Go Crazy with Quilting Patterns

At one time, patchwork quilts were made from scraps of left over fabric and were used mainly for warmth. Hundreds of years later, quilts have now evolved into objects of compassion, which are used to express one’s feelings of happiness or sorrow, to campaign for a good cause and to decorate one’s home.

Quilt patterns now include everything under the sun. Quilts have several different types of artwork in them, including embroidery, patchwork, appliqué work and motifs.
Each quilt is designed according to the purpose of the quilt. The colors of the quilt patterns are chosen next. Appliqués and motifs are widely used and are available in a huge variety of designs.

There are Easter bunnies and Halloween ghosts as well as palm trees, baby bottles and all sorts of flowers, which can be used in all sorts of quilts. These appliqués are sewn on top of the quilt, making a fourth layer for it. On the other hand, quilting motifs are used when the blocks have a certain theme, say a bird motif or a basket motif.

Using Different Techniques to Make Different Quilting Patterns

Quilting has several different specialist techniques.

The trapunto quilting technique has emerged from Italy. Trapunto is the technique of slipping extra stuffing into certain areas of a quilt to bring out the quilting in that area. For example, Trapunto can stuff the area inside a feather or flower making that part of the quilt a little thicker. Shadow Trapunto is a variation, which is quilting a design in fine lawn and filling the pattern with short lengths of wool.

Crazy quilting follows no rules. The quilting patterns need not be symmetrical and so smaller, irregular pieces may also be used to complete the quilt. In comparison to regular quilters, crazy quilters use different fabrics like velvet, satin, silk, etc and have decorative beads, ribbons and buttons included as well.

Rag quilters make the edges raggedy on purpose. The edges and sometimes even the fabric is frayed, which gives the quilt a three dimensional appearance. Art quilting is another style which makes the quilt look like an impressionist painting.

Another quilting pattern rapidly gaining popularity is photo transfers. Actual photographs can be printed on fabric using special computer software. This technique is ideal for a wedding or birth gift. A more tedious way of doing the same thing is using pictoral quilting, in which a photograph is taken and is recreated in fabric, down to the last detail.

When it comes to quilting patterns, the sky is the limit. Quilters usually start from patchwork quilts to get the hang of the stitching process and then the rest is up to their creativity and their imagination.