Crazy Quilt Lessons

The way to begin to Crazy Quilt is just to begin. So grab your fabric, a needle and thread, and start stitching right now.

There are no rules in Crazy Quilting, but there are a lot of things that can make it a little easier, especially when you are just beginning. Try starting with something small, say a six inch block. This can later be made into an eyeglass case, a small pillow, become part of a bag, or even a start for a wall hanging.

Cut an eight inch square of fabric, say, for example, from a piece of muslin. This will be your base, what you will stitch your other fabrics to. Then get out a variety of fabrics and pick out a couple of them. From one, cut a five sided piece. Hold it down in the center of your muslin block right side up and lay your second fabric against it, face down, with the two seams matching. Stitch along that seam. Open the second fabric up and trim the two edges even with the first fabric.

Pick out a third fabric and line it up, face down, over one of the seamed sides. Match the seams and stitch along that seam. Again, open it up and trim the two edges. Continue covering your block in this fashion.

If you are having trouble starting a block, you can build confidence by trying a paper pieced Crazy Quilt block. Patterns are available online at David Small's Small Expression. Once you have entered his pages, click on Patterns, then Crazy Quilt Blocks. Print out his patterns and use them to get started.

Now that you have a block, you are ready to start the fun part, the embellishing. If you do not know any embroidery stitches yet, a wonderful Online Stitch Dictionary is available at Sharon Boggin's Home Page with Online Stitch Dictionary. Sharon has many, many stitches illustrated and she has them marked for difficulty. Practice on one or two to begin with, then expand your stitching. A stitch can look very different done in different thread or with silk ribbons or ribbon floss.

Another good source of stitch patterns is available at CDA's Ribbon Embroidery, which shows basic ribbon embroidery stitches.

If you run into any problems or get stuck, the place to go is Crazy Quilt Central. Check out the Crazy Quilt FAQ for all kinds of wonderful hints and suggestions.

For more complete Crazy Quilting lessons, check out the wonderful instructions at Caron Threads Crazy Quilt Lesson. Leslie does a tremendous job with this.

And be sure to check out the great History of Crazy Quilting by Betty Pillsbury here.

Any questions or comments??? Send to Priscilla

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