Q8588 American Flag Center Medallion Folk Art Signature Crazy Quilt
dated 1912
90 x 88
Ohio
$7,600

A fabulous wool folk art quilt containing so many exceptionally intriguing historic clues! Wool, wool challis, and silk faille were used to create this piece, along with a limited amount of silk and cotton velveteen. Constructed in a crazy quilt block formation, and believed to have been stitched by members of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The center medallion block contains much to hint at the quilt’s original purpose. A large American flag with the heading “In God We Trust” has been embroidered at the top, with a smaller triangular flag inscribed with “Agoma” appliqued below. The city of Agoma is located in Nigeria, which invites speculation about the relationship between the congregation and this west African city. The center medallion block is unmistakably patriotic, and includes names of six veterans and their military units scattered across the block, along with the date of 1912. Three of the six names have been confirmed with the U.S. Army Military History Institute as Ohio veterans of the Civil War, and honoring these six surviving veterans in 1912 would have been most appropriate. The pastor of the church, J.F.McDonnell, and his wife (Mrs. J.F.) and perhaps child (F.M.) were also included under the letters “P.S.”

The surrounding crazy quilt blocks have been embellished with embroidered signatures, most likely the members of the congregation, with many “family” blocks. Biblical verses have also been included across the body of the quilt, such as Psalm 23, Isaiah 55:6, and the first line of the Lord’s Prayer. Interestingly, some of the blocks have all the letter “s” stitched in the conventional orientation, while some have the “s” letters stitched backward. Upon closer inspection, it appears that the person(s) embroidering those particular blocks chose to ignore the correctly penciled “s” letters in favor of her own personal writing style!

The quilt was finished by tying in various shades of pearl cotton, with some of the ties made with two colors twisted together. The backing is an iron grey-green cotton sateen, and the ½ inch binding is turned from the back to the front. All seams have been embellished in multiple colors with various decorative stitches such as herringbone, fly, feather, and cross stitch. In excellent condition!