Most of the crazy quilts that I'm familar with are made for show, not as a blanket. I've seen some with just decorative stitching on fancy fabric (velveteen, silk, etc.). I did add a very small amount of hand embroidery on one of my quilts using perle cotton. I find that anything that adds to the surface of a quilt other than plain quilting feels scratchy on my skin. The decoration sort of lays on top of the fabric making it rough instead of smooth.