| In a roundabout way, Karen Crosby has her children's interest in sports to thank for helping her become a maker of "crazy quilts." "My kids are very busy playing ball and other sports, and I'm waiting around a lot for them to finish practice or a game," says Crosby, a resident of the town of Alton, near Panguitch and Kanab. "But I don't like to just sit, so I started taking embroidery along with me in my purse and I'd work on things while I was waiting." That little past time has flourished into a hobby that keeps Crosby occupied both on and off the "playing field." She has become well-known as a maker of "crazy quilts," the name for intricate embroidered work that is created on blocks of material and then used as pillow tops, throws, wall hangings and sometimes even applied to blankets. "It was a craft that developed in the 1800s, and it involves small, intricate stitches. It isn't what most people envision when they think about quilts," Crosby says. "It is definitely not something that can be used to make a patchwork quilt, the sections are too heavy. It is more like a work of art rather than pieces for a quilt." Crosby does mostly custom and special orders, working from her Alton home. "It takes a long, long time to do one project. For example, a square that is I I inches by 12 inches would take about 40 hours." She faithfully follows the traditions created by the crazy quilters of the 1800s, meaning that the work is small and intricate, and done entirely freehand. I have about 100 different stitches, and I do the embroidery work at random, there is no set pattern. I create a basic design and then do fancy things like stars, hearts or little animals. No two pieces are exactly alike. I do things out of impulse usually." Crosby, who also runs a Victorian doll company, has a reputation around town for being a craft maker. She added crazy quilting her repertoire about five years ago. I have embroidered by entire life, but it was always only a hobby until people started telling me I should sell some of my work. I attended a demonstration once on crazy quilts and just fell in love with it. So I bought some books and that was how it all began." | 
