CrazyQuilt Book FAQ
Books that are instructional and/or motivational for crazy quilting and embellishing.
Written by the members of CrazyQuilt and compiled by Dawn Smith and Karen Young.
Crazy Quilt FAQ
Crazy Quilt Wearables FAQ
Crazy Quilt Vest FAQ
Crazy Quilt Book FAQ
CrazyQuilt Embellishment FAQ
Index of Questions
Answers to the FAQ questions.
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Crazy Quilt Odyssey : Adventures in Victorian Needlework
by Judith Montano
Publication date: September 1, 1991
ISBN: 0914881418
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Elegant Stitches
by Judith Montano
Publication date: 1995
ISBN:0-91-4881-85-X
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Crazy Quilt Stitches
by Dorothy Bond.
Self-published and available from the author for $12.
Dorothy Bond
34706 Row River Road
Cottage Grove, Oregon, 94724
This lady has collected stitches from old quilts and published them in a cute little book. I use it all the time for ideas. It is mostly designs, no stitch instructions, and supplements Judith's books quite nicely.
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Crazy Quilts
by Penny McMorris
Publication date: August 1984
Out of Print
ISBN: 0525242260
Covers the history of crazy quilting with many wonderful color pictures. Not a how to book. (Dawn Smith)
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Crazy Rags
by Deborah Brunner
ISBN 1-56477-166-0
I recently came across a book titled " Crazy Rags" by Deborah Brunner and found her explanation of foundation work clear and workable. The exciting aspect of the book is the embroidery. The author has a very organic approach which sprawls across the pieces and pulls everything together. Larger pieces can be worked to advantage this way without dominating the square. (Dawn Askwith)
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I would certainly recommend Deborah Brunner's book "Crazy Rags" to all crazy quilters. It is a beautiful book and will get your creative juices flowing! I am new at CQ and found the text and pictures very easy to follow (Kay in sunny Florida)
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Crazy With Cotton : Piecing Together Memories and Themes
by Diana Leone
Publication date: December 1, 1996
ISBN: 1571200177
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Victorian Patchwork & Quilting
by Arlene Dettore and Beverly Maxvill.
Publication date: 1995
Meredith Press
50 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
$19.95
It is very good in that it even provides piecing guidelines. They use an entirely by hand method though instead of machine work. However, I think their methods could be adapted to machine piecing. The library of combining stitches is absolutely wonderful. This is why I bought the book. The book is pretty much exclusively about cq. (Loretta in Hermitage, TN )
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Just picked up that book too! Love the color photos of finished work and the instructions are very clear. Highly recommend getting that book! (Debbie in Toronto)
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Victorian Elegance, Exquisite Stitches & Crazy Patchwork
by Lezette Thomason
Publication date: 1996
That Patchwork Place, Inc.
PO Box 118
Bothell, WA 98041-0118
$19.95
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Victorian Quilts 1875 - 1900 They Aren't All Crazy"
by Paul D.Pilgrim and Gerald E. Roy.
Copies may be ordered from the American Quilter's Society at 1-800-626-5420 for $14.95
+ $1.00 shipping.
You may be interested in a small (9"x6")64 pp. booklet I just purchased at Barnes & Noble. There are seven CQ's and each one is quite different from the other. The pictures are very clear. On the left page is a picture of the entire quilt and on the right a detail closeup. The first CQ quilt pictured was done in 1895 by a milliner. Since she was a milliner, I imagine most of the material is velvet scraps. The wide border is strip piecing with what seems to be a different stitch covering each seam. She made no attempt to keep the width of each strip uniform so some seams are angled out. This adds interest and charm to the border. The woman was a very accomplished stitcher.
My favorite is a Crazy Throw, 57" x 57" with 4" lace trim, by the Bish sisters in PA in 1880. The CQ has a wide wine velvet border with beautifully embroidered flower motifs covering each mitered corner. The trim is scalloped lace with a tassel in each valley. The text describes them as handmade velvet-covered wooden tassels.
