I began this about 8 years ago. I work on it a bit every year. It's to the point that it is usable under the tree. I'd still like to do the characteristic embroidery over the seams that you find in crazy quilts. And after I finish that, I'll sew the backing on.
There's a method for crazy quilting called flip and sew. Basically, you have a backing piece, turn your quilt patch right side down, stitch one edge, then flip over. Now, take another quilt patch, place it on top of the first sewn patch, with right sides together (and so the new patch is right side down), and stitch through both the new and old patches and the backing fabric, along one edge. Now flip this one over as well.
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| the backing -- you can see that I machine stitched some of the pieces and hand stitched others, whatever seemed to be the easiest in the moment |
Not all crazy quilters use a backing piece. I found it helpful to use one to help guide my shaped skirt and give strength to the whole piece.
I used sectioned backing pieces for my tree skirt, 4 wedge-shaped sections. I did the flip and sew technique on each of 4 sections. Then sewed the sections together, covering each seam with more patching.
For fabric, I used some old clothing items (a couple of Christmas dresses from my girls, what can I say, I am a sentimental fool), a dress bought at Value Village on 50% off day (spent about $3.50 for about 2 yards of usable velvet), some upholstery fabric (more difficult to sew with as it has a heavy backing to it), and a couple of purchased remnant pieces. The backing pieces, to which I sewed the quilt patches, are from a set of curtains I made 25 years ago. I did buy new thread, however, so that any thread showing would be the right color.
This has been my first attempt at crazy quilting. I'll definitely do other pieces. It was that easy, forgiving and fun.
I used sectioned backing pieces for my tree skirt, 4 wedge-shaped sections. I did the flip and sew technique on each of 4 sections. Then sewed the sections together, covering each seam with more patching.
For fabric, I used some old clothing items (a couple of Christmas dresses from my girls, what can I say, I am a sentimental fool), a dress bought at Value Village on 50% off day (spent about $3.50 for about 2 yards of usable velvet), some upholstery fabric (more difficult to sew with as it has a heavy backing to it), and a couple of purchased remnant pieces. The backing pieces, to which I sewed the quilt patches, are from a set of curtains I made 25 years ago. I did buy new thread, however, so that any thread showing would be the right color.
This has been my first attempt at crazy quilting. I'll definitely do other pieces. It was that easy, forgiving and fun.
