Crazy Quilts With a Difference

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Ranked #217 in DIY, #3,377 overall

This is My Way of Crazy Quilting

I don't suppose my method of crazy quilting is unique but I did think of it for myself. I am quite an impatient person so you might think that making crazy quilts is the last thing I would want to do. In fact, I love making quilts but once I've done the patchwork, I lose interest.

I don't like putting the backing and padding on then having to quilt the three layers together. I feel I've done the creative work and the rest is finishing off. I know it all takes skill, particularly some of the beautiful quilting designs that people are able to do. It's just that this part of the process bores me.

Instead of having to beat myself up to finish quilts, I came up with this method of doing all three parts of the process together. I sew the patches, padding and backing all in one go and, incidentally, end up with something that looks like quilting even though I don't achieve the lovely quilting patterns that others achieve by doing this at the end.

The picture shows part of one of my quilts.

A Traditional Crazy Quilt 

This is a picture of a traditionally made crazy patchwork quilt

My Aims When Quilting 

What I try to achieve with my patchwork crazy quilts

What I love about quilting is the fabrics I use and their colours. Sometimes I want to use a palette of many colours. Other times, I want to use only one or two. I take much of my inspiration from the designer Kaffe Fassett.

When I choose to use only one or two colours in a quilt, I do what he suggests: I make the occasional 'mistake'. Of course, it's a deliberate mistake. I choose a colour that doesn't fit with my 'official' choice. It highlights the main colours - or at least that's the theory.

On the quilt in the picture on the right, I have used multi colours and my aim was to create a cascade of colour using either square or rectangular patches.

Kaffe Fassett - My Design Hero 

Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance: 20 Designs from Rowan for Patchwork and Quilting (Patchwork Adn Quitting)

Kaffe Fassett has had an enormous influence on me over the years. I was absolutely stunned by his first book about knitting. I adapted some of his designs for knitwear into cross stitch patterns. I loved the way he used colour and embraced it. He has been an inspiration to me for many years.

This is his latest book, not about crazy quilts, but about traditional ones using a more muted palette than he does in some of his work.

I Like to Randomize the Patches on a Crazy Quilt 

Symmetry Isn't Always Best

Quilt made from vintage aloha shirts - from Wikipedia Commons - in the Public Domain
I think this quilt was made somebody who wasn't interested in symmetry. There seems to be no pattern to the way different colours have been put together. Maybe the person didn't care or perhaps they thought it would look better this way.

Mostly I use squares and rectangles for patches. I cut them into different sizes and proportions. Usually I position them so they overlap each other, unlike the quilt illustrated above.

I use overlapping patches for two reasons: I want to avoid symmetry, I want a purely random effect and I think it produces a stronger finished quilt. The one pictured above might tend to tear along the edges of patches.

Putting the Quilt Backing and Padding Together

Learn Correct Crazy Quilting Techniques 

Crazy Quilting - The Complete Guide

Instead of following my method of crazy quilting, you might like to learn to do it properly, in the traditional way.

This book is the perfect guide for anybody. Amazon says about it: "This technique-driven resource offers timeless guidance whether you're a beginner or a seasoned quilter who loves crazy quilting - the only U.S. created quilting style. With details about all known methods of patching a crazy quilt, more than 100 embroidery stitches, step-by-step illustrations and how-to directions for finishing a crazy quilt, this unique guide is the first to cover the crazy quilting process from start to finish. You will quickly discover that the priceless information in this book will serve you for the rest of your quilting life."

Out of 16 reviews on Amazon.com, 14 of them give the book five stars, one give it four stars and the other gives it three stars.

How I make Quilts 

It's a very simple method

In the picture above, you can see the cotton backing for the quilt together with the padding. I pin the two together with glass topped quilting pins. I just keep moving the pins as I sew patches close to them.

For the backing I use an old cotton sheet but not one that is worn thin. It's got to have plenty of wear left in it. I make large quilts in sections which I sew together when they are all finished. I cover the joins with strips of fabric. Sometimes I use a contrasting colour, other times I use a colour that tones with one of the colours used for the patches.

