Bride's Quilt
Medium
Wool, plain weave; pieced; quilted with cotton; edged with wool, oblique twill interlacing
Dimensions
216.6 × 174.6 cm (85 1/4 × 68 3/4 in.)
Classification
textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
68812
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of 19th-century American domestic artistry with *Bride's Quilt* (1868), crafted by Kate Strother McClanahan. This impressive textile measures 216.6 × 174.6 cm, perfectly sized for a bedcover, and resides in the Art Institute of Chicago's Textiles Department. Made from wool in a plain weave, it showcases expert piecing—where fabric scraps are meticulously sewn into a unified whole—then layered and quilted with cotton thread for durability and warmth. The edges are finished with wool in an oblique twill interlacing, adding both strength and subtle texture. Created j...