The Warm Crazy Quilt

by Dayle Sillerud
(Lubbock, TX)

The Warm Crazy Quilt at a "Bed Turning" Event

The quilt had to be warm -- warm enough to keep the cold away for the newlyweds in North Dakota. My mother grew up in Iowa and was married to a ND farmer in November of 1947. My grandmother made the crazy quilt for them at that time.

It is not pretty, but it is heavy and thick. To form the four blocks She appliquéd wool and cotton scraps onto big backing pieces that appear to be feedsacks. Fancy stitches were embroidered in yarn over the seams in the tradition of the more refined Victorian crazy quilts. There is no batting, and the backing is cotton flannel. The resulting 72x90 inch quilt weighs 9 pounds.

The crazy quilt was welcome in my parents' first home -- an uninsulated apartment heated by an oil stove. The warmth of the quilt came from its heavy construction, but the warmth of my grandmother's love was felt every time members of my family used it throughout the years.