Ananasfreak

Quilting has made a comeback. Speciality shops selling everything the would-be quilter needs are springing up in every corner of the world. There are classes, quilting bees, specialist quilting fabrics, books and patterns, and a host of other items to make life easy for modern quilters. Modern day quilts are fetching big bucks as their popularity continues to grow. There is no slowing down on the craft side either. Quilting has attracted groups of enthusiastic women and men, who have taken to the fine craft of quilting with as much fire and dedication as their ancestors did. Even though a few things may have changed in the world of quilting since then. A Little Quilting History Quilting began in earnest in America, around the end of the nineteenth century. It has been detailed in the history from that time that only ladies from wealthy families had the leisure time for quilt making. The quilts produced by these ladies of leisure were not made of left over scraps or worn clothing, nor were they used as humble blankets. Instead, they were made from the finest materials. They were highly decorative and sophisticated items intended to show off the fine needlework and artistic talent of the maker. These quilts were held in such high esteem that they were displayed in only the worthiest of places. As time passed, quilting drifted down the classes to the everyday woman. The quilts they created were a practical way to utilize left-over scraps of fabric retrieved from clothes, curtains and such items. Quilting Today Today quilters may still use this method of ‘re-cycling’ fabric but it is more common for quilters to purchase a specific fabric for a specific design. Manufacture of the specialized quilting fabric alone is a highly lucrative market.These specialist quilting fabrics are commonly sold in quarter meters. This is called a ‘fat quarter’, one meter of fabric folded into four and cut, resulting in a square piece of fabric. The fat quarter is a more productive way of utilizing the fabric because it actually goes further for cutting shapes, especially with the block designs common in quilting patterns. If you think about the shape of a quarter meter of fabric, cut straight from the roll, it would be a long thin piece that is only 25 cm wide, this would result in a lot of wastage of fabric. Not ideal when the quilting fabric commands such a high price. Today’s designs can be geometric, formal or imaginative and the actual quilting design does not have to follow the patchwork design. A quilt is generally made of three layers: Top layer: This is the top part of the quilt, which would be uppermost on the bed or surface on which it is to be displayed. It is often referred to as the ‘patchwork’ element and is made up of patterns or a theme of colors all stitched together. Middle layer: Which consists of insulation wadding (UK) or batting (US). This can either be natural wool fabric or synthetic. Backing material: This can be a color selected from the top layer, or a complete contrast in color or colors. These three layers are stitched together, or quilted, either by hand or machine. The quilting can either outline the patchwork motifs, or be a completely independent design. A recent development in quilting is that of ‘pieced quilts’ which are made up of cut pieces of fabric sewn in block form. The blocks are then sewn together to make the quilt. These pieced block quilts are often referred to as patchwork quilts.