crazy quilt

Emma Hurd, artist

1858–1936

crazy quilt, 1886

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: cotton; velvet; embroidering; silk

Credit line: Gift of Frederick C. and Richard Madaus, great-grandsons of Emma Hurd

Accession number: 1991.0429

Not on display

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From the eye atop the pyramid on the dollar bill to images of George Washington wearing a Masonic apron, symbols of Freemasonry have long been intertwined with American iconography. The secret nature of many of these fraternal and service organizations, and the concurrent emergence of these societies with the development of the United States, suggests that many of the symbols we encounter in our daily lives may evoke additional meanings for some initiated viewers. The fifty-six squares in this quilt are patched “crazily,” without conforming to a set pattern, and feature a wide variety of fabrics and embroidered designs and symbols. These wonderfully eclectic embroideries include patriotic references to a colonial soldier, an American eagle, and the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of veterans who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The quilt also includes a ribbon from a secret society called the Knights of Pythias, which met in the Mizpah Lodge in London, Ontario. Hurd later became a member of two service organizations in Macon, Illinois: the Order of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters.

This Land," 2016 Kate Meyer
From the eye atop the pyramid on the dollar bill to images of George Washington wearing a Masonic apron, symbols of Freemasonry have long been intertwined with American iconography. The secret nature of many of these fraternal and service organizations, and the concurrent emergence of these societies with the development of the United States, suggests that many of the symbols we encounter in our daily lives may evoke additional meanings for some initiated viewers. The 56 squares in this quilt are patched “crazily,” without conforming to a set pattern, and feature a wide variety of fabrics and embroidered designs and symbols. These wonderfully eclectic embroideries include patriotic references to a colonial soldier, an American eagle, and the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of veterans who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The quilt also includes a ribbon from a secret society called the Knights of Pythias, which met in the Mizpah Lodge in London, Ontario. Emma Hurd later became a member of two service organizations in Macon, Illinois: the Order of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters.