Vintage CRAZY QUILT ~ What can we learn?

Let's look at my great-grandmother's Crazy Quilt and see what we can learn from her as a maker.
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[@toteoma3034]

Exactly what I was looking for! 💘

[@SewtheDistance]

I love when that happens! ❤️

[@dennismirac6603]

Thank you for sharing your family history.

[@SewtheDistance]

You are very welcome! Thank you for watching!

[@karenabrams8986]

I just picked one of these up at a garage sale for $12. I can’t believe how old this is. There are places that need repaired.😬 Glad I watched the whole vid and caught that bit about “rules”. I’m going to repair these spots by stitching fabric on top of the worn patches. I’ll try to mimic the embroidery on my repair patches. It’ll be a patch within a patch. Not going to be cutting anything on this quilt. This must have taken somebody years. Unbelievably stunning.

[@SewtheDistance]

WHOA! $12? That is amazing! Fantastic! I am so happy this video helped. Crazy quilts are incredible, aren't they? So happy you saved it and are repairing it! Love it!

[@dianehuntley2493]

How very exciting to own something as beautiful as this that your great grandmother made. Exceptional😊

[@SewtheDistance]

It is such a wonderful quilt. I love the history, too. Thank you so much! ❤️

[@Ara-60]

Fantastic quilt!! Thanks for share!! I’m a chilean mother who loves quilting and embroidery... so I enjoyed your grandmas crazy quilt. Greetings from Chile 🇨🇱 , Ariela. 🙂

[@SewtheDistance]

Greetings to you, too! Thank you for sharing! Aren't quilts wonderful? They connect people and experience from around the world. ❤️❤️❤️

[@quiltingforthesoul]

Beautiful work you are so blessed to have it. Thank you for sharing it with us God bless you and your family.

[@SewtheDistance]

Thank you so much! Blessings to you and yours, as well! ❤️

[@suzanne529]

What a wonderful quilt full of memories. Warm and cozy on a freezing night.

[@SewtheDistance]

Yes! I certainly is heavy and warm, especially with the crazy snow we have been getting!

[@kathleenstorer691]

What a cool quilt!!!

[@SewtheDistance]

It's a favorite, that's for sure!

[@alisonmary1443]

Your Great Gran was definitely a "go with the flow" quilter and handy with a needle, glad she showed off with that. It's a stunning piece and ooooooooo the (real) velvet. Certainly looks 1920's perhaps? and I adore it. My Dad taught me to sew, his Gran, my Great Gran (1875-1974) was a seamstress, I am the first sewer since and did not get serious until 2012, all down to generous folks like yourself sharing and inspiring on KZbin. I have what's left of my fabrics laid out BUT there are so many designs, which way do I go? Deco, like your Grans? vintage floral, American log cabin 🤔🤷‍♀️ best not to force it. Thank you for sharing again. What a treasure stash of quilts.

[@SewtheDistance]

She was with this one, but in a few weeks I will show one she made that was a bit more planned and more fussy. LOL. I wish I could have met her. I hear she was a spitfire! My mom says she thinks it is about 100 years old, so you are probably right. Good eye! Neither my parents or grandparents quilted! It is nice to have that connection. Don't force those designed, but heck, make them all! :) Thanks for watching and sharing your stories. I love it!

[@alisonmary1443]

@@SewtheDistance Certainly looking forward to the next "planned and more fussy" Great Grandmother quilt, I've a feeling it's going to knock my wee cotton socks off :D. It would have been great for you to have met and gathered some stories to go with the quilts and just have some memories of a her, she sounds pretty amazing. On the sewing side of things I was too young to be asking about her work, and there is now no one around to tell me. I met my Great Gran regular with my Dad and she was a typical a sharp tongued Victorian lady, and she was (according to my Mum) always correct with no quibbles. I remember the table always pulled out full length with a beautiful lace cloth over it. Lots of cake and biscuit tins to have with tea, but she would forget how long the cakes etc had been there, bless. The strange thing was she would hoard and date the piles of match boxes, we never knew why lol 😂 and we never dared ask ha!

[@franpatzcraig6713]

My first exposure to quilts was also two of my great-grandmother's quilts. They are what sparked my lifelong love of quilts and recently my daring to actually start to make them. When I was a child we used them in the car when we went to the drive-in movies! They were made of old cotton clothes and there was no embellishment in the patches, but the seams were embroidered, mostly with feather stitch. I love that even though it was a poor woman's quilt (she was a widow with 4 kids), she added that bit of love and creativity. Eventually, the quilts got threadbare and my parents threw them out!!! so all I have are memories. How precious that you still have this beautiful quilt to love and to pass on to your great-grandkids.

