Crazy Quilt
Name/Title
Crazy QuiltEntry/Object ID
1997.001.023Description
12 block pieced and appliqued crazy quilt in multiple colors. Embellished with extensive embroidery also in multiple colors. No batting, but navy sateen used for backing. Sparsely quilted in diagonal lines. There is a back to front binding done by hand. It measures 1/4'' wide and done with square corners. The quilt is hand quilted. It is embroidered with pink, coral, yellow, blue, cream, maroon, gray, and red embroidery floss.Context
Mary Spitzer Etter of Harrisonburg, Virginia donated her family's entire quilt collection to the Virginia Quilt Museum in 1997. The collection contained 27 quilts, most of which were made by Mary's aunts, the Spitzer sisters. Their names were Sarah Josephine Spitzer (Walters), Margaret Melinda Spitzer (Jones), and Ellen Rebecca Spitzer. It is unknown if the other two Spitzer sisters, Hannah Spitzer (Brown) and Jane Spitzer (Evers), did much quilting. Of the quilts completed by the Spitzer sisters, there is a single initial embroidered on the front of quilt to mark who made each quilt. Ellen Spitzer's daughter, Irene, also completed three pieces of the collection. Some of the quilts contain blocks were done by Mabel Spitzer, Mary's mother. These blocks were then quilted by either Berta or Effie Long, Mabel's neighbors. There are a few quilts not made by a Spitzer, yet they were still made by relatives of the Spitzer family.Collection
Permanent CollectionAcquisition
Accession
1997.001Source or Donor
Mary Spitzer EtterNotes
Donated Feb. 23, 1997Made/Created
Artist Information
Ellen Rebecca Spitzer
Sarah Ann Josephine Spitzer Walters