Patchwork

Sewing Definitions — stitches, seams, quilting and sewing terms from Apparel Search

Patchwork is a form of needlework or craft that involves sewing together small pieces of fabric into a larger design. This larger design is then usually quilted, or else tied together with pieces of yarn at regular intervals, a practice known as tying. Patchwork is traditionally pieced by hand, although modern quilt makers often use a sewing machine instead. Patchwork is most often used to make quilts, but it is also used to make bags, wall-hangings, warm jackets, skirts and other items of clothing, and textile artists often combine it with embroidery and other forms of stitchery.

Patchwork is a form of needlework or craft that involves sewing together small pieces of fabric and stitching them together into a larger design. This larger design is then usually quilted, or else tied together with pieces of yarn at regular intervals, a practice known as tying. Patchwork is traditionally 'pieced' by hand, but modern quilt makers often use a sewing machine instead.

Patchwork enjoyed a widespread revival during the Great Depression because it was a way to recycle worn clothing into warm quilts. Even very small and worn pieces of material are suitable for use in patchwork, although crafters today more often use specially bought patchwork material as the basis for their designs, especially 100% cotton.

Patchwork declined after World War II, but was again revived during the American bicentennial.

Patchwork is most often used to make quilts, but it can also be used to make bags, wall-hangings, warm jackets, skirts and other items of clothing. Some textile artists work with patchwork, often combining it with embroidery and other forms of stitchery.

Patchwork and quilting are both enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity around the world, particularly in the United States and Japan. A survey in America identified Quilting as a multi-million dollar industry. International quilting exhibitions attract thousands of visitors from around the globe, while countless smaller exhibitions are held every weekend in local regions. Active cyber-quilting communities abound on the web, books and magazines on the subject are published in the hundreds every year, and there are many active local quilting guilds and shops in different countries. 'Quilt Art' is established as a legitimate artistic medium, with quilted works of art selling for thousands of dollars to corporate buyers and galleries. Quilt historians and Quilt appraisers are re-evaluating the heritage of traditional quilting and antique quilts, while superb examples of antique quilts are purchased for large sums by collectors and museums.

Types of patchwork

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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/patchwork).  Definition modified by the Apparel Search Company on 1/3/06.

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Piecing Small Cloth Into Large Design

Patchwork, also called piecing, treats fabric as a mosaic material. Instead of cutting a design from one large cloth, the maker cuts many small pieces, often from different fabrics, and sews them edge to edge so colour and pattern themselves form the design. The unit of construction is the block: a square of pieced work, perhaps a nine-patch of alternating light and dark squares, a log cabin block of strips around a centre, a flying geese unit of triangles, or one of hundreds of named traditional blocks such as Ohio Star, Jacob's Ladder, Dresden Plate and Drunkard's Path. Blocks are joined in rows, often separated by strips called sashing, to build a top of any size from a cushion to a bed quilt.

Accuracy is the craft's central discipline. Every piece carries a seam allowance, traditionally a quarter inch in quilt making, and small errors multiply across dozens of pieces until blocks refuse to match. Hand piecing, the traditional method, marks the stitching line and sews with a running stitch; machine piecing trades that portability for speed and is now the norm for most quilt makers. Pressing seam allowances consistently, usually toward the darker fabric, keeps the top flat and the intersections crisp.

Economy, Revival and Art

Patchwork's history is a history of thrift turned into design. It enjoyed a widespread revival during the Great Depression because it was a way to recycle worn clothing into warm quilts; even very small and worn pieces of material are suitable for use in patchwork. It declined after World War II and was revived again during the American bicentennial, and today crafters more often use specially bought patchwork material, especially 100 percent cotton, bought as coordinated ranges and pre-cut pieces. The named techniques show the range of the craft: stained glass window, cathedral window and Somerset patchwork manipulate folds and layers, trapunto stuffs areas for relief, crazy quilting joins irregular pieces under decorative embroidery, and applique, often classed with patchwork, sews shapes onto a ground rather than piecing them edge to edge.

Patchwork now extends well beyond the bed quilt. Quilt art is established as a legitimate artistic medium, with quilted works selling to corporate buyers and galleries, international exhibitions drawing thousands of visitors, and quilt historians and appraisers re-evaluating antique quilts as heritage. A survey in America identified quilting as a multi-million dollar industry, supported by guilds, shops, magazines and online communities. In clothing, patchwork appears in jackets, skirts and bags both as genuine pieced construction and as a design language signalling handwork and reuse, a meaning it has carried since its Depression-era revival made a virtue of using every scrap.

Common Questions

What is patchwork?

Patchwork is a form of needlework that involves sewing together small pieces of fabric into a larger design. The design is then usually quilted, or tied together with yarn at regular intervals.

What is patchwork used to make?

Patchwork is most often used to make quilts, and also bags, wall-hangings, warm jackets, skirts and other items of clothing. Some textile artists work with patchwork combined with embroidery and other stitchery.

What is the difference between patchwork and quilting?

Patchwork is the joining of fabric pieces into a designed top. Quilting is the stitching that holds a top, a layer of batting and a backing together. A patchwork top becomes a quilt when it is layered and quilted or tied.

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