Decorative Quilting Designs

Frequently the quilting design follows the pieced or patched pattern and is then very effective, especially when a floral pattern is used. Some quilters show much originality and ingenuity in incorporating into their work the outlines of the flowers and leaves of the quilt design. Sometimes the pieced top is of such common material as to seem an unworthy basis for the beautiful work of an experienced quilter, who stitches with such patient hand, wasting, some may think, her art upon too poor a subject. However, for the consolation of those who consider quilting a wicked waste of time, it may be added that nowadays expert quilters are very few indeed, and enthusiasts who have spent weeks piecing a beautiful quilt have been known to wait a year before being able to get it quilted by an expert in this art.

On the thin cotton quilts that have the elaborate quilting designs and are the pride of the owner, the quilting is done with fine cotton thread, about number seventy.

The running stitch used in quilting should be as small and even as it is possible for the quilter to make. This is a very difficult feat to accomplish, since the quilt composed of two thicknesses of cloth with an interlining of cotton is stretched so tightly in the frame that it is quite difficult to push the needle through. Also the quilter, while bending over the frame with one hand above and one hand below, is in a somewhat unnatural strained position. It requires much patience to acquire the knack of sitting in the rather uncomfortable quilter’s position without quickly tiring.

Skill and speed in quilting can be acquired only through much practice. Perfect quilting cannot be turned out by a novice in the art, no matter how skilful she may be at other kinds of needlework. The patience and skill of the quilter are especially taxed when, in following the vagaries of some design, she is forced to quilt lines that extend away from her instead of toward her. As the result of many years spent over the quilting frame, some quilters acquire an unusual dexterity in handling the needle, and occasionally one is encountered who can quilt as well with one hand as with the other.

Traditional Quilting and Beyond...