Antique Western Crazy Quilt – Embroidered Names, Dates 1893-1917, 63" x 75"

This extraordinary antique Western Crazy Quilt, with multiple names, motifs and dates, is a rare and historically significant example of late 19th-century American textile art.

Documented and exhibited at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, and registered with the Colorado Quilting Council Historical Documentation Registry (#7239), the quilt features richly embroidered Western motifs — cowboys, saddles, horses, cattle, boots, wildlife, initials, and named individuals — creating what appears to be a regional storybook.

Also unlike most crazy quilts, it has been quilted - in both the border and the body the quilting is in a diagonal grid. The back is a gauzy large cotton print, while the four-sided black cotton border has been turned to the back and treadle-machine-stitched to form the binding. The cotton batting is lightweight.

The quilt is in excellent condition with shattered silks as can be expected with crazy quilts of this era (due to the metal salts added to the silks by manufacturers). Netting has been added to preserve and prevent further fabric loss of these silks - see photos.

✦ Details
• Date: Dates from December 14, 1893 to 1917
• Size: 63” x 75”
• Type: Antique hand-pieced and hand-quilted crazy quilt
• Construction: Hand pieced; feather-stitched seams; extensive hand embroidery
• Materials: Mixed textiles typical of the period (cotton, wool, silk blends)
• Region: Colorado / American West
• Documentation:
• Exhibited at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum
• Colorado Quilting Council Historical Documentation Registry #7239

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