I decide on the colour scheme for the patches and then sort out the different fabrics I will use. For the new quilt pictured here, I decided on a blue theme and below you can see two examples from the variety of fabrics I will use. Both are recycled cotton or a cotton mixture I have recycled from clothes I no longer wear.

All patches are sewn on by hand with a small running stitch, the one traditionally used for sewing quilts. All the stitches go through all three layers: patch, padding and backing.


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Two Blue Fabrics for the New Quilt

Quilting Pins 

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Four Tips for Quilters

1. Get the iron and ironing board out

2. Wash and dry new fabric before use so you won't have problems with shrinkage when the quilt is washed.

3. Press your recycled and new fabrics with a hot iron before cutting them into patches.

4. Press patches after you sew them on to the quilt backing and padding.

This Quilt Was Made in Sections 

You can see the pink strips I use to cover the joins

Because I make these quilts in sections, as mentioned above, it's easy to get the size exactly right. I can put the sections down in the way I intend to sew them together. I do this with a sewing machine and I make sure it's a strong join. This is particularly important on the corners where four sections meet.

I cover the joins, both back and front of the quilt, with strips of fabric. Sometimes I use the same fabric for both, other times, I use one fabric on the front and the strips from the backing fabric to cover the reverse so that they blend in. It usually depends if I have enough to make the strips.

Sometimes I sew them on by hand, sometimes I use the sewing machine. It just depends on how I feel.

I cover the edges with the same fabric I use for strips on the patchwork.

Then the whole quilt, particularly the joining and edging strips needs pressing well.

A Good Pair of Scissors are Essential 

Gingher G-5C 5-Inch Knife-Edge Craft Scissors

You don't need a rotary blade and cutting mat for this type of quilting because you aren't cutting regular sized patches. Instead, you need a good pair of scissors.

Quilters, crafters, and sewing enthusiasts can cut through tough materials such as leather or multiple layers of fabric easily using these 5-inch knife-edge craft scissors. Stronger, thicker blades combined with a precision-ground knife edge ensure clean, smooth cutting all the way to the points. Accessories include a fitted leather sheath and a collectable tin for storage. With its durable double-plated chrome-over-nickel finish, the craft scissors measure 1/5 by 2 by 5 inches and carry a limited lifetime warranty.

A Kind of Quilting 

You can see the quilting effect on the back

As I said earlier, I really don't have the patience to quilt the three layers together in the traditional way, ie by hand, at the end of the patchwork process. Sewing the patches on through all three layers produces a kind of quilting effect as you can see in this picture of the back of a quilt.

I have another confession to make. I don't embroider the crazy patches which I should do if I was doing a real crazy quilt. The only time I embroider them is for cushion covers which are small enough for it not to become a chore.

I can almost see traditional quilters shudder in horror. I admit it's not the 'correct' way to do it but it suits me. I quilt for relaxation and pleasure. I love handling the fabrics and choosing the colours, textures, shapes and patterns that will go next to each other.

If I made them the right way, quilting would become work not pleasure and I would give up.

Your Opinion on Using Non-Traditional Methods for Crafts 

Is using them outrageous or sensible?

Should I be roundly castigated for taking shortcuts, let alone for my lack of symmetry and eccentric use of colour? Maybe you think it's up to me. It's my time and it doesn't matter if I do things in a different way. Give your opinion here.

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How to Sew a Crazy Quilt 

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A Quilt by Kaffe Fassett 

This quilt by Kaffe Fasset was exhibited in an exhibition of the designer's work in 2005 in the Textile Museum of Canada. The quilt featured in one of his early Quilting books and it has always been one of my favourites

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Lensmaster Stazjia has been a member since September 26 2006, has rated 1,339 lenses, favorited 788, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Carol Fisher donates their royalties to Dolphin Communication Project. This member's top-ranked page is "Classic Funny Poems for Kids". See all my lenses

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