Tumblers Crazy Quilt

The Amish community in Arthur, Illinois, has been stable and prosperous since its beginnings in 1865. Some of the people living where this quilt was made came from the older Amish communities in Pennsylvania; others arrived from Ohio and Indiana. Both Midwestern and Pennsylvania Amish quilt-making traditions are apparent in Arthur quilts. Like the Lancaster County Amish, Arthur quilters use primarily high-quality, richly colored wools. Some Arthur quilts are made in repeating-block patterns like those of many Midwestern Amish examples, whereas others are centrally focused, like patterns found on Pennsylvania quilts. Because of the general lack of church conflict in the Arthur community, the religious strictures there are somewhat relaxed, allowing individual makers a greater degree of creativity. The Arthur community is especially known for a group of rather eccentric quilts based on Crazy piecing, evident in this example.
[Peck 2015; adapted from Amelia Peck, "American Quilts & Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," 2007]

Stella Rubin, quilt dealer who in turn bought from dealer who had purchased quilt in Arthur, Illinois