Replica of Grandma's Crazy Quilt Quilt put together and quilted in the Spring of 2018 Webster's defines a crazy quilt as a patchwork quilt with no regular design, and as I like to repeat every quilt has its own story. Crazy Quilting and it’s “Recycled” History The centuries old history of the crazy quilt intrigues me as well. They were started by those less fortunate, by patching blankets, clothing, etc with scraps of fabrics and other clothing. Later, quilts and garments were made using elegant fabrics such as velvets and silks and embellishments of lace, beads, ribbons were added. Crazy quilts can be anything you want them to be. Have you ever thought about the colors of Amish quilts - blue, purple and black blocks? Now many quilts in those colors are made out of new material to sell to tourists. Back in the Amish Communities beginning, their quilts were made from the less faded and worn pieces of their discarded clothing for their own use just like the homesteaders or women living in cities. To this day, I imagine that is still an Amish custom to use pieces of discarded clothing for quilts for home use that the tourists never see, but now with relaxed color schemes, the Amish quilts may be in yellow, greens, purples and blues. I once saw my great great grandmother, Alvina Bright's crazy quilt from 1899. In each twelve inch square backing, she had used a piece she embroidered the simple outline of an animal. Around that she laid the scraps she'd save. Some of the silk pieces had disintegrated after a hundred years, but the quilt still held many memories of an experienced quilter who made the whole quilt by hand. The quilt had to be one of the last quilts Alvina made before she went blind, and made that particular quilt precious to her and her family. I was inspired to try my hand at a quilt like hers, embroidering free hand stitched animals in the blocks to duplicate my great great grandmother's quilt. I still use that quilt today in winter to keep us warm. To make a crazy quilt really special, add pieces of memorabilia such as lace from your grandmother’s doilies, or pieces of vintage linens that may have a stain that makes them unusable by cutting the stain off. Crazy quilts from the Victorian era are adorned with beads, fine threads, trims, lace, velvet, pearl or gold coated buttons. These quilts were found in homes of the wealthy and maybe used more often for a bedspread because of its ornate design. The quilt I gift to you is only a replica of crazy quilts from our great grandmother's day. I embroidered over the yellow-orange roses and leaves to give the quilt an aged flair. The laces was left over from years ago when I sewed Barbie doll clothes to sell at craft shows. The butterfly blocks were added simply because I love butterflies, which to me, compliments the yellow-orange roses on the quilt. There's another reason this crazy quilt is special. I decided I'd like to enter it in the Benton County Fair's Open Class division in Vinton, Iowa the last of June 2018. I believe we should try something new to us once in awhile, but having thought that, it took me a year and a half to get up my courage. This crazy quilt is the one I decided to take out of three that I had made that winter. Three days later I went back to get my quilt and found I had been given a third place ribbon. Also, the manager of that portion of the Open Division said I should keep the quilt show in mind for next year. What a thrill the whole experience was. So now this quilt is yours, because to me, you are a winner!