Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. An array of stitches is passed through all layers of the fabric to create a three dimensional padded surface. The three layers are typically referred to as the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material and the backing.
Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes. These shapes are carefully measured and cut, basic geometric shapes making them easy to piece together.
A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, and a woven back combined using the techniques of quilting. This is the process of sewing on the face of the fabric, and not just the edges, to combine the three layers together to reinforce the material. Stitching patterns can be a decorative element. A single piece of fabric can be used for the top of a quilt, but in many cases the top is created from smaller fabric pieces joined, or patchwork. The pattern and color of these pieces creates the design.
The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt or AIDS Quilt, is a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2020. It was conceived in 1985, during the early years of the AIDS pandemic, when social stigma prevented many AIDS victims from receiving funerals. It has been displayed on the Mall in Washington, D.C. several times. In 2020, it returned to the AIDS Memorial in San Francisco, and can also be seen virtually.
The history of quilting, the stitching together of layers of padding and fabric, may date back as far as 3400 BCE. For much of its history, quilting was primarily a practical technique to provide physical protection and insulation. However, decorative elements were often also present, and many quilts are now primarily art pieces.
Bernina International AG is a privately owned international manufacturer of sewing and embroidery systems. The company was founded in Steckborn, Switzerland, by a Swiss inventor Fritz Gegauf. The company develops, manufactures, and sells goods and services for the textile market, primarily household sewing-related products in the fields of embroidery, quilting, home textiles, garment sewing, and crafting. The origins of the company lie in the invention of the hemstitch sewing machine, invented in 1893 by a Swiss inventor and entrepreneur Karl Friedrich Gegauf. Currently, the company's products include sewing machines, