Stunning Sampler Quilt Top, Ca. 1880

This gorgeous sampler quilt top, circa. 1880, is in the crazy quilt style, with wonderful fabrics, including silks, and great overstitching.  It measuires approximately 69 x 78 inches, excluding the unfinished contemporary sheet backing to which it is sewn for stability.  It has a few fractured patches, typical of its age.  It has no batting.  This quilt is from the collection of quilt author Joan Hamme.  It is significant because it is a combination of the "crazy quilt" style favored by the wealthy class in the late 1800s and a more traditional "sampler" quilt that displayed many common patterns.  It is truly a work of art and, in my opinion, should be properly bound to a suitable backing and displayed as a gorgeous wall hanging.