Patchwork Help, Advice, Tips and Tricks

What is quilting?

In patchwork and quilting terms, quilting is normally the function of holding together 3 layers to make a patchwork quilt. When the quilt top has been made, whether it is of patchwork construction or just one piece of fabric, you usually stitch through the three layers to hold them in position and make them behave as one.

The 3 layers are the patchwork top, the wadding or batting in the middle and then the backing material which is the underside or back of the quilt.

The basic requirement is to hold the layers of fabrics and wadding together and the amount of stitching needed will vary accordingly to the type of wadding used. The size of the finished quilt will need to be taken into account as well. If you are making a very large quilt you should consider how it is going to be washed and if there is insufficient quilting it is possible that the whole thing will start to pull out of shape. With many waddings the manufacturers state that it may be quilted up to 10 inches apart but it would be sensible to consider if this is sufficient for a heavy quilt.

Another thing is that you really do not want to be heavily pressing a washed quilt or it will just flatten the wadding. The more quilting stitches on a quilt the less it will crumple.

Quilting stitches are also used for decoration and the clever way to quilt is to combine the necessary stitching to hold the layers together with a decorative pattern of stitching.

When the quilted stitches are done they produce a lovely 3D effect of texture which is all part of the quilt design.

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