Another unusual CQ, to me at least, is a 71" x 71" (1890) CQ entirely made of cotton fabrics, primarily prints. It works because in the center of each square is a solid yellow applique (a heart, cross, star, etc.). The quilt is not heavily embellished.
There are other interesting quilts that are not CQ. One may not be technically CQ but is close. It is a 56" x 56" nine block quilt made of cigar bands. Since I am not familiar with cigars, I have no idea of the fabric content of the bands. The ruffle and backing of the quilt are Chinese silk so I imagine the bands are quality fabric. But the quilt is stunning in yellows, oranges, and reds with the bands put together to form stars, hexagons, etc.(Mary in Virginia) Victorian Patchwork & Quilting Dettore/Maxvill - picked it up at Barnes and Noble - it's a great book with lots of colored samples and pages of embroidery stitches.(Kathi)
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Crazy Quilt Workbook
by David Small
Published by: Small and Associates Publishing in Nashua, NH.
ORDER DIRECT FOR $12.95*
(*includes shipping within USA - Outside USA add $3.00 regular shipping or
$5.00 priority)
To order send check or money order to: Small Expressions,
PO Box 275, Nashua, New Hampshire 03061 USA
David Small at has a new book out and the name is Crazy Quilt Workbook....sounds great to me and i can't wait to get it. (cathy in houston,tx)
It is an excellent book for learning silk ribbon embroidery. There are how to's for 40 stitches and she has included 12 projects, one of which is Crazy Quilt. There are lots of colour photos and many of those are crazy quilt.
Project # 3 Shell purse, combining crazy quilt and silk ribbon embroidery, Picture page 50, directions page 65.
Pictures: 2 crazy quilt landscapes, pages 22 & 23; 4 crazy quilt hearts using cigarette silks, page 64; Crazy quilt vest in jewell colours, page 99; Crazy quilt hat box, page 100; Crazy quilt picture frame and clothes brush page 101; Crazy quilt vest in peach, green and cream, page 102; Desert Garden landscape, page 103.
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Early American Embroidery Designs: an 1815 Manuscript Album with over
190 patterns
by Elizabeth M. Townshend
ISBN 0-486-24946-8
The book is in the Dover Needlework Series and the cost was $5.25 Cdn. The US price is $3.95.
It is not a "how to" book, but is full of designs suitable for embellishing seams and spot motifs. As I was going through the designs, I could picture them being done with ribbons and beads and all sorts of fancy threads. The 42 page book is a wealth of design ideas. (Karen Young)
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Just Designs
by Lesley Turpin-Delport
I'd like to recommend this book. It focuses on needlework: ideas, sources of inspiration, techniques (photo transfer, fabric painting, silk ribbon etc.} Wonderful pictures and just enough text to be informative.(Dawn Askwith)
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Stitches with Variations ($6.95),
by Jacqueline Enthoven.
ISBN 0-9629056-8-2
It is small (5 x 7") and is subtitled "A Handbood of Basic Stitches." While I already know some of the stitches she demonstrates, there were many more that I did not know, or that I hadn't tried before because of previously poor directions. I also really like the "variations" part of each stitch. I think there are quite a few ideas here that I will use in my next project. (Julie Hocking)
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The Stitches of Creative Embroidery
by Jacqueline Enthoven.
