In September 2014, I was contacted by Dr. Blaire O. Gagnon, Assistant Professor in the Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design at University of Rhode Island (URI), regarding a quilt which she recently had evaluated for inclusion in URI’s Historic Textile and Costume Collection.
Andrew Strachan in his room at San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo.
The quilt had a connection to San Anselmo in that it appeared to have been created as a commemorative quilt for Andrew C. Strachan upon his graduation from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1900. Donna Sciola, Andrew Strachan’s granddaughter and the owner of the quilt, believed the quilt to be from Canada because that is where her extended family is from, Andrew was married in Manitoba in 1902, and it is from Canada that the quilt made its way to Rhode Island. However, my research into the names embroidered onto the blocks of the crazy quilt revealed that the quilters were not from Canada or San Anselmo but from the town of Dixon in the Sacramento Valley where Andrew Strachan completed his student training. Most of the women quilters had deep roots in the community of Dixon and were either original pioneers themselves or daughters born into pioneer families. Their stories are typical of the many families that made the journey west to California in its early days.
The quilt was donated by Donna Sciola to South County Museum in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The quilt’s 16 blocks range between 16 1/2 to 17 inches square. The quilt is 77 inches x 75 1/2 inches. The red velvet border is 5 inches wide. Each of the blocks contains a signature and/or a set of initials. Each block is believed to have been completed by the individuals who signed them; this is supported by the fact that the base fabrics upon which the crazy patches are applied vary. Besides signatures, the quilt includes additional embroidery motifs such as a horseshoe with the words “Good Luck” included and a set of 3 interlocking circles. The quilt also incorporates hand painted flowers and a silk ribbon with the word California and the intertwined initials CE (Christian Endeavor) on it.
Judy Coy
December 2015, updated 2019