What Is Crazy Quilting? History, How to Start & Free Tutorials
⚡ Quick Answer
- Crazy quilting is patchwork made from irregular, odd-angled scraps with no repeating block, finished with embroidery stitched over the seams.
- It took off in the U.S. in the late 1800s, when Victorian makers pieced silks and velvets into showpiece throws covered in fancy stitching.
- To start, sew scraps around a center shape, press, trim and repeat until the block is a little larger than your template. Then embroider the seams and square it up.
- Mix textures like velvet, corduroy, linen and shirting, and press velvet from the back.
- Free video tutorials from Natalie, Jenny and Misty walk you through a full quilt, a template block and a holiday stocking.
Crazy quilts are the quilts people stop and stare at in museums and antique shops: jewel-toned scraps going every direction, with embroidery embellishments such as feathers, fans, spider webs, and initials. They look complicated, but they're actually among the most forgiving kinds of quilting, because there's no pattern to match and no points to line up.
When Natalie Doan made her very first crazy quilt for our Our History in Stitches tutorial, she put it this way: "It's so freeing, because you don't have any real rules." This guide covers what a crazy quilt is, where the style originated, how to make your first block, and free tutorials to get you stitching.
Key Takeaways
- ➤ No block pattern: crazy quilts are built from irregular pieces sewn around a center shape, so no two blocks match.
- ➤ The embroidery is the point: decorative stitches along every seam are what turn patchwork into a crazy quilt.
- ➤ Texture matters: velvet, corduroy, linen, shimmer fabrics, and sentimental clothing all belong in the mix.
- ➤ Build big, trim late: leave about an inch extra around each block until the embroidery is finished, washed, and pressed.
- ➤ Start small if you like: a stocking or table runner teaches the whole process before you commit to a throw.
What Is a Crazy Quilt?
A crazy quilt is pieced from irregular shapes cut at random angles, rather than measured squares, triangles, or strips. Each block is built outward from a center piece, one scrap at a time, until it's big enough to trim square. Then the seams are covered with hand or machine embroidery, and often trims, lace, buttons or beads, so the stitching becomes the design.
| Traditional patchwork | Crazy quilting | |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces | Measured shapes, cut precisely | Irregular, odd-angled scraps |
| Layout | Repeating blocks that line up | Every block is one of a kind |
| Fabric | Usually quilting cotton | Anything: velvet, corduroy, linen, shimmer, old clothing |
| Seams | Pressed and hidden | Covered with decorative embroidery |
| Room for error | Points and seams need to match | Wonky is the look |
A Quick History of Crazy Quilting
Crazy quilting swept through American parlors in the late 1870s and 1880s. Quilt historians often connect the trend to the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, where Japanese art and its asymmetrical designs drew huge crowds. One popular theory is that the name comes from "crazed" ceramic glazes, with their network of fine cracks.
Victorian crazy quilts were showpieces more than bedcovers. Makers used silks, satins, velvets, and brocades, collected ribbons and dress scraps, and added heavy embroidery, painted flowers, and stitched initials and dates. Many were draped over a sofa or piano in the parlor, with some even finished without a batting layer at all. Spiders and webs were favorite motifs, and Natalie points out that you'll still see them in crazy quilts from throughout history.
Not every crazy quilt was fancy. As the trend spread, makers turned wool suiting, flannel, and cotton scraps into warm, everyday crazy quilts. That's the side of the tradition Jenny Doan's scrappy version comes from: use what you have. Silk crazy quilts from the 1880s are fragile today because much of the silk was treated with metallic salts to add weight, causing it to split over time. Today's cottons, linens, and velvets don't have that problem.
Want more quilting history? Read A Brief and Incomplete History of Quilting.
Crazy Quilting Today: A Quilt That Tells Your Story
Modern crazy quilts keep the Victorian spirit, a collage of fabrics and stitches, but they're made to be used and loved. They're also the perfect home for fabrics too special to throw away. Natalie built a block around the edge of a pillowcase that her grandma embroidered when she was little. She also suggests lace from a torn tablecloth, cloth napkins, aprons, a loved one's shirts, or the holiday pajama pants you've sewn for your kids year after year.
She hid little nods in her own quilt too: "JD" for Jenny Doan, the date, and "MSQC." And if you stitch with thread that matches the fabric, you can tuck in a secret message only you know is there.
"I love your kit that you put together to help bring back wonderful memories. My mother had done some crazy quilt stitching when I was a girl, and I remember wanting to try and do some like she had."