I borrowed "The Stitches of Creative Embroidery" from a friend a few years ago and have been looking for it since then. I was delighted to see that Evening Star carries it. It is a bit dated in its samplers, but I find that it is the best book I've run across for both the variety of stitches included as well as the complete directions for making them (sharyn )
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Nature Design & Silk Ribbons
by Cathy Grafton
Publication date: April 1997
Published by Amer Quilters Society
ISBN: 0891458859
She covers the history of silk ribbon, the various characteristics of silk, ribbon, thread, fabric, shops, needles, then goes into designing, basic as well as combination stitches, building a strand, and has practice pieces as well as samplers and small quilts, including a crazy quilt runner. The photos are good, including those of the various stitches, done in both thread and ribbon, the combination stitches are interesting, her projects are inspirational, full of ideas, and she has a source list in the back to boot. I think it will be a book I will refer to for ideas often. The 'nature design' part is a combination of folk art and crazy quilting, which I find tend to overlap, in a strange sort of way, and the silk ribbon does add another dimension to the folk art designs. (Becky)
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Ribbon Embroidery Encyclopedia of Birds, Butterflies and Blossoms
by Deanna Hall West
Published by American School of Needlework
There are all kinds of flowers, including those on shrubs and trees and every kind of bird. I really like the bald eagle. The other one is "Ribbon Embroidery Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Fruits", the watermelon slice is very cool. This book also includes animals like rabbits and frogs to put in your garden. Wouldn't a little garden with a picket fence look great on the bib of a jumper? Or a mountain scene with an eagle flying on the back of a denim jacket? (Beth Barter)
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Countryside Embroidery Book
by Lalla Ward
She is self taught and created 12 miniature samplers depicting birds in a natural setting. They were to be reproduced for a calendar in Britain. Her style is very textural and the compositions are lovely. I'm thinking of using one as a center piece in a crazy quilt wall hanging with a fall theme. She adds life to her animals using a technique similar to stump work. The instructions are very clear and she explains how to use felt padding along with a padding stitch worked in "bump"(she uses DMC Soft Cotton). (Dawn in Hamilton)
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More... Texture With Textiles
by Linda F. McGehee
Embellishing Concepts in Sulky
edited by Fred & Joyce Drexler
I also have 2 good books on machine embellishment which are not really CQ but have some good ideas (Mary in CT)
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Shay Pendray's Needlecraft Projects
by Shay Pendray, Embroidery Studio
Published by Sterling Pub
Publication date: August 1,1996
ISBN: 0806948647
I guess it is based on a Television Show (Public Television?) called the Embroidery Studio. It has one simple design each from about 30 different designers, a regular Who's Who of the needlework design world. There is one section called Crazy Quilt, and it features a Victorian Patchwork Vest by Judy Bishop, a Soft Case by Deanna Powell (looks like a jewelry pouch or small purse), and a box top called Patches and Posies which features a silk ribbon floral bouquet, surrounded by patchwork and embroidery There are good stitch diagrams, including some interesting variations. In fact, the end papers of the book are stitch diagrams, repeated over and over. There is a complete detailed pattern of the stitches on the soft case, which features some interesting variations, too. (Julie Hocking In San Diego, CA)
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Piecemakers Presents: Silk Ribbon Embroidery From Clothing to Quilts
Published by Piecemakers
120 pages, Price $24.00
Piecemakers of California, has one of the best with clear directions. Fine projects as well as pictures just for inspiration. They decorate denim items to a great extent. There is also a crazy quilt stocking in that book with very good construction instructions. (Orinda)
I just recently bought this book on Stumpwork Embroidery. Stumpwork Embroidery is a raised or embossed work. The three-dimensional effects are achieved by padding and applying detached motifs. I thought that many of the designs could be used in Crazy Quilt. (Karen Young)
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The Art of Dimensional Embroidery
by Maria Freitas
I had the privlege of taking a class from Maria Freitas at the I Love Needlework Fair in Long Beach in January. She wrote the Art of Dimensional Embroidery, which gives instructions for 41 flowers and 29 stitches. (Julie Hocking In San Diego, CA)
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Fabled Flowers; Innovative Quilt Patterns Inspired by Japanese Sashiko and Origami Traditions
by Sudo, Kumiko
Publisher: Quilt Digest Press, ISBN:0844226459
I added my sample of Kumiko Sudo's three dimensional hydrangea (to Crazy Quilt Sampler). This was from her book called Fabled Flowers. It was made by folding up a small circle of fabric into a square, and then piling a bunch of them up in a circle. We used old and new Japanese fabrics, but they could be made out of just about anything. At the Road to California Quilt Conference, I saw a quilt with one made with hand dyed fabrics, and it was quite realistic and very beautiful. The hydrangea is sewn together by tacking each square in the center. When I sewed mine together, I added a small seed bead in the center of each square to hide my stitches. Her book has many more flowers...and, she's a wonderful teacher, if you get a chance to take a class from her. (Janet)
Brodiere Perse is also known as Persian embroidery. While I have yet to come across either names when surfin' the net I can recommend this book. (Debbie Adams)
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Clues in the Calico
by Brachman
This has an overview of brodiere perse.(Dian Crayne)
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Dimensional Applique (Baskets, Blooms & Baltimore Borders)
by Elly Sienkiewicz
A Pattern Companion to Volume 2 of Baltimore Beauties and Beyond, Studies in Classic Album Quilt Applique
C & T Publishing
ISBN 0-914881-58-2
The following is an excerpt from this book.
