Read the quilt by its short sides.
Crazy Quilt lays 64 cards in an eight-by-eight patchwork. A card is free when a short side is uncovered. Two decks supply eight foundations, and the remaining cards form the stock.
Last updated: September 2026
Read the quilt by its short sides
A horizontal card needs its left or right short edge open. A vertical card needs its upper or lower short edge open. Look for moves that expose another card, especially where several neighboring cards are blocked by the same piece.
An early foundation play can make several cards available. Check both directions of a suit before moving a card to the waste, since the waste may bury another useful rank.
Use both ends of each suit
One foundation begins at the Ace and the other at the King. Every suit has two copies of every rank, so a card that fits either side may have different consequences for the cards behind it.
Use the waste as a temporary building place when its top is a better fit than a foundation. Remember that only its top is playable; another draw covers it.
Plan the single redeal
The stock turns one card at a time. Once it is empty, the waste can be recycled once. Before recycling, move any useful waste top to a foundation and inspect the exposed quilt cards again.
An empty stock is not necessarily the end of the game. The order of waste cards changes as you build on them, so the second pass may present a different sequence.
Compare equal-rank choices
Two copies of every card exist. When both copies of a needed rank are visible, favor the one whose removal uncovers another short edge. The other copy can wait while you work through the quilt.
For example, a free Four of Spades near a blocked cluster may be more valuable than the same card on an outside corner. Both advance a foundation, but only the first can open a new path through the weave.
The quilt cannot be refilled. Every hole you create is permanent and may release neighboring pieces. Keep checking the border of each new hole before taking another stock card.
Indian Carpet: one more chance through the waste
Indian Carpet keeps the 64-card quilt, short-side access, and ascending Ace and descending King foundations. It permits two waste recycles, one more than Crazy Quilt. A free quilt card may build one rank up or down in suit on the waste top, but doing so covers that card.
Use each pass after the quilt has changed. Before recycling, check whether a newly freed short edge or a foundation play can release the needed waste rank. The extra pass helps only if those moves change what is accessible.