Ann, verified buyer
How to Start Crazy Quilting: Step by Step
These steps follow Natalie's process from the Our History in Stitches tutorial. Her quilt is 25 blocks set 5 x 5, each 12" finished (12½" unfinished), for a 60" x 60" wall hanging or throw.
Step 1: Gather Your Fabrics
The Our History in Stitches pattern calls for 3 to 5 yards of assorted scraps. Aim for variety in texture as well as color: corduroy, linen, velveteen, shirting, homespun, and prints. If building a stash like that feels overwhelming, the Crazy Quilt Fabric Stash kit has 37 fabrics, about 9 yards in ⅛ to ¼ yard cuts. Natalie calls it a "seed starter" to mix with your own fabrics.
💡 Pro Tip: Shimmer fabrics give you two looks in one. Natalie used the shiny side of some pieces and the flat back side of others for more variety from the same fabric.
Step 2: Start With a Center Shape
Cut a center piece with an odd number of sides. The polygon templates in the Crazy Quilt Pattern and Template Set make this quick, or you can cut your own freehand. Lay a scrap right sides together along one edge, sew with a ¼" seam, and press it back. Your seam allowances don't need to be perfect.
Step 3: Trim at an Angle and Keep Going
Before adding the next piece, trim a new straight edge, and angle it on purpose. Natalie tilts her ruler so pieces come out narrow at one end and wide at the other. Keep crossing earlier seams as you work around the block, so it doesn't start to look like a striped log cabin. Save every trimmed scrap, because it can fit somewhere else later.
Leave a few pieces large wherever you might want an initial, a date or a vine later.
Step 4: Build It Oversized
Keep adding pieces until the block is bigger than your template, then cut it with about an inch to spare all around. The block will shrink, stretch and wrinkle while you embroider and rinse it, and that extra inch means you can still get a full 12½" square out of it later.
Step 5: Embroider the Seams
This is the fun part. Cut strips of Peel & Stitch designs, stick them right over the seams, and stitch through the lines. The Our History in Stitches Embroidery Kit includes eight preprinted sheets with seam strips, a full alphabet, numbers, spider webs, leaves and vines, plus 12 balls of perle cotton, needles, a hoop and a memory book for recording where your fabrics came from. If you'd rather design your own motifs, printable Peel & Stitch sheets go through a home printer.
Natalie's stitching habits:
- Cut your thread about the length of your arm. Longer pieces knot.
- Thread the needle in the direction the thread comes off the spool, so it's less likely to knot and twist.
- The hoop is optional. Natalie stitches her crazy quilts without one for more flexibility.
- Stick on just a few designs at a time, enough for an evening of stitching in front of a movie or an audiobook.
💡 Pro Tip: Don't want to hand embroider? The fancy decorative stitches on your sewing machine work over the seams, too.
Step 6: Rinse, Dry, Press and Square Up
Dunk the finished block in water and swish until it no longer feels filmy. That means the Peel & Stitch has dissolved. Wring it out, hang or lay it flat to dry, then press and trim it to 12½". With velvet in the mix, press from the back, turn the iron down to a synthetic setting, or use a pressing cloth so you don't crush or scorch the pile.
Step 7: Mix Block Sizes, Then Quilt It
Not every block has to start at 12½". Smaller pieces can be squared to 6½" and combined:
| To make one 12½" unfinished block | Use |
|---|---|
| One large crazy block | 1 block trimmed to 12½" x 12½" |
| Four small blocks | 4 blocks trimmed to 6½" x 6½" |
| Two rectangles | 2 pieces trimmed to 6½" x 12½" |
| One rectangle + two small blocks | 1 at 6½" x 12½" + 2 at 6½" x 6½" |
Natalie machine quilted hers with a traditional Baptist Fan design that fades into the background and lets the embroidery shine. For a 60" x 60" quilt, plan on 2 yards of 108"-wide backing or 3⅞ yards of 44" fabric.
"I'm starting my first crazy quilt. I've been gathering all of my embellishments and doing lots of reading on the subject. The template set has given me a boost of confidence."