"Broderie perse, or 'Persian embroidery' was an early-19th-century quilt fancywork. Motifs were cut from expensive chintz prints and appliqued onto off-white background fabric in rather elegant arrangements. At its fanciest, not only were the applique's raw edges blanket stitched, but more stitchery (especially chain and stem stitches) embellished the print surface, all in the same off white thread."
The book gives instructions for doing Broderie perse as well as, many types of dimensional flowers and baskets.(Karen Young)
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Miniature Baltimore Album Quilts - 28 Embroidered and Embellished Block Designs
by Jenifer Buechel
That Patchwork Place
I recommend this new book. It combines silk ribbon embroidery and an updated form of broderie perse. The blocks are only 4" fiinished and the applique shapes are first fused on and then outlined in embroidery - as opposed to being held down by raw edge embroidery, as in true broderie perse. The flowers are then added in SRE. It works really well as a way to miniaturise the Baltimore Album style of quiltmaking, and I can see definite applications for embellishing crazy quilting projects - check it out! (Hilary Metcalf)
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The Pierced Quilt
by Jonathan Holstein
This classic has an overview of brodiere perse.(Dian Crayne)
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Broderie Perse: the ElegantQuilt (Love to Quilt)
by Barbara Barber
Published by American Quilters Society
Publication date: November 1996
ISBN: 0891458751
Price: $14.95
For those of you who were looking for information on broderie perse, I just got an advertisement for a book called "Broderie Perse: the Elegant Quilt". It looks a little pricy for the size -- 64 pages, 8-1/2"x 11" -- and the blurb says that "Her directions and carefully drawn illustrations are enlivened by colorful personal stories and helpful hints." (Dian)
Another wonderful British book. Not as much color as the first one. TERRIFIC ideas and examples. One thing I like about the british books is that they always have an eye for budget, so they give suggestions for supplies that one can easily and cheaply obtain. For example "card printing", where you use cardboard - manila file, etc. for printing.As in complex cloth, many techniques listed. The approaches are different, though so even though some of the techniques are the same, they don't really duplicate.(Jeannine)
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Complex Cloth : A Comprehensive Guide to Surface Design
by Jane Dunnewold
Publication date: October 1,1996
Published by That Patchwork Place
ISBN: 1564771490
Wonderful examples. All kinds of dyeing, painting, stamping, discharging, foiling, puff-painting,stencilling, transfer, etc. Straightforward "recipe" approach. Interesting exercises at the back. Contemporary/ethnic design approach. Lots of color. Her main contribution is LAYERING the different techniques, using 7 or 8 with the result of beautiful "complex cloth." (Jeannine)
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Hand-Dyed Fabric Made Easy
by Adriene Buffington
Publication date 1996
Published by That Patchwork Place
Good basic book for beginners, using half-yard pieces. It's a setof twelve lessons. When you finish, you will have a nice stash of mottled and gradated solids. Strictly Procion. Remember you can do this on silk. Examples are not very striking, though.You will go all through the color wheel and have brights and muddies. Don't forget to throw your trims in. Does everyone know you can dye plastic and pearl buttons? (Jeannine)
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One of my very favorite parties for the mind (Barbara)
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Colors Changing Hue
by Yvonne Porcella
Publication date: April 1,1995
Published by C & T Pub
ISBN: 0914881868
Colors Changing Hue put me on to trying Setacolour paints which work well. I recently visited a friend who had some lovely hand dyed ribbon and she had done it in - wait for this - food colouring!! It is a lot of fun, although not very controlled, to dye your own stuff, but I figure, what the heck - you can't possibly end up with anything that is actually ugly, and there will always be a place for it in an embroidery/cq project. (Hilary Metcalf in Canberra, Australia)
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oldie but goodie book. it is a lexicon of selected symbols. probably out of print now so try old book stores or maybe Peddler's Wagon, 417-682-3734. (pat in maryland)
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Design Sources for Symbolism
by Jan Messent
Designing with Motifs and Borders
by Jan Messent