[@SewtheDistance]

Oh no! Threw them out? How sad! But I understand. I am so happy you have the memories. I remember going to the drive-in, too! I miss those days. What great memories. Thank you so much for watching and commenting. I love hearing stories like this.

[@lisaworkman4293]

I think your grandmother would love to know that the quilt means so much to you!

[@SewtheDistance]

Awww, I would like to think so. I have few more of hers to share. I love them all!

[@kayannahufford340]

Thank you for showing this crazy quilt. Im working on a crazy quilt now. But im using the crazy eight templates. I want to sew the feather stitches like tour grandmother did. I hope i can make it look as pretty as your grandmother did. Thanks again.

[@SewtheDistance]

You are so welcome! ❤️

[@cindygehrke5249]

Beautiful fun quilt! What a treasure! Thanks for sharing!

[@SewtheDistance]

You are so welcome! Isn't it amazing?

[@lisaroper421]

I adore this quilt! Thank you so much for sharing it! I just posted a long reply to someone else who said they wanted to make a crazy t-shirt quilt, and I do too! I think normal t-shirt quilts are just to dry and boring, especially for my silly shirts! 😜 I am working on quilting my first quilt so that I can get the skills to do what I invision. Thanks!

[@SewtheDistance]

Thank you! I love this one, too! The key to t-shirt quilts is to use a good interfacing that is made specifically for knits. I have made a few--they are fun but challenging!

[@lisaroper421]

@@SewtheDistance Yes! I will have to find some good audio books for all the ironing of interfacing! Ha!

[@PsychicSanctuary]

I so love this series! And your beautiful quilts. I am at the beginning of my quilt journey and it is so helpful to me . Thank you! Crystal Green Scotland x

[@SewtheDistance]

You are so welcome! I hope these help. Remember to break all those crazy quilting "rules" and have some fun.

[@cintiafreitas7699]

So great memories! 💖

[@SewtheDistance]

It is a good one, isn't it? ❤️

[@cherylcopeland3418]

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful family heirloom. I hope you make a label for it so your great grand kids will know how special it is.

[@SewtheDistance]

Yes! It is labeled and ready for future generations.

[@lindanonnenmann1112]

What a treasure! She was a talented quilter an an artist. Isn't it wonderful that she made it to last?

[@SewtheDistance]

Isn't it? I am so happy she made it to last, too! Thank you so much!

[@mindym.1166]

What a treasure! My grandmother sewed a lot but she did not quilt. I wonder if her mother did? I do have my great grandmother's cast iron skillets (they are from the late 1800s and a couple of them may well have belonged to my great great grandmother! When I grab hold of the handle I love that my hand is touching something she touched every day! Love your videos!

[@SewtheDistance]

Isn't that a great feeling? I love thinking that my great-grandmother touched these fabrics. Thank you so much for watching and commenting.

[@sewbeitquilts]

What an amazing quilt! Thanks so much for sharing it! It’s a treasure for sure.

[@SewtheDistance]

It really is! Thanks so much for all your support.

[@chiplane3976]

I love these lessons! So many good ideas here. Thanks for sharing this!

[@SewtheDistance]

Thank so much! I am loving making these. I promise to keep at it.

[@jeannecunningham1341]

Kristen, Thank you for showing us your great grandmother's quilt. I really want to make one but haven't found any book or video that shows how to piece the quilt. The pieces seem to be pieced from all different irreglar angles. Do you know of any such source that would show how to do that?

[@SewtheDistance]

You are so welcome! Hmmm. There are a few out the on crazy quilting, but she definitely had her own unique style with this one! She used a combination of stitch and flip and applique. Maybe just start playing with different techniques until you find one you love? I wish I could help you more! ❤️

[@jeannecunningham1341]

@@SewtheDistance Thank you so much for getting back to me in responding to my question. I have never had someone do that. I will do some experimenting and see what I am able to come up with. You are awesome!!!

[@SewtheDistance]

So glad it is helpful!

