LindaMRB

When I had a "job", we used to get fabric samples that sometimes did not need to be returned to the designer or manufacturer/showroom.
Since they were my responsibility, those that I could keep I did, and for the most part the ones I saved were silk or non-cotton drapery samples. Many had the fabric content on them so I knew for sure they were 100% silk.

I have been so ready to work on a new quilt and even though I have a couple others in the planning stage, I felt this one could be whipped up in a hurry and allow for the most creativity.
A local fabric shop was moving and so I stocked up on 100% cotton muslin (on sale) to make this foundation crazy quilt. I also got some nice embroidery thread to embellish it with - odd colors for 6 CENTS each! At this point, I have used up just about everything I have and made 47-10.5x10.5 squares. (Four squares got left out of the photo inadvertently.) That is an odd number so I am hoping to squeeze at least one more out of the scraps.
I don't really have a design wall and these are not laid out with any particular plan.

Should I do 8x6? Or something else?
What do you all think about using a lightweight wool for batting?
And what should I put on the back? Silk is either cold or hot...
And I should embroider it before I layer it, right? I love the hand work...
And tie the layers together?

Thanks for looking - and for your advice and thoughts.

maryb119

If you are going to embroider it, do the embroidery before you sew it together. You could put a sashing between the blocks if you want it bigger. As for the backing, I would get it completed and then think about the backing.

quiltstringz

I agree you should embroider before you put it together. Personally I wouldn't put silk on the back as I think it might be too slippery?

Geri B

A good quality muslin would be a good back.....

ragamuffin

I love your colors. I would start to embroider but measure the square before and after. That will tell you the size. Make sure the embroidery thread is color fast so it does not fade. Take a small piece of each color, wet it and roll it in a paper towel. If it fades into the towel, do not use it. Best of luck with it.

miriam

I love your blocks - and I love crazy quilts. My sister bought an unfinished one for a dollar, cut it in quarters, bound it and gave me a quarter of it as a wall hanging. It does not hang evenly and I doubt if it is square - I don't really know what to do about that though. My chunk seems to be all silk but never got all of the embroidery work done. I keep thinking I should do some on it and maybe some day I'll ad some buttons and lace to it, too. Don't believe for a minute sashing should go on a crazy quilt - it distracts from the crazy - if your blocks are too much alike, shift them a quarter turn rather than sash them. The embroidery will serve somewhat as sashing anyway. If you want to add to your crazy quilt do something crazy like make a few blocks out of old silk neck ties to slip in randomly. You may also find some thing at a thrift store in silk that would lend itself to your quilt. It IS a crazy quilt so let your imagination roll.
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paoberle

I love the random look. I would do a decorative embroidery stitch on each seam, doing each block individually before sewing them together, then doing the seams where the blocks were joined.

quilttiger

Oh, this will be a beautiful quilt once it is done! I saw a trunk show by this quilter who uses dupioni silk for her gorgeous quilts. And she uses her DSM for quilting. Her batting choice is the Warm'n'Natural brand. I don't remember what she used for the backings, though.

Barb_MO

I agree with adding your embroidery before stitching it together. Are you going to do the embroidery by hand or machine? If you have enough pieces to make another block I would do that. Since the fabrics are silk, will you be laundering it? I like to put a little lace and beading on my crazy quilts.

mea12

I love your quilt!! Its gorgeous now just imagine how it'll look when finished. the fabrics are lush and harmonious but still different. i know crazy quilts are often very busy/crazy but this one is soothing and more beautiful than crazy. Yes do the embellishing first and use wool batting. sandwich everything and then go along the block seams to hold it together and as a last step, place some random ties and/or buttons here and there only if it adds to the aesthetics. this is a definite heirloom in the making.