Crazy Quilts: A Beginner’s Guide

Textile artist and instructor Betty Fikes Pillsbury has won hundreds of awards for her homages to the elegance of Victorian crazy quilting. Grounded in traditional methods but crafted with elements of whimsy, each piece stands on its own as a work of art. In this definitive guide, Pillsbury shares her methods for piecing, embroidering, and embellishing. Her instructions equip readers at any level of quilting skill to use those techniques to express their own visions.

Encouraging her readers to see functional and artistic possibilities beyond quilts (wall hangings, purses, and pillowcases are just some of the options), Pillsbury shows them how to make each work by hand, the slow cloth way. An inspiring primer for beginning and experienced quilters alike, this meticulously illustrated how-to book is far more expansive than previous guides. Pillsbury--a master of the form--shows us why crazy quilting belongs firmly in the twenty-first century.

Betty Fikes Pillsbury has won more than two hundred awards for her needlework, including Best Needlework at the Vermont Quilt Festival, Best Traditional Quilt at Threads Across America, First Place at the American Quilter’s Society show, and the Educator’s Award of Excellence from the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. Betty has appeared on Simply Quilts on HGTV and PBS’ Quilt Nebraska. Her work has appeared in the White House, the Fenimore Art Museum, Quilt Expo in France, and elsewhere.