Description:
Pieced, appliqued, embroidered and painted quilt in a Crazy Quilt pattern done in a variety of silks including moire, damask, velvets, and chine (ikat); and a backing made of light tan, plain weave silk with a narrow green and black stripe design; and cotton batting. This quilt is particularly detailed with a large variety of decorative elements including emboiderd and painted flowers, and am embroidered spider web and cow, and with each swatch surrounded by decoratve stitching in contrasting colors, mostly done in a variant of feather stitching. The quilt has a four-sided border of densely-patterned floral silk (damask?) with a blue ground and brown flowers, and is edged in red silk satin. The top of the quilt also has swatches embroidered with "1884" and "FCC" and "Florence Copeland Stebbins / 'In Memoriam' 1893." The quilt came from Elizabeth (Libby) S. Williams (d.2004), the daughter of Florence Copeland Stebbins (1888-1966) who married Albert Elmer Shaw (1886-1952) in Deerfield in 1913 and then lived in Winchester, Massachusetts. Florence Stebbins was the daughter of Charles Henry Stebbins (1824-1859) who married Mary Elizabeth MacMahon (1858-1919) of Providence, RI, in 1880; granddaughter of Evander Graves Stebbins (1821-1885) and Matilda Childs Stebbins (d.1885) of Deerfield; and great granddaughter of Zebina Stebbins and Ruby Graves Stebbins of Deerfield. The significance of the dates has not yet been determined nor have the initials "FCC" been identified. Crazy quilts were very popular during the last quarter of the 19th century, and particularly strong in the mid 1880s. Silks in satin and velvet weaves, along with many other fancy fabrics, were readily available from mail-order companies, local shops, and stashes of remnants at home. Department stores, including Boston's Jordan Marsh, profited from the fashion by selling bags of scraps for one dollar each, and manufacturers offered ready-to-sew kits.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2002.70.2 |