Lynne, verified buyer
Classic Crazy Quilt Embroidery Stitches
Each of these has its own free Embroidery 101 video, so you can pause and follow along one stitch at a time. Start with two or three and add more as you go.
| Stitch | Where it shines on a crazy quilt | Free tutorial |
|---|---|---|
| Feather / Cretan | The classic seam cover; it zigzags across both sides of a seam | Watch |
| Herringbone | Long straight seams; quick crisscross coverage | Watch |
| Chevron | A bolder, more geometric seam line | Watch |
| Blanket / buttonhole | Seams and the edges of appliqué or lace | Blanket · Buttonhole |
| Stem and back stitch | Vines, spider webs, initials and dates | Stem · Back |
| Lazy daisy | Little flowers and leaves sprinkled along a vine | Watch |
| French knot | Berries, flower centers and dotted accents | Watch |
| Bullion rose | Dimensional roses for a Victorian look | Watch |
| Couching | Tacking down ribbon, cord or yarn that's too thick to sew through | Watch |
New to embroidery? Start with Hand Embroidery Basics for Beginners and Embroidery Flosses, Threads, and Storage. Perle cotton is the go-to thread for crazy quilt seams because it's thick enough to show and easy to work with. The Perle Party Pack has 25 balls to pick from.
Free Crazy Quilt Tutorials to Start Your Adventure
Full quilt · 35 min
Our History in Stitches: A Crazy Quilt
Natalie builds a block from the first center piece to final square-up, including Peel & Stitch, rinsing and pressing velvet. See the tutorial
Template block · 8 min
The Crazy Quilt with Jenny
Jenny's quick stash-buster block uses her original crazy quilt templates and quilting cotton scraps. See the tutorial
Holiday project · At Home with Misty
Crazy Quilt Stockings
A great first project: one 12" x 20" pieced panel, embroidered and turned into a lined stocking. See the tutorial
▶️ Watch it done: Learn How To Make a Crazy Quilt with Our History in Stitches
Prefer to read along? Our step-by-step crazy quilt block tutorial breaks Jenny's method into seven steps.
💡 Pro Tip: Making a stocking? Misty shortens her stitch length while piecing so seams don't pop open when she cuts out the stocking shape. She also traces the stocking outline on the panel before embroidering, so no stitching gets cut off.
What You Need to Get Started
| If you want… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Everything for the embroidery | Our History in Stitches: A Crazy Quilt Embroidery Kit (pattern, Peel & Stitch sheets, perle cotton, hoop, needles, templates, memory book) |
| A ready-made fabric stash | Crazy Quilt Fabric Stash (37 fabrics, about 9 yards) |
| Fabric and embroidery together | Crazy Quilt Bundle (the embroidery kit plus the fabric stash) |
| Templates for your own scraps | Crazy Quilt Pattern and Template Set or Jenny's Original Crazy Quilt Template Set |
| Just the pattern | Our History in Stitches pattern in print or digital download (36" x 36", 60" x 60" and 60" x 72") |
| A smaller first project | Crazy Quilt Stocking pattern (10½" x 17¾") or Crazy Quilt Table Runner pattern (21" x 60") |
"Love this kit and the ideas it gives me. I can't wait to get started, I'm accumulating fabrics now. Going to use some of my daughter's and mom's clothing mixed in."
Shelia, verified buyer
Related Articles
- ➤ How to Combine Embroidery and Quilting for Beginners
- ➤ How to Embellish a Quilt: Buttons, Beads, Chenille & Creative Trims
- ➤ Learn Hand Embroidery with Missouri Star
- ➤ Crazy Quilt Tutorial: Jenny Doan's Ultimate Stash-Buster Quilt Block
Frequently Asked Questions
Is crazy quilting good for beginners?
Yes. There are no points to match and seam allowances don't need to be exact, so it's one of the most forgiving ways to quilt. If a full quilt feels like a lot, start with a stocking or a table runner.
How much fabric do I need for a crazy quilt?
The Our History in Stitches pattern calls for 3 to 5 yards of assorted scraps. Because every piece is irregular, more variety in color and texture beats more yardage of any one fabric.
What fabrics can you use in a crazy quilt?
Almost anything: quilting cotton, linen, corduroy, velveteen, flannel, shirting, shimmer fabrics, lace and sentimental clothing. Press velvet from the back or use a pressing cloth, and turn the iron down for delicate fabrics.
Do crazy quilts have batting?
Many Victorian crazy quilts didn't. They were decorative throws, often backed without batting. Today most makers add batting and machine quilt them so they can be used every day. Natalie quilted hers with a Baptist Fan design.
Do I have to embroider a crazy quilt by hand?
No. Decorative stitches on your sewing machine work along the seams too, and some makers mix machine and hand stitching in the same quilt.
Why are there spider webs on crazy quilts?
Spiders and webs show up on crazy quilts from throughout history, and they're often said to bring good luck. The Our History in Stitches Peel & Stitch sheets include a web if you want to carry on the tradition.