Hi Annette,
Kate posted instructions a while ago and these work great...to see the original posting on how to, do a search on the quilting formum...
We'd love to see the quilt!

DON'T BE NERVOUS! This may sound complicated the first time but once you've done it you'll see it's easy and fun. You'll be posting pictures every time you visit the forum!

First of all, you need an account on a photo sharing site where you can store some pictures. You can't link directly to photos in your computer. Photobucket is the one I use the most and I think it's very, very easy, but Picasa, Kodak Gallery, and several other sites work just as well, I'm sure. These sites all have free accounts available and so you can start posting photos today without any expense. Cool, huh?

Photobucket.com

So, once you have the account set up, follow the instructions for uploading pictures from your computer. You can add them one at a time, or upload several at once. (See below for some thoughts on setting up albums.) Don't worry about losing them. You are just copying them to Phtoobucket and you'll keep them on your computer. Besides being able to share them, it's also a good backup for your most precious pictures.

When you have some photos loaded, your page will look something like this:

To add a photo directly into your forum message, click once on the line under the photo that's labeled HTML Code. Then go to your message in the Quilt Forum (or whichever forum you want) and paste it into your text message. It will show up just as text until you hit the "Preview Message" button. Then the picture should show up. If it doesn't, check to be sure you selected the HTML Code line instead of one of the others.

You can add as many pictures to a single message as you want, but if you do more than 3 or 4 it gets very slow to open for people who use dial up.

Here's a good thing to understand: your picture doesn't really get transferred to GardenWeb. What happens is that the HTML code is telling GardenWeb (with magic computer instructions) where to go in Photobucket to find the photo AND it's also telling it to display the photo. If you delete the photo or even move it in Photobucket to a different album, GardenWeb will still have the old instructions and won't be able to find it. The link will be broken. If you edit the picture in Photobucket, making it smaller or adding a border, that will show up the next time someone looks at the message in GardenWeb. The real picture stays in Photobucket - GardenWeb just temporarily imports it each time someone opens your post. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't let me know and I'll try again!

About albums: When you first set up your account, you'll see where you can "Add a new album". Since you won't want to move photos later (because you'll break the link), it's a good idea to set up a few albums right away. I suggest one for Home (house pictures), one for pets, one for garden, one for quilts, one for vacations, etc. It's easy to add them at any time so they don't need to all be set up right away, but a couple are a good idea. I even have one called Miscellaneous for any pictures that don't see to fit anywhere else!

Kate

Here are some photo's of the quilt http://s1063.photobucket.com/albums/t520/Annette428/?action=view&current=DSCN4213.jpg
http://s1063.photobucket.com/albums/t520/Annette428/?action=view&current=DSCN4214.jpg
I hope these links work.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Really pretty, it looks like a crazy quilt.

Great quilt.
It does look like a kind of crazy quilt.
I can't help you with the dating but I'm sure someone on the forum will have some ideas.

~Geraldine

I'm intrigued by the embroidery stitching and the way it's sewn on. Not sure if it can be called a true crazy quilt....as for the date, what year was your MIL's first remembrance of it? Another thing to check out would be to date the fabric. Also, I think sewing machines began being introduced to the home in the late 1800's.

Another reason we put labels on our quilts.....or at least the date.

SharonG/FL

The fabric would be the best way to date it, but even that isn't spot on because quilting pieces were often taken from worn out items and those could have been in use ten or twenty years before being retired. The hay day of the CQ was 1880-1920, and I have a section of one hanging in my sewing room with 1918 embroidered right into the design.

I have one of my g'mother's quilts and she was born in 1884, but this quilt is surely a 1950s-60s item. People don't stop quilting or acquiring new things at a young age. I didn't begin quilting until I was 59, so if any of mine survive to the mid-2000s it doesn't mean it dates to my early years.

My guess on this quilt would be 1910s-20s but it's just a hunch.

Interesting quilt but not what I would call a "crazy quilt". I agree with calliope that it probably dates to the early part of the 20th cen. The fabric looks like it may have been scraps collected from an upholster or upholetery factory. Dateing the fabric would be the best choice.
Sewing machines were used before the civil war and there are some early quilts that a machine sewn but not common.
It couldn't have been easy to embroider. I am sure you treasure it knowing it is part of your family and made with love.

You could try emailing a textile museum. There's a link to a blog that lists a number of US museums. Check for their contact details on their sites and send your question and photos of the quilt to them. Try to get close up shots of different fabrics and give them as much history as you know about the quilt - the area it might have been made in (helps to know what textiles were available in that area).

Here is a link that might be useful: Listing for textile museums