Bonkers

My Controlled Crazy Quilt, which I'm naming Bonkers, was so much fun to make. I really loved  making those scrappy blocks for the front especially, though making the back was great too. I estimate I used 4.25 yards worth of multi-colored scraps in the making of the front and the back.

For quilting, I opted for fancy straight-line, which consists of vertical straight-line quilting topped with organic zig-zags. I thought that went well with the mix of straight lines and angles in the quilt top. For thread, I used Aurifil 50wt 4668 [Strawberry Parfait], a red, pink, and white variegated thread. I originally planned to quilt with plain red, but was afraid it might be overwhelming, so the Strawberry Parfait felt like a good option, plus I'd never used it before. I'm happy enough with the result.

For the binding, there were a couple of ways I wanted to mimic the wide ribbon binding and hand-embroidery stitches on traditional crazy quilts. To prepare my quilt for that once the quilting was complete, I made sure to trim the batting and backing about 1.5" wider than my quilt top all around. This can be a little tricky, but with a block-based quilt, I was able to get it pretty square.

• Then, I used a solid Kona Rich Red, and cut binding strips 8.5" wide, piecing them with straight seams, only because at that width, it would have meant a lot of fabric loss if pieced on the diagonal. Also not my norm, but I sewed it on the back first, then folded it over to the front, mitering the corners, clipping them temporarily with binder clips. [Apologies for not getting a photo of the back before the binding went on. I marked a line 1.5" from all edges, and then lined up the raw edges of the binding along it as I sewed it on. If you need help doing a chunky binding, check out Audrey Esarey's free Wide Binding Tutorial.]

• Another detail to simulate traditional crazy quilts was to sew the binding on with a decorative stitch showing on the quilt front. I just didn't feel like this particular quilt was up for a bunch of hand-embroidery stitches, so at least the thought is there. On my Janome MC 6700P, I used stitch #106 at its widest and longest (9.0/5.0). I chose it since it kind of reminded me of the first embroidery stitch I learned, the cross-stitch, plus it mimics the zig-zag in the overall quilting.

I think it makes for a nice finish!

My priority, of course, was holding down the binding edge on the front, so placement is not always on the binding on the back, as shown below - top and third corners are front corners; second and fourth corners are back corners. But overall, I'm good with it, and I love that it's something different for me and that I tried out a decorative stitch on my machine.

The quilt front originally measured 45.5" x 54.5", but with its chunky binding, the finished quilt now measures 48" x 58".

I remember years and years ago, I thought I might want to make a crazy quilt, and even took a workshop on it. After making a small sampler, complete with hand embroidery, I decided I wasn't interested. I'm glad I waited until now, because Bonkers is much more my style. I'm thinking I might want to make another one. Don't forget! Except for the binding, scraps from my scrap basket made up every inch of this quilt. 

Linking up with Yvonne of Quilting JETgirl's Favorite Quilt Finish {June 2026}.