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Quilts with framed central medallions were popular from the eighteenth century until the mid-nineteenth century. The shape of this quilt, with the two corners cut out, indicates that it was made for a four-poster bed. The central pattern consists of an appliquéd cut-out of an English chintz that depicts a basket of fruit surrounded by a wreath; other fruit patterns are placed at each corner. The borders are made up of various English fabrics pieced together. A Marseilles spread (white loom-woven coverlet) is used as the interlining.

During the eighteenth century, imported English and Indian chintzes were very popular in the United States. These printed cotton fabrics often depicted exotic flowers, trees, plants and fruits, which were cut out and appliquéd on backing fabric. In the late eighteenth century and first half of the nineteenth century, specially designed fabrics were printed in the United States specifically to be used as medallions.