and embroidery were popular pastimes for genteel Victorian ladies.  Beginning in the early 1870s, women were increasingly making more intricate and decorative covers for nearly everything from sofa backs and tea pots to books and eyeglasses. 

Crazy quilts, a style popular from the 1880s to the 1940s, take their name from the asymmetrical pieces of fabric stitched together in abstract arrangements.  They were usually made of sumptuous silk, brocade, and velvet scraps in vibrant jewel colors and pieced in seemingly haphazard patterns; however, they were very carefully planned. These quilts were embellished with lavish embroidered decorative stitches on each seam.

In her 1889 book, The Home Manual, Mrs. John A. Logan noted, “Crazy patchwork, to be endurable, must, after all, have ‘method in its madness.’  Distinct artistic skill in the grouping and harmonizing of colors is indispensable to the beauty of the final result.”

LMMM programs are made possible in part by a generous contribution from the Xerox Foundation. For lecture information and reservations, contact: info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com 203-838-9799 ext. 117. Admission: $25 non-members, $20 members. The admission includes the lecture, a light lunch, and a tour of the first floor of the mansion. RSVP by Sept. 12. 203-838-9799 ext 4. or info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com. Lunch: Courtesy of Bull’s Head Market

            For press inquiries:

            Susan Gilgore, Deputy Director

            sgilgore@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com

            203-838-9799 ext. 113

This lecture is among the special events planned at sites throughout the city to augment  Norwalk Quilt Trail exhibits. The Quilt Trail spotlights displays of more than 100 quilts made and collected in Norwalk. In addition to the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, participants include the Norwalk and Rowayton Historical Societies, Norwalk Museum, Norwalk Seaport Association’s Sheffield Island Lighthouse, SoNo Switch Tower Museum and Stepping Stones Museum for Children.  Additionally, panels from the National AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at City Hall and local libraries will offer quilt-related displays and workshops.  For information visit www.NorwalkQuiltTrail.org.

Support for the Norwalk Quilt Trail has been provided by the Connecticut Humanities Council, Coby Foundation, Norwalk Commission on the Arts & Culture, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, The Triangle Community Center and Gail Wall. Media sponsors include Connecticut’s Cottages & Gardens, The Hour Newspapers and WSTC-WNLK radio.