Dutch Doors & Crazy Quilts

From WikiPedia we read:

"The term "crazy quilting" is often used to refer to the textile art of crazy patchwork and is sometimes used interchangeably with that term. Crazy quilting does not actually refer to a specific kind of quilting (the needlework which binds two or more layers of fabric together), but a specific kind of patchwork. Crazy quilts rarely have the internal layer of batting that is part of what defines quilting as a textile technique."

Dutch Door - used with permission.

While I didn't inherit a crazy quilt, I remember visiting the elderly lady who lived next door to us on Perkins Lane in Seattle circa 1954. She had a crazy quilt of brilliant satins and black velvet draped across the baby grand piano in her living room. I remember all sorts of fancy hand embroidery stitches holding the pieces together. It was like nothing I'd ever seen.

Just going to visit this woman was a treat. She had a "Dutch Door" which simply fascinated me, particularly since my parents espoused an affection for the mid-century modern. I'd never seen such a door, and initially thought it was broken.



She also had a full-sized harp, and lampshades with all sorts of tassels and trims hanging down. I wasn't more than 5 years old, because we moved over to a home on Lake Washington by 1st grade. But my recollections of our neighbor's wildly colorful, crazy patched quilt still stick with me.

(I was always afraid that harp would fall over on me!)