Crazy quilts weren’t usually useful pieces as much as decorative and are pieced on top of a piece of muslin in seemingly haphazard placement. The pieces are then embellished with embroidery, appliqué, beading, and many other techniques. They range from having a single embellishment on all the seams to being almost encrusted with embroidery, beading and other techniques to make them fabulous and … well, crazy.
One of the most appealing parts of crazy quilting is its historical depiction of the times. Since it takes fabrics used in decorating and apparel of the period as well as embroidery of motifs that have historical significance. Women also used cigarette silks and political ribbons in their work to create a woven pattern of history.
The followers of crazy quilting today have one thing in common, they love every hand (and machine) technique imaginable. Find a crazy quilter and you’ll find someone with a love of fabric (of course), beading, appliqué, tatting, lace making, doll making, needle felting, Brazilian embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery and about anything else you can consider putting on fabric.
I don’t know how my Grandmother would feel about my love of something that she did when it was in “vogue” but I hope she’s proud!
Photo courtesy of Rhonda Perry, Roger Reynolds photographer, and Frequently Wrong but Never in Doubt
