Crazy quilts appear to have evolved out of a range of global, regional, and local influences that converged in Victorian Britain and America.

The Crazy quilt aesthetic developed as a result of design reform and through the increased availability of lavish fabrics and embellishments.

Late nineteenth-century societal and cultural shifts in areas such as class, gender, technology, and advertising, also affected Crazy quilts.

People worldwide have long made "Crazy"-style textiles, from the Ming dynasty Chinese to today's global quilt artists.