well, i've made a few quilts. i'd tell you to use all "same weight" fabrics. the cotton pieces are much lighter weight than the denim, and they'd wear out faster. flannel on the back would be great. denim will be a heavier weight quilt. imagine a laundry basket of folded blue jeans...lol. but they do make gorgeous quilts. you probably won't need a batting. what do you mean middle layer, though? the batting? if you need a batting, go for very thin. if you're wanting one of the nice frayed denim quilts where the seams are sewn on the outside, i'd use pinking shears to cut the denim for a neater frayed edge that will only unravel just enough. i hope that helped more that it confused! lol kudzu

oceanna: Thank you for passing along the related thread. Poor little baby! I was very lucky with all my three babies that they did not have these problems--probably because I breastfed and delayed introduction on solids, esp. dairy which is where my problems were. I was able to clear my food allergies through NAET, when about 5-years ago I suddenly became sensitized to many foods, and today eat whatever I want. I think I cleared my DD also through NAET, but with environmental/chemical sensitivies we have not had much success. We've been dealing with this for over 2-years now and have tried many different things so while my goal is still to uncover and correct the root of the problem we found it was like layers of an onion, you peel one away only to find another. It's been a long road for DD and she gets very discouraged, esp. when I alter her diet too much and with little improvement. My DH and I did look at the food intolerances for the different races and blood types and found it quite fascinating, though going that route would be a last resort which we could possibly try over the summer. Right now she is on homeopathy, which aggravates her condition in the short term, so I don't want to change too many things at once. With my DD she has more scabby patches from scratching in various stages of healing. Probably the worst trigger though are her shin guards--she plays competitive soccer and is in spring season. I do not have the heart to pull her out so can relate to the comments about exercise induced asthma. In fact, DD has a few girls on her team with that condition and always tells me she is glad she only has eczema as at least she does not have to sit out due to an asthmatic attack in a game. On the bedding front, I was able to find some bedding in both Pottery Barn Kids and PB teen which is Oeko-tex certified plus some all cotton duvet inserts (both summer and winter weights) from Cuddledown, depending on if she prefers a duvet or quilt. I plan to show it to her this weekend and am crossing my fingers she'll find something she likes.

Well Amcf, If you're crazy then I'm right in there w/ ya. I'd thought the same abt nice striped cotton pants which had worn out at the thighs. They're washed, pressed & wating for a project. I have no hubby to account to so I can do whatever I want. I once bought a size 8 sundress (not a size I ever fit) from a thrift shop 'cause it was made of 3 different indigo & white batiks, was GORGEOUS! Right front bodice was one, left front bodice another, back bodice a third & the skirt repeated one of the front bodices. I made a sampler to teach myself Flying Geese, made 3 columns, sashed w/ indigo solid, all on a white ground w/ binding of one of the other patterns. Cost me $5 or 10, was great! Can you go buy a duplicate pair, wear one & quilt the other? Otherwise, maybe cut them down to sort shorts (w/ which to entice him) & make quilts from the legs? See -- told ya you're not alone!

I think you might find a thin layer of pre-shrunk cotton flannel might make an adequate 'batting' for you. It's extemely easy to quilt through and perhaps even embroider through. Or you might just do your embellishment through the quilt top and light-weight backing and forget the batting entirely. It depends on how you plan to use your crazy quilt........ie as a bedspread opposed to a heavier quilt. Heavily embellished crazy quilts are not all that practical as a 'working' quilt since they tend to be laundered more and it's hard on the embellishment. If it's a showpiece you intend to remove and fold when you get ready for bed, why worry with the warmth factor? I may not be the best person to advise you, as I am a self-taught quilter who clings to the traditional methods and what I like and what works for me. Crazy quilts are my bag, however, and how I use up my scrap materials. I am not so much into embellishment, but that doesn't mean I don't like to look at it. There is a lot of great reference material on the method on the web. Others may have great input too. But, embellishmed quilts are not usually quilted, other than to perhaps fill in the solid parts of the background.