Everyday Luxury at the Smithsonian

Crazy Quilt, Aimee Elkington Shepherd Hodge (1865-1946)

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is displaying silk quilts through January, 2020 in an exhibit “Everyday Luxury: Silk Quilts from the National Collection.”

Aimee is said to have worked on this quilt most of her long life,

beginning with an embroidered ribbon when she was 12 and 

setting the blocks together in 1946.

Aimee's monogram

All quilts and related artifacts date roughly from 1880-1910

Crazy patchwork throw, Bates family, New Haven, Connecticut

Curator Madeline Shaw includes information about the American silk industry and how it affected these luxurious items.

"From the 1870s through the 1920s, the silk industry flourished in America. Paterson, New Jersey, then known as America’s 'Silk City,' produced miles of silk fabric while Connecticut housed many silk-thread factories. Manufacturers marketed silk by giving away pattern booklets and thread holders. As industry competition increased, prices decreased, so much so that by the 1880s, even the girls and young women who worked in the factories could afford a silk dress for 'Sunday best.' ”

Patchwork Table Cover, Laura A. Baldwin Clark (1834 - 1892)

Illinois

 Pineapple design

Piano cover with initials E.S. by Eva Gibbs Shaw (1859-?)

Washington D.C.

Biscuit Parlor Throw, Mary Way Dickson Watson (1839-1916)

 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1890-1900

Parlor Throw, Martha Jane Nicar Taylor (1827 - 1882)

Read more:

https://americanhistory.si.edu/rare-quilts-on-view

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/56058

https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/museums-galleries/article/21081666/everyday-luxury-reviewed