  We consider design of the quantum stabilizer codes via a two-step,
low-complexity approach based on the framework of codeword-stabilized (CWS)
codes. In this framework, each quantum CWS code can be specified by a graph and
a binary code. For codes that can be obtained from a given graph, we give
several upper bounds on the distance of a generic (additive or non-additive)
CWS code, and the lower Gilbert-Varshamov bound for the existence of additive
CWS codes. We also consider additive cyclic CWS codes and show that these codes
correspond to a previously unexplored class of single-generator cyclic
stabilizer codes. We present several families of simple stabilizer codes with
relatively good parameters.