I was lurking on the CQ list this morning and saw that you had trouble finding the Jan Messent book on Symbolism in our catalog. It is listed on page 22 at the top of the page in the right column. This is indeed an excellent book! I must also recommend Jan Messent's other book, including a newer one not shown in the blue catalog but listed in our July update called "Designing with Motifs and Borders" - another great skill that helps Crazy Quilters. (Carolyn at Evening Star in a letter to Phyllis Price)
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An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols
by J. C. Cooper
Publication date: April 1,1987
Published by Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 0500271259
There is another great book on symbolism that I use when writing the CQ Club (Carolyn at Evening Star in a letter to Phyllis Price)
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Complete Book of Amulets and Talismans (Llewellyn's Sourcebook Series)
by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, Migene Wippler
Publication date: October 1991
Published by Llewellyn Publications
ISBN: 087542287X
Symbols, Signs and Signets
by Ernst Lehner
Publication date: May 1,1985
Published by Dover Pubns
ISBN: 0486222411
I use these as references all the time, for all kinds of quilting, needlework, and doll projects. When I'm working on something just to amuse/please myself, I use a lot of paleolithic and feminist symbols. If I'm doing a project for someone in particular, I try to fit the symbols to the person. For example, when I made a baby quilt for a Chinese couple's little boy, I quilted ideograms for good luck, prosperity, happiness, etc. into it. (Dian)
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The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects
by Barbara G. Walker
Publication date: 1988
Published by Harper Collins,San Francisco,
ISBN# 0-06-250923-3 (paperback)
ISBN# 0-06-250923-5 (hardcover)
Just to give you an idea of what's in there, I'll list the chapter headings: Round and Oval Motifs; Body Parts; Long Motifs; Nature; Three-Way Motifs; Animals; Four-Way Motifs; Birds; Multipointed Motifs; Insects; Sacred Objects; Flowers;lSecular-sacred Objects; Plants; Rituals; Trees; Deities' Signs; Fruit & Foodstuffs; Supernaturals; Minerals; Stones & Shells; Zodiac. Seems like it covers just about everything possible and then some! I can see using it to find something very particular or just hey, I have this space here, what will fit nicely in it? (Beth)
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Hearts and Hands; Women, Quilts, and American Society
By: Elaine Hedges, Pat Ferrero, Julie Silber
Publication date: October 1,1996
Published by Rutledge Hill Pr
ISBN #1-55853-434-2
I just found another book which has some excellent pictures of antique Crazy Quilts. It's not a "how to" book, but rather a history book. What a great book. The women who compiled this book are quilt historians and it is fascinating reading. I'm not through reading it yet (just got it today) but it's definitely a good one for anyone interested in quilt history especially, but also for some great inspiration for CQ.(Cathi in California)
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The Classic American Quilt Collection : Wedding Ring
by Karen Costello Soltys (Editor)
Published by Rodale Press
Publication date: June 1,1995
ISBN: 0875966837
The pattern is just an ordinary wedding ring pattern but instead of creating the melon shape piece from the small parts it is made as one piece that has been crazy quilt made... so then the wedding ring made this way would need only the large background piece and the melon shape pattern pieces. (EugeneBurden)
I went to my vast library of books and found instructions for a "Crazy Wedding Ring" quilt. It isn't a double ring but it does use CQing. Basically, the CQ pieces are made seperately and appliqued to the background. (giselle)
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The Complete Quilting Course
by Gail Lawther
Published by Chilton Book Co
Publication date: August 1992
ISBN: 0801983584
One book I got out yesterday showed a very interesting contemporary crazy quilt. The fabric had all been pieced together in strips of various widths, then cut apart in sections, and the sections sewn together in squares in a random crazy patch style. I occasionally strip pieces together in CQ, but because this was done like that it had really a lot of interesting lines and angles. It looks to me too that the squares weren't stitched onto a backing. This would be easier to do since with the strips already having several pieces of fabric in them, you could sew together a square with perhaps only four sections, but still have lots of variety in the fabric. Quilt is shown on page 169. BTW, overall this is a TERRIFIC book. (Phyllis Price)
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Treasures : The Canadian Museum of Civilization
Publisher: The National Museums of Canada and Camden House Publishing.
