Thanks for those links! The one on crazy quilts really struck me, because that's the kind we had in my family while I was growing up. One in particular I remember used fabrics from my grandmother's housedresses and aprons, another from dresses and suits from my aunts, another from old curtains (a la Scarlett O'Hara) and yet another from various old pajamas from the whole family. There were so many interesting-looking fabrics as well as more mundane ones. I used to ask my mom where this or that patch came from, and usually got a good story out of the deal!
I have a collection of books on historical quilts. I never get tired of looking at the work involved or the smartness with design these women had. I love the look of beautiful quilting, and have played around with whole cloth quilting, but find I have problems with the stick-to-it-iveness needed, or perhaps it's knowing that I don't have the skill to do such gorgeous work, and I look at mine and wish. And stop working.
my grandmother actually wove RUGS out of various fabric around the house and we would see our clothes etc. end up on the floor, literally : ) i just remembered that fact now, reading about your family's crazy quilts. everyone is gone now, but i would love to ask how they made those rugs!