There is also a cultural museum, with exhibits of what daily life was like in the past, at the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum. There are old quilts, flat irons, washing boards, cotton bales, carved wooden canoes, and just about anything else you can imagine. I think that it is cool to see what a kitchen looked like in the 1930s. Maybe it is my love of anthropology and social history, but I never cease to discover new and interesting things every time I take a walk through the facility.
Of course part of what interests me when I tour through the museum is the antique Crazy Quilt that they have in their collection. I have never really gotten a good close up since, it is behind a barricade. I asked for permission to examine it more closely, but it seems like either the personnel change or they just do not know exactly how to handle my request. I did take a few photos while I was in there, but the quilt is hung very high.
There are some interesting things I had already noticed about this quilt. While it seems that it was pieced all by one person, I sincerely doubt that it was stitched all by the same person. The center blocks and one up on the top left are much more ornate than the majority of the blocks. It is signed by M. L., age 72 and dated August 13, 1890. I think that someone put it onto the pink backing at some later date. Maybe a daughter or granddaughter sought to finish the top on behalf of M. L. I hear there is some provenance about the quilt, but they have yet to put me in contact with the person who knows the details. I need to pursue access a little more aggressively!
