The Sour Mash Crazy Quilt

The Sour Mash Crazy Quilt by Ollye Reynolds In Creelsboro, down in the bottomland along Kentucky's crawling Cumberland River, years ago at a quilting bee held at Vesta Dalton's, Ray, the youngest son of the family, crawled under the quilt stretched on frames where the women 74 were working, inspected the scenery and announced, 'Some of these women's petticoats arepretty." Raywasostracized to the kitchen so he would not displease the visitors. The retelling ofthis incident through the years at family reunions and during relatives' chitchats illustrates how quilts are the history, not just of textiles, but of people—ano: the examples available in Appalachia of quilters' work provide authentic glimpses into their pasts. Thestoriesofquiltersandquiltingarekept alive in families. The quiltchestofClementineMcKinley reflects awealth offamilyhistory. Almost one hundred years old, it has remained in continuous use in the same McKinley family since it was first hand-crafted in 1888. The present owner, Mrs. Lizzie Kate Snow of Lexington, is the niece of the artisan who made it and the daughter of the quilter w ho filled it with treasures . The chest stores the most beautiful needlework produced by Clemmie, an artisan in her own right, showing an awareness of nature in reproducing the popular quilt patterns of her time and also creating her own motifs. Three of Clemmie's quilts are museumquality —the Springtime, Flowerpot, and Sour Mash crazy quilt. The Springtime quilt, made in 1899, was pieced and quiltedbyClemmieduringthefirstyearof her marriage. The cotton forthe quilt was harvested by the bride's mother the autumn before the December wedding; then the bride spent days after her honeymoon removing the cotton seeds and making bats topadthe quilt. This was only the first of many quilts later made by the same woman who, up until the time ofher death in 1957 at the age of 92, kept needle and thread busy. The Flowerpot quilt was completed sometime during the 1880s as one in a set made as wedding gifts for five sons and one daughter in the McKinley family. This quilt, which Clemmiereceived, is appliqued . It was quilted by Rose Parmley, a neighbor girl who spent the entire winter and spring with the McKinley family and who was given her board and a barrel of com a month for her quilting. Clemmie's crazy quilt (called that because ofthe seemingly unplanned combination of shapes, colors, stitches, textures, and patterns), outclasses others ofits type because ofits sour mash mystique. Rows of various stitches—briar, chevron, coral knot, satincouching, creían, fishbone, and fly—cover many different fabrics, includFlowerpot Quilt 75 ing silk, velvet, grosgrain, jersey, and fabrics unobtainable today. In addition, each patch contains an original embroidered "pretty," such as acardinal orinitials of her relatives embroidered in fancy lettering copied from the then-popular Women's Delineator. The designs include strawberries , holly, lily of the valley , grapes, sweet pea, violets, smartweed , bleeding heart, flowerpots and baskets, butterflies, fish, dog fennel, clover , morning glory, buckeye and apple. According to family tradition, whenever Clemmie, who was a teenager at the time, ran out of ideas for these miniature designs, she asked her brother Jonah for suggestions. Spotting in his father's cooperage a barrel labeled "Sour Mash," he pointed out those words to her. A teeto-taler, Clementine must have been so preoccupied with her work that she did not think of the words' meaning. But her stitching in curvilinear letters is a personalized quality of the quilt's "craziness ." Today Clementine's quilt chest represents the increasingly rare qualities ofthe early craftsworker: the carpenter's honesty ofplainness in designing a utilitarian piece or furniture; the whimsical charm of the reddish stain; the patience, deftness, and imaginative daring of the needlewoman , especially Clementine; and the family closeness that has kept the chest intact and filled with the original owner's handiwork. By the time of the War Between the States, as many mountaineers calledit, fancy quilts had become valuable and were guarded against marauders. These quilts recall memories of wartime anxieties. According to tradition, aRose ofSharon Juilt belonging to Mrs. Kate Roberts, amestown, Kentucky, was hidden in a dug-out graveunderthe dwelling house to keep the men from stealing or burning it. The Civil War...