If this fundraiser block is your first time decorating a crazy quilt block and you have not yet started, as I haven't, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed, as I am. So here are some tips and tricks from other tatters and crazy quilters to help. Crazy Quilt History (brief) Sources for trims: Trims Ribbonsmyth Renaissance Ribbons More	1. Look at the block, at it's colors and shapes and the seam lines.	2. Then begin the search for threads and trims.
The best way to start is to cover each seam from end to end. Other seam treatments.	You might choose to cover all the seams with tatting only.	You could do one coordinating color of thread or mix and match colors in the block pieces.
Or you could combine tatting with traditional embroidery stitches. Stitches More Stitches And even more Stitches!	Or you can add ribbons, buttons, other laces, silk ribbon embroidery. Links to other inspiration for crazy quilt decorations: Piecemakers.com Betty Pillsbury More Betty Pillsbury	Just let your imagination run wild! Even more Betty In a Minute Ago Pintangle CQ Magazine More CQ Mag.

The first step for me is to decide on a theme. I examine the materials for some direction. For example, my first quilt square had material with the following designs: spider web, 2 dragonflies, 2 butterflies, and a plain fabric. I decided on a theme of garden visitors, based on the existing creatures in the fabric pieces, and embellished the existing dragonflies and butterflies with embroidery and beading. On the material with the spider web, I created a larger, beaded web, and tatted a spider to guard it.

So I now had the garden visitors, but no garden. In the centre piece of the square was the plain fabric, and here I created flowers for my garden. To make the different fabric colours and shapes more cohesive, I tatted a variety of edgings, using the different colours used in the whole square and attached them along the seams, and wove them in and out of the different material pieces.

Once I saw that there were no more jarring colours standing out fromthe square, I knew I had accomplished an embellishment that blended all the colours and fabrics into my chosen theme.I found that it is much easier to begin with flat embellishments first, such as flat tatting or embroidery. I later add the more dimensional embellishments, such as shaped tatting and beading, or raised embroidery. This helps to prevent the threads catching on the raised elements, and allows for using an embroidery hoop without mashing the dimensional elements, or breaking beads.

If I cannot find a theme based on the fabric pieces, I then choose to embellish with colour, and weave the colours from one fabric to another in my embellishing, creating my own designs using the existing colours. I hope this helps.

1. Just DO IT.... to quote Nike- we can dither and think about it- but just jumping in and committing gives an awesome feeling. I am not good at this and have never done it before... but am happy with my end results and if I had not dithered about it - could have finished much earlier and with LESS STRESS.

2. Why did I pin things to a block?? a basting thread in a contrasting color so it is easy to take out makes life so much easier.

3. Hit that BooBoo box!! little bits and pieces work awesome - recycle... bookmark or edging that didn't work out- take the sample & work it into the block.

4. Do not be scared of embroidering... simple cross stitches or blanket stitches cover ground quickly. Use tatting thread instead of floss- it is thicker & handles nicely. embellish the simple embroidery with beads- not just seed beads- try the flower beads, bug beads...leaf beads...

My suggestion: Follow the pattern on the cloth for inspiration and try to make a scene or something out of it. Find a good theme to guide you. And don't use too many colors, white looks better with all the colors on the blocks.

I found it easy to put scrap lace, ribbon, or a tatted edging along the seam lines where you joined the crazy quilt pieces. Also, using buttons, beads, or silk rosette flowers to embellish is an idea. I had some tatted motifs that I placed on my squares where I thought they complimented the fabric colors and tacked those in place, then used other pretties as noted above. There are also resources available online. If you search for crazy quilts some nice examples of embellishment are available. Hope this is of some help.

When using beads or buttons or lots of fiddly little things that I lose or go falling about, just flip your embroidery hoop upside down (the larger hoop to the wrong side of your work). Now your hoop forms a little "bowl" you can put a few beads, buttons or whatever in. Very convenient to reach with your needle, too. Or you can take a piece of fuzzy blanket and do the same thing with an embroidery hoop. You have the advantage of fuzzy keeping the beads from rolling everywhere with the added security of a lip to keep them from rolling off the blanket.

When stumped for inspiration, I get out entire boxes of threads, buttons, beads and such and lay them out on the fabric. Many times a very serendipitous color combination will just pop out. I like to use contrasting colors for impact and coordinating colors for textural interest.

Stuck on what to do? Try making a "theme" block. Pick a theme, your home state - feature attributes such as the state flower, bird, a favorite landmark, famous person from your state, etc.How about hobbies? Skating, painting, sewing, birding, hiking, or tatting for example. How about a combination of your favorite hobbies? Your spouse's or all the hobbies of your children?What is your favorite color? Play with it! What items are that color? What threads, buttons, or other embellishments do you have that are that color? What do you have that would contrast with that color? What about "families" of items - Things with names that begin with the same letter, things that coexist in the same environment (forest animals, fish, field flowers, things that start with f....)

The biggest tip of all..........JUST DO IT! Nothing is more corrosive to creativity and productivity than inactive inertia. If you don't like what you do, rip it out and start another idea. Eventually you'll get a good start and before you know it, you're done!

This was all new to me. I honestly think that the thing that helped the most when I completed mine was that I was not mobile due to a broken foot, thus my supplies were limited and I had to "make do" with the materials at hand which eliminated a great deal of agonizing! I would recommend the following:

1. Let the fabric colors and prints guide you in terms of a "theme."

2. I did a combination of simple tatted edgings and embroidery stitches to cover the seams. Some of the edgings were things that I'd started and abandoned for various reasons but they worked. The embroidery stitches were very simple ones that I combined with other stitches such as weaving a different colored thread through a herringbone stitch or sprinkling French knots here and there of a different color. Don't be afraid to do a free form type motif. Just start tatting.

3. Sewing the motifs and edgings to the block tried my patience until I discovered Bottom Line Thread (by Superior Threads) worked very well to stitch everything down. The stitches barely showed because the thread is very, very fine and nearly invisible. It's available at quilt and sewing machine sho ps and is used in the bobbin for machine embroidery. I'm sure that there are alternatives, but the fine thread worked well for me.

4. Most importantly, don't agonize. Divide the block into "working sections" and enjoy the process! If I was able to do it, anyone can!!