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The Patchwork Quilt; Not Just For Grandma Anymore
I went to a local museum not long ago for a quilt show. The variety and skill that went into making some of the more elaborate quilts was absolutely staggering. The winning quilt, a queen sized stunner depicting a winter scene took over 1,000 man (or in this case woman) hours to complete, as the entire thing was stitched by hand. That's certainly one way to do it, but if you've always wanted to quilt, and already know how to use a sewing machine, then you're halfway there!
Quilt Basics;
Quilts are made up of three parts; the backing or underside of the quilt, the batting or middle layer, and the top which is the decorative part of the quilt; call it a quilt sandwich if you like. The layers are held together by the quilting which is the stitching that goes through all three layers, and the binding, which is the finishing strip that goes around the outside of the quilt.
The Top
There is really no limit to the type of quilt top you can make. The most common however are the traditional patches or patchwork quilts. Patchwork quilts are made up of colorful geometric shapes of fabric, some plain, some patterned, which are sewn together into squares or blocks. This step is call 'piecing' the quilt. Once the required number of blocks have been pieced, they are then sewn together to form the quilt. The patchwork quilt is what most beginning quilters will start with as it allows for an almost unlimited amount of color and fabric styles making it ideal for using leftover scraps of material.
Machine stitching a patchwork quilt, though time consuming, does not take as much time as hand sewing all the blocks. Provided that machine washable fabrics are used, machine stitching will also allow the quilt to be washed in a washing machine rather than having to be sent out for drycleaning.
Additional design elements are often added to a patchwork quilt. Quilters often add 'sashes' and 'borders' to patchwork quilts. Sashes are small strips of fabric that are placed in between the blocks prior to sewing them together. Borders are just that, large strips of fabric that are sewn around the outside of the blocks, adding a nice finishing touch.
Batting
Once the quilt top is complete, it's time to assemble the quilt. Batting, the middle part of the quilt, comes in natural and manmade fibers. The choice is dependent on what the quilt is used for. Decorative wall quilts can be batted with synthetic batting, whereas a bed quilt may be better done with natural fibers for comfort. Most batting is sold in sheets or rolls in sewing stores.
Backing
The quilt backing is usually plain fabric and consists of one or more, depending on the size of the quilt, of material.
Quilting
The quilting itself can be done by hand or by machine. Hand quilting definitely takes more time, but does allow more flexibility in terms of decorative stitching. Machine quilting usually produces longer lasting quilts, a consideration if the quilt is going to be used every day rather than for decoration.
Whatever your budget or skill set, quilting can be a wonderfully satisfying way to fill your creative urges.
About the Author This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where we always offer free internet dating. Datepad has a massive directory of informative free dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on our dating blog.
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