Composed of eighty-one blocks, this parlor throw is an example of contained crazy-patchwork popular in the late 19th century. Each block has a cross-shape center outfined by black silk piecing. The cross shapes are pieced from an assortment of multicolored silks.
The piecing is secured with a variety of fancy stitches; buttonhole, detached chain, herringbone, feather, straight, and couching. A machine-quilted (commercially available) silk lining, in a scrolling vine pattern, provides weight and depth to the parlor throw. The precisely stitched parlor throw is completed by a 5 ΒΌ-inch green velvet border edged with a heavy green braid.
The quilt was in the Bates family of New Haven, Conn., and was donated by a family member.
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