Quilt, "Contained Crazy"
Object number1997.001.03
Datec.1945
MediumSilk and Satin
Dimensions83 1/4 x 61 1/4 in. (211.5 x 155.6 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
Terms
Blocks 14 1/2" x 14 1/2
The borders are stitched with red thread. The blocks are stitched with brown thread. The ties are stitched together with purple, yellow, green, blue, red, pink and orange thread.
Made by Lula Bradford James. Lula lived just over the state line, but her daughter says she received her mail Rural Route, Doddridge, Arkansas. Lula was raised by a couple named Fields, as her own parents had died when she was an infant. It is possible they died in the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic, as she was born in 1917 or 1918. Her daughter is not sure. She was married when she was in her middle teens and her daughter was born in 1934. This was the only child she ever had. Her husband was named Pete. It is said that he worked for the railroad and was killed in an accident at work when their daughter Katie was in her late teens. Katie married Michael "Pee Wee" Beck and moved her mother to Louisiana shortly afterward. Mrs. Beck said she provided the black and red satin used in the crazy quilt as well as the silk ties which compose the blocks. It was a fad to make these out of men's ties in the 1930-1940s. She obtained the fabrics from the family her husband worked for. She stated her mother was an excellent seamstress and took pride in her ability to create beautiful items with her needle. Her work was in high demand and she always had a project going. Mrs. Beck said her mother made dozens, if not hundreds of quilts in her lifetime and gave most of them away.
Status
Not on view
c. 1930-1950
November 11, 1864
ca 1940
c. late-1980s
ca 1940-1950