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

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.

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

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:

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

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.

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

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. ;-)

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...

Another new quilting term is "born"!

Http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-44627-1.htmb
I had a few questions about how to finish mine. Thanks for the help

I remember a crazy quilt done by someone in my family which we unfortunately used until it fell into pieces! As I recall it was tied with the knots to the back. It was truly gorgeous and had a dark green silk/sateen backing no binding just an envelope finish. Have fun with the stitching!!

WARNING - - CRAZY QUILTING CAN BE ADDITIVE
I STITCHED ON FOUNDATION BLOCKS AND USED BLACK AROUND EACH BLOCK ONCE THE TOP WAS ALL PUT TOGETHER IT WAS QUIT HEAVY WITHOUT ADDING A BATTING. I PUT A COTTON BACK ( DARK RED WITH BIG BLACK ROSES AND VINES) I DID SOME STITCHING WITH INVESIBLE THREAD AND IT LOOKED NICE. NANCY KIRK APPRAISED IT AT $3500-$4000 SO I WAS HAPPY

Agreed.

Do you have a picture of your quilt? I'd love to see it.


Ruth,
Please turn off the Caps Lock key when posting. It makes it difficult to read the text. Thank you. :thumbup:

Sorry about the caps I will try to send a picture of the quilt I have never sent one before so Hope this works.

Ruth-
It's lovely, and a ton of work. Is that black fabric cotton or velvet? It's very, very deep, and really frames each of the blocks.

The back is a very pretty deep red with black roses and vines also the black is not velvet it is a black man made suade like material it looks rich. Velvet and or velvetine is very heavy and hard to work with. I have other pictures I will try to send sometime. I need to got sew for charity to day. I am enjoying this site.

Do you use your foundation for your backing or is the backing seperate. I have made blocks but haven't put them together. I have a crazy quilt from my gggrandmother in the 1800's. In the center she emb. Will you remember me when I am gone. She was an orphan. I wouldn't take anything for it.

Nancy really loves those crazy quilts!! I took restoration classes with her, so knowledgeable!

Hi,
I went to a crazy quilt show in Madison,WI last year and there were about 20 quilts. The blocks were all finished differently. There is no RIGHT way to make a crazy quilt. It is truly crazy! My best advice is to use a backing that helps stabilize the whole quilt. I made a crazy quilt for my daughter's wedding and it took me 5 years. It had 8" square blocks set 9 across and 12 down. No sashings and no borders. Unfortunately I used old clothing she found in resale shops and I pieced the backing with stretchable velvet. BIG mistake. She hung it on the wall and it wrinkles funny. I made it the size to fit her bed and since she requested dark reds and blacks silks and velvets thats what I used. Then she painted her bedroom brown. I was not happy, but she found a place to hang it and it is really a very lovely focal point for the room.

WOW!!! NICE!!!

J J

Magnificent!!

Since you use a foundation for crazy quilt blocks, to avoid having my crazy quilt be so heavy when done (it is king-size), I used Bounty paper towel sheets (11 X 11 size) as the foundation backing; they stay in the quilt, and since Bounty is a very strudy towel, it goes through the wash without any issues...just an option for you. I did have my quilt quilted by a long-arm quilter with light batting rather than tying, but I didn't add dimensional embellishments, just decorative stitching over all the seams. The quilt I am talking about is my avatar.

I did this one in a class last year. It's quilt-as-you-go method. Each block is sewn and includes the batting and backing. Then the blocks are joined together with narrow sashing to butt the blocks together. Borders are keyhole strips, each one sewn onto a strip of batting and backing then joined to the quilt the same way the blocks were joined together.

I have been crazy quilting for 15 years, and never use batting and usually just tie the front to the back. My Christmas stockings have batting in them to make them "puffy"...but if you look at my site, most of my stuff is deco items, rarely would I make a whole bed quilt. It's almost a misnomer to call it Crazy Quilting, because we don't always make quilts!!!! But it's true, there is no right or wrong way, and it's also true...it's addicting!!! I also call it my therapy!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is beautiful!!

very pretty...I like!!!

I did a crazy quilt last year (sorry no pic). Muslin was used as for a base and I used all the fancy stitches from my Viking SE to embellish the top. The back was sewn to top with right sides together sewing all around edges, leaving space to turn right side out and stitched closed. No tacking/tying. It was one of my favorite quilts to make, because I was more focused on creativity and less on matching seams up. Loved it.

Ruth and Janette, your crazy quilts are beautiful! Nice job!

WOW and double WOW!

[quote=RUTH ANN MUNDY]WARNING - - CRAZY QUILTING CAN BE ADDITIVE

What on this board is "not" addictive! :)

I have seen one crazy quilt that was double bed size with no blocks. The quilt was started in the middle and all the crazy pieces were built around until the entire flat double sheet was covered. All the embellishments were added and a plain backing applied in the "birthing manner" previously mentioned. This was made and designed to be hung on the wall in order to display all the embellishments and creative top stiches round each attached piece. I hope to make a smaller version of this quilt and to use it as a wall hanging. They were meant to display ladies elegant dress, drapery and historic fabrics which were embellished with lace, fancy buttons and pieces of costume jewlery. The embroidery stitches were to show off the ladies creative stichery. The quilts did not have batting sice they were wall hangings and not bed quilts.

There are books on crazy quilting and they probably tell you how to finish them. I recently made one and put batting in it to help hold the embellishments up. Then I put what I call a 'knife edge" on it. I guess others here call it birthing. I use knife edge because that is a finish you could use when making a pillow. Anyway, I hand quilted it in various places to hold front to back. I didn't use a pattern, just random places so it was evenly distributed through out the quilt. It was only a wall hanging.

no batting in the old ones....if the front has fancy fabrics, you would want soemthing that at least looked fancy (cantry things like velor for a durable yet fancy feel) or you can use a thin batt, as i have done with recent ones. bind as you usually do. a seperate binding would be more authentic.

I am going to make a scrappy quilt similar to the crazy patch for my uncle in the Vets Home, but I am going to use wadding as the base and sew as you go so both sides are done at the same time.

Beautiful quilt!

Beautiful quilts ladies! thank you so much for sharing!

HGTV-Alex anderson short video on birthing a quilt...
http://www.hgtv.com/video/birthing-a...deo/index.html

Jean:
1.Place quilt top and backing fabric ~ right sides together.

2. place batting on top of the backing fabric.

3.Using a 1/2" to 3/4" seam, sew around the edges. Leave an opening big enough to fit your hand through.

4.Turn the quilt right side out.

5. smooth out the inside of the quilt with your hand or a pointed object, in the corners especially.

6.Close the opening with hand stitches.

7. stitch round the outside quilt with a 1/4" seam allowance, this makes what is referred to as a "false binding". or add regular binding if you choose.

i call it a "quick turn"