I discovered today, a most amazing crazy quilt with it’s history, at Fiber Fantasies’, History In An Antique Quilt post.  The author purchased the quilt at an estate auction, then went on to research the history of the quilt, the home, and the quiltmaker.  She explains:
 I was unaware of this home’s history [located in Cedarville, VA] until I began researching some of the antique textiles that I purchased at the estate auction. Who would know that a bag of threads, unfinished textiles, and a few antique quilts would give me the clues to research local history?
(In preceeding blog entries, you can …read more

Whether you’re using the journal for literary pursuits or for recording your quilting endeavors, those with quilted covers (and backs) are lovely.  You can use them yourself or give as gifts.
Heather, at A Creative Journal, has written an informative post, Making Your Own Journal Covers.  She gives close to a dozen resources where you’ll find tutorials and information about materials to use.
One I found particularly interesting  is How to Crazy Quilt which Heather found at DIYnamite: let’s create.
                                          
(And thanks, Heather, for giving me credit for inspiring you to write about journal covers!)

Crazy quilts fascinated me as a child….and still do as an adult.  I recall the one, all satin, silk, velvet, and brocade with elaborate fancy stitching, that my grandmother draped over the back of the horsehair sofa in her “parlor”, or living room in today’s lingo.  I’ve also collected discarded crazy quilts that my daughter and I’ve salvaged from someone’s rag bag.
Cyndi, of Layers Upon Layers, called my attention to a list of online crazy quilt resources found at Sharon B’s In a Minute Ago.  This is a fabulous resource where you can find just about anything you need about crazy …read more

Recently I wrote about the American crazy quilt  and about Nancy Kirk.  This post includes both. 
Nancy Kirk is holding a free teleseminar for the Crazy Quilt Society, on Tuesday, March 6.  This discussion will include information about their retreat. You may want to check this out at….. where you can register and post a question. 
You also can find more information about the Crazy Quilt Society here…….

I remember the crazy quilt my grandmother folded across the back of the horsehair sofa in her parlor (living room today).  It was of silks and satins with cross-stitching and feather stitching outlining the pieces. 
As children, my sister and I used to enjoy sitting there and studying it.  We’d try to imagine what the various fabrics had come from.
Crazy quilts are part of our American heritage.  These coverlets of many colors have long been associated with the Victorian era.  However, actually they go back to early America and are considered by some quilt authorities to be the first quilts made in this country.
As the …read more

Quilted and appliqued Christmas ornaments add color and interest to your tree and your home during the holiday season.  You may want to make these yourself or find them at craft and Christmas shops.
Cathy, at the Tangled Thread  blog (www.tangledthread.com) features a number of Christmas ornaments you may want to make.  These include: a Yo-Yo Christmas Tree Stocking, Crazy Quilt Stocking, Christmas Countdown Calendar, and a Counted Cross Stitch Tree Skirt.  Simply browse down her blog for more information and where to find patterns and directions.
Creating Christmas and holiday ornaments and decorations with your youngsters can be a fun time.  …read more

A friend, who has a very limited diet for health reasons, said she makes her meals more interesting by using a variety of plates and cups.  She has colorful ones, floral ones, plain ones, and elegant ones.  This way, even though she may be eating the same foods, she gives her meal a different aura.
This let me to thinking.  “Why not add variety to a meal, any meal, with different placemats and table coverings?”
So why not make some patchwork or appliqued placemats for yourself, to give as gifts, and to sell?  When I operated a quiltmaking business from my home, …read more

Quilts as necklaces or pendants!  What a fanciful idea.  I discovered a brief mention and some photos of Crazy Quilt Necklaces in the Summer 2006 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, p. 9. (www.quiltingarts.com). 
Karen Zoback of Woodstown, NJ  creates these whimsical necklaces with crazy quilt designs.  She even will personalize the necklaces utilizing pieces of favorite and memorable fabrics and adornments.
Isn’t it amazing what quilting and fabric artists can visualize and create?  What are some of your unique ideas?

I never imagined so many quiltmakers were making the rounds of yard sales looking for items for making and enhancing quilts.  I’ve mentioned the ladies purchasing fat quarters and searching for fancy fabrics to make crazy quilts.
Another quilter browsed through the packages of buttons my daughter had culled from her collection.  “I use buttons on my quilt projects,” she explained when her husband joked about all the many buttons she bought.  She said she decorated quilt hangings with unusual buttons, just as my daughter does.
The previous year, a quilter bought my daughter’s whole button offering at that yard sale.  She …read more

“We’re going to use this for our crazy quilt,” the mom explained, as she selected a silky vest with satiny embroidery I had decided to part with at our yard sale. 
“We saw a crazy quilt at a shop in our travels,” one of her teenaged daughters said.  “Mom said we could make our own instead of buying one.”
What an enjoyable mother/daughters project, I thought. 
They further explained they were finding fabrics at yard sales and fabric shops for their quilt.  I realized my vest would make a lovely addition and wondered why I hadn’t thought of that for some of my …read more