meme peggy

I would like to do a crazy quilt...but I have researched the pattern and it seems do able, but nothing I have found addresses the backing...is it just stitched to the quilt and the border is attached? No batting either? Thanks for your help...memepeggy

ckcowl

crazy quilts are (usually) foundation pieced-
depending on the weight of the quilt top when finished batting is sometimes used- other times not.
since there is alot of embellishing/beads, buttons, ect...on a crazy quilt they are normally tied not quilted.
they do normally have a back.
some people work on embellishing one block at a time- others put their blocks together then embellish the quilt...and some people choose to machine quilt their crazy quilt- letting some of the quilting be some of the embellishment- then embellishing more after the quilting is done.
but traditionally- they are tied because of the danger of hitting the embellishments.

meme peggy

ckcowl, thank you so much...I thought it must be tied, but could not find anything on the info I had...thanks again...memepeggy

MTS

It's the a common lacking element in most of the crazy quilt books as well. Almost as annoying as the "quilt as desired" for regular quilting patterns.

The traditional old crazy quilts that I've actually seen were all tied or tacked, with backing, no batting. And the ties were to the back.

I've actually got one sitting here that I'm supposed to finish for a friend. I finally found (3 years ago :roll: ) the perfect velvet border at Mary Jo's. So my plan is to put those on - wide, around 8".

The backing is dupioni silk - it was a remnant piece that was very cost effective ;-) , and I'm not crazy about the color so it's perfect. I'm not planning on using any batting.

And then I'm going to either "birth" it and tack it, OR tie/tack it the regular way, and bring the velvet to the back.

The thing is my friend wants to hang it, so I've got to make sure it's evenly stable enough throughout that it doesn't sag anywhere. And I really don't want to have to tack the velvet borders.

So that's possibly maybe perhaps what I'm going to do. :roll:

meme peggy

MTS...thank you for your comment ....element lacking in info...I thought maybe it was just me and I wasn't being careful in my searching...that happens from time to time with me...so, thanks again....memepeggy

PaperPrincess

MTS: maybe you could put a layer of interfacing in the sandwich before you turn it. They do have kinds that have a bit of drape to them. This would help keep it from sagging a bit.

jeaninmaine

What do you mean by "birth" it???

MTS

Putting quilt top and backing right sides together, stitching around the edges, leaving a 12" space unsewn, and then turning the whole thing inside out.

We've just always called it birthing in my group.

I'm sure there is a valid technical term which is unknown to me. ;-)

GreatStarter

I suspect the reason the info is so lacking on backing, battings, tying them off is because many were left without a backing. My family has one made by my great-great grandmother and her twin sister who were milliners. It was never backed so my grandmother who never learned to sew hired a lady to back it. She used a heavy gray knit. It's awful. However when my mother took it to be included in a history of antique quilts that was done in 1976, the historian told her to leave it that way as it helped stablize it. Possibly because they were made with pieces of fancy fabrics, ribbons, etc they were on going projects that might never have been finished. When more fancy bites of fabric came to them, the quilts grew in size. They were often layed out over a bed or a piece of furniture just for show, so they didn't need to have a batting. And most people couldn't afford a large piece of fancy fabric to back them if they were finished to the size the maker wanted. Just my thoughts...

Theresa

Another new quilting term is "born"!