Cactus Basket, about 1900
Cottons
Probably Ohio
35 x 34 in.
Collection of Eleanor Bingham Miller L2010.42.8

Like so many quit patterns, Cactus Basket (a pattern name that dates to at least the late nineteenth or early twentieth century) reduces realistic subjects to geometric abstractions. Layers of geometric structure--from the grid that divides the surface to the forms that fill the grid--shaped the design and execution of many American quilts. The geometry of quilts provided a set of rules, whether spoken or unspoken, that allowed for innovation while maintaining a shared set of expectations.