[@lydiasomers1056]

This is an amazing video! Maybe you can help me with a question: I’m currently planning a crazy quilt/t-shirt quilt mash-up (I’m hoping to be able to surround and connect the t-shirt panels with the crazy-style piecing). One thing I love about your great-grandmother’s quilt is that it isn’t worked in blocks (as far as I can tell). I would really like that look for mine as well, but all of the instructional videos online seem to piece the quilts block-wise, even though many of the Victorian ones weren’t. Did your quilt give any hints as to how it was put together? Thanks again for the great video!

[@SewtheDistance]

Love this idea! As for working with the t-shirts (and you may know this already), use a stabilizer meant for t-shirts. There are a few on the market. I have used a few different ones and there really isn't much of a difference between them, so any will do. This will help keep the focus of the t-shirt straight. Hope that makes sense. As for adding the pieces, I would use the crumb quilt method. I just published a video on this on Sunday, but they are many to choose from on KZbin. You couldn't be using crumbs, of course (unless you wanted to), but the method of just adding sections would answer. your question, I believe. It is almost like making puzzle pieces fix. I hope this helps! Please let me know if I didn't answer your question or if you need more help. It is a wonderful idea!

[@lisaroper421]

I totally want to do this too!! I think the normal t-shirt quilts are such a bore! I hope you are able to get the effect you want! For mine, I think I will be using irregularly sized foundation blocks to sew everything to, and then have a "crazy" look because they won't have any order inside, and with the blocks being irregular, I hope it gives the same spirit as a crazy quilt. Interestingly, as I have gathered pictures of vintage crazy quilts, it seems like there was a divide: puzzle everything, or puzzle within an area. I love it all, and am happy to have found someone similarly inspired!

[@kadams9738]

I don’t see a binding on this beautiful quilt. Is/was it common practice to not bind a crazy quilt?

[@SewtheDistance]

Great question. I think traditionally they don’t have a binding, but I’ve seen some that do.

[@annemegis]

Is the addition a whisker cloth?

[@SewtheDistance]

Okay--I had to Google whisker cloth. I had no idea! I think it is whisker cloth now! Thank you for this! Wow! I had no idea. The KZbin community is awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@annemegis]

@@SewtheDistance you are welcome! I am so happy to have found you! I love love love vintage quilts and how frugal the makers were. So much character.

[@suekelly840]

At a distance I thought she used rick rack instead of embroidery stitches. Her work is beautiful. I would need to use rick rack : )

[@SewtheDistance]

Me too! LOL! She stitches are amazing. I have another one of her quilts coming up in a few weeks that features more embroidery! Can't wait to share it. Thanks so much for commenting!

[@suestutzle2779]

That was interesting. Wow your great-grandmothers quilt! How precious. I knew two of my great-grandmothers but I don't have anything from them. I guess back around 100 years ago things were very different. First off I think everybody made things out of necessity. Yes, they were probably good at it and yes they probably enjoyed doing it but it was something that had to be made because they needed it and it would have been too expensive to buy. Also yes her hand embroidery is very nice but Kris, really, showing off? haha. Us left handers are just a bit jaded from our terrible hand embroidery experiences. haha. She probably did what she could do and that happened to be very nice. I don't suppose people went around inspecting quilts in those days, except maybe if it was the mother-in-law checking on your domestic virtues. The purpose of quilts has lost its true purpose these days I feel. Now it's a hobby, we go to craft fairs where we inspect them. They are show pieces and some get made for charity but not really out of necessity because it's darn expensive to make your own blanket!!! Now when you read this imagine me sitting at the table with you and we are chatting over a coffee. You make a comment and I laugh and reply.... really Kris? No seriousness implied. I love your blogs.

[@SewtheDistance]

LOL! Well, if we were sitting together having coffee, I would have to disagree with you. I absolutely think she was showing off, especially because crazy quilts were traditionally show-pieces or, as traditionally known, fancywork, and not often used in the traditional sense. But I do agree that it is so expensive to make a quilt today and we do seem to get hung up on inspecting them. Anyway, thanks for the laugh! I will be showing another in a few weeks made by her that also has embroidery. She may or may not have been showing off for that one. :)

[@suestutzle2779]

@@SewtheDistance Oh ok, now I understand....crazy quilts were traditionally show pieces. Now I'm coming around to your way of thinking. haha

[@SewtheDistance]

@@suestutzle2779 Lol! Yes, but I enjoyed having coffee with you. 😊

[@monelleny]

Beautiful quilt, and thank you for sharing! But the term "showing off" has a negative connotation that I wish you would not use. All art could be characterized that way.

[@SewtheDistance]

Thank you for watching!