1970s Crazy Quilt
I think this 1970s Crazy Quilt was made by my former Mother In Law, Ruby Thompson of California and Oklahoma. It is a utility quilt, with wide bright velvet top panels and some funky red and blue herrigbone houndstooth wool and some chartreuse fabric along the side panels. It is a tack quilt-- a common quilting style for casual home quilts that were designed for warmth and to hold down the covers. It is heavy and the backing is hemp or linen in cream with about an inch-wide binding edge.
Look close, and you can see that it was constructed by sewing five panels of varying widths together vertically. Each panel was first made up of some foundation blocks. This one is constructed with so much asymmetry that it is almost possible to understand the order in which each piece was added. We know from the seams further toward the top that the Red V panel and the Black Brick panel were sewn together before adding the Burgundy/Gold panel, and the edges at top and sides were added thereafter. (Actually, this is photographed with the bottom of the quilt at the top of the pic--- it was made probably for a small bed and the borders were intended to hang on the sides and foot of the bed. I'm guessing it was intended to lay under the pillows, flat.)
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