Publication date 1988
This book shows very close up a detail of a CQ made by a woman in London, Ontario in 1885. This colour picture, which is 12" x 14' is probably actual scale of a section of the original quilt. It's the best picture I've EVER seen of an antique CQ, and because it is so large one can really pour over the wonderful array of stitches it shows. (Phyllis Price)
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Another book I checked out was The McCall's Book of Quilts, first written in 1964 by the Editors of McCAll's Needlework and Crafts Publications and co-published by Simon and Schuster and the McCall Pattern company. They have a lovely picture of a antique CQ table runner. One of its nice details is how it is finished on the ends with a zigzag cut [ /\/\/\/\/\/\ ] velvet border, the points of whch are embellished with a ball cut from silk ball fringe. (Phyllis Price)
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Decorative Arts of the Amish of Lancaster County
by Kathryn McCauley, Daniel McCauley
Published by Good Books
Publication date: October 1988Hardcover, 160 pages
ISBN: 0934672660
This book shows how, with the effective use of colour, CQ's can be very dramatic even without fancy embellishment. (Phyllis Price)
My favorite book for bead embellishment (Jeannine in Brooklyn)
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The Book of Beads : A Practical and Inspirational Guide to Beads and
Jewelry Making
by Janet Coles
The book TIES, TIES, TIES by Janet B. Elwin will give plenty of info on unassembling and re-assembling ties into quilts. (giselle) (my own used-tie art quilt is featured on p.6 of the December '96 Quilter's Newsletter Magazine)
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Quilts from Neckties
by Sharon Newman
Publication date: June 1995
Published by Asn Pub
ISBN: 088195733X
The book Quilts from Neckties (by the way a very good "CQ in Print" addition--because that's what this whole book is about--making crazies from neckties) recommends (Published by American School of Needlework--they include instructions and template patterns.) (Cathi in California)
I have found a new obsession to go along with my CQ. I ordered a book from Dover on Irish crochet laces. The book is a reprint of the original 1909 version, and has THE most wonderful things I have ever seen. I have been madly practicing this crochet technique which is very different from what I am used to, and am making some progress. (sharyn)
It was very inexpensive as most Dover books are, and was well worth the cost. It has some edgings, but is mostly larger projects like a fantastic opera bag that I'm sure I'd never in a million years get done.......but then there's always room for another UFO! Some of the projects in this book are done with size 70 & 100 threads! I didn't even know you could get threads that small! (sharyn in STILL rainy central Texas)
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Tassels : The Fanciful Embellishment
by Nancy Welch
Published by Lark Books
Publication date: March 1,1997
ISBN: 188737423X
It is both a pictorial essay on how tassels have been used in various cultures over the years, but is also a how-to to create more lavish replicas. (Phyllis Price)
Great ideas, and patterns for interesting clothing shapes (Barbara)
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The Art of Zandra Rhodes
by Zandra Rhodes, Anne Knight
Publication date: December 1995
ISBN: 1854799975
Published by Zandra Rhodes
Fabulous fabric and clothing that shake your noodle and make you wacky as I am. (Barbara who loves books, even the way they feel )
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