Crazy Patchwork

often called

Crazy Quilting

During the Victorian era, Crazy Patchwork, or as it is commonly called today, Crazy Quilting, was all the rage. It could be found on almost any item and found in almost every home! And who could blame them? This pattern is so colorful and so fun that most people fall in love with it immediately.

The fabrics they used were rich and luxurious. We don't see as many items using this technique today as during the Victorian era. Most of us do not use such luxurious fabrics in our clothing or home decor.  It can be done with less rich fabrics and can be quite pretty but nothing can beat the look of a true Victorian item made in this fashion.

The information below is from The Dictionary of Needlework: An Encyclopedia of Artistic, Plain and Fancy Needlework. 1887, by S.F.A. Caulfeild and Blanche C. Saward 1887. It has been edited for use on this site.

Crazy Patchwork

It was made with pieces of silk, brocade, and satin, of any shape or size. The colors were selected to contrast with each other; their joins are hidden by lines of Herringbone, Coral, and Feather Stitch, worked in bright-colored filoselles, and in the centers of pieces of plain satin, or silk, flower sprays in Satin Stitch are embroidered.

To work: Cut a piece of Ticking the size of the work, and baste down on it all descriptions of three-cornered jagged, and oblong pieces of material. Show no ticking between these pieces, and let the last-laid piece overlap the one preceding it.

Secure the pieces to the Ticking by Herringbone, Buttonhole, and Feather Stitch lines worked over their raw edges, and concealing them.

Ornament them with Cross Stitch, Tete De Boeuf, Point de Riz, and Rosettes, if the patches are small; upon large, plain patches work flower sprays, or single flowers, in colored silk Embroidery.

Please note that these are original Victorian instructions and therefore reflects the materials available at that time. If you choose to create this wonderful pattern, be advised you will have to substitute materials for those no longer readily available to most patchwork artists.

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