I saw some crazy quilts recently at my local quilt shop that were all trimmed up with needlework, lace, beading, etc. Any tips on how to go about making one?

Put a large piece of fabric backing in a large embroidery frame, and grab a small piece of pretty something or other. Get some colored threads and start adding to that little first piece, folding down the edges as you sew it to the first piece, then add more of whatever shape you want.

Some folks cut these into squares and add solid strips to tie them together, others, like me, want the whole thing to look like one piece. Depends on what kind of picture is in your mind. This can be added to for years and taken up anytime you wish, put aside for any time. You can start collecting buttons, laces, ribbons, sparkly threads, premade applique or make your own. Anything goes.

I cut foundation pieces out of muslin or old sheets, usually 10" square & start sewing strips on them. Do a search on this board for crazy quilts and you'll get a lot of good ideas.

Ramona,
Is it difficult to piece several large pieces together to get a bed size quilt without it looking like the blocks were pieced together? Or would you leave some blank areas around the edges to place connecting fabrics that will cross over the borders once the blocks are together? I can't imagine having one giant quilt sized piece of backing fabric to work with all the time. I think I would rather have smaller blocks so they are more portable to carry around and work on. I hope my question makes sense.

Rose L.

search here and on the internet. There are a lot of books if you want to do a traditional silk/velvet. I've made one with cotton and used decorative stitches on my machine along with lace and buttons, and that looked cute, but wasn't traditiona. Maybe they have a class since they were displaying one.

Here's a free online CQ magazine (back issues too)
http://cqmagonline.com/

Thank you for this website! It's great!