Crazy Quilt (c. 1887–1900): Art, History and Details

Crazy Quilt (c. 1887–1900) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Louisa Joiner (American, 1844–1911).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Made from an eye-catching combination of fabrics and ribbons, this quilt was created by Louisa Joiner, whose initials appear on a panel at lower right. Some of its pieces are believed to be scraps cut from clothing worn on lake cruises. Little is known about the artist aside from the fact she was married to a captain who sailed on the Great Lakes.

Object facts

• Title: Crazy Quilt
• Date: c. 1887–1900
• Creator attribution: Louisa Joiner (American, 1844–1911)
• Culture: America, New York, Watertown, 19th century
• Type: Textile
• Technique: silk, ribbons, lace, velvet, embroidered, heat transfer
• Dimensions: Overall: 186.7 x 182.9 cm (73 1/2 x 72 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 2000.63

A detail from the museum

Crazy quilts got their name from being made of seemingly random scraps of material assembled in an apparently arbitrary pattern.

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Morrisey

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” June 19, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.