Laughinghouse Crazy Quilt

Shannon Downey @BadassCrossStitch posted in January that a woman approached her about completing an old unfinished crazy quilt. Shannon asked for someone to take on the project and I volunteered. It has been a very interesting experience so far! Shannon found an unfinished quilt and with the help of her community, completed Rita’s Quilt. I hope that with the wonderful online stitching community I have met in the last year and half, that we can finish the Laughinghouse Quilt.

The quilt was purchased by a woman, Bonnie, in North Carolina 30 years ago from a neighbor’s estate sale. She knew her neighbor but wasn’t able to ask about the history of the quilt. She does know that her neighbor didn’t sew, so it’s likely family members started the quilt some time before. The fabric is very old. The tops of the squares are velvet and the backsides of the squares are really old and stained fabrics. After talking on the phone, Bonnie told me she would send the quilt to me. She sent the squares (each square is 24″ x 24″), extra velvet fabric, and a crazy quilt stitch book.

I have a very talented friend, Kristin Barrus @kristinbarrus who is a talented quilter and a recent graduate of the Material Culture and Textile History program at the University of Nebraska. She starts a PhD program through the University of Leicester in England this fall. She was so generous with her time and talked to me at length regarding this quilt. She gave me the following instructions:

Put the squares in the freezer to help eliminate the old, musty smell. This will safely kill organisms in the fabric. This worked like a charm! The smell is more tolerable now.
Store the squares in cotton only.
When handling the fabric, wear cotton gloves. Do not wash the squares!
To determine the condition of the squares, select one that wasn’t in the worst condition – and not in the best condition either. Then do some stitching to see how the fabric holds up. I did this, and it held up nicely. The only thing I noticed was that the color of the velvet rubs off on the gloves.

Now that I know it’s safe to stitch the squares – I’m looking for volunteers! Here are some details:

*The squares must be stitched with crazy quilt stitches – a scanned book will be available to all participants. Even if a square appears to be finished, it isn’t! It needs more crazy stitching.
*The squares must be stitched while wearing cotton gloves. This quilt is very old (age TBD) and it needs to be protected. I will provide a pair of cotton gloves.
*I will cover shipping costs in both directions. Participants outside the USA are welcome!
*The Goal is to have the quilt completed by next year’s International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022.

Our goal will be to put this quilt on display – perhaps it can be shared at museums or gallery displays. I am taking on all the costs – purchasing cotton gloves for all participants, shipping to and from stitchers. This project is in no way about profit and is not funded. All the work putting this together is completely voluntary. If you would like to make a small donation to put towards material costs, you can contact me at rebaweaves at gmail dot com. I have a business Venmo and Paypal account. If you would like to stitch a square, let me know! I’m still looking for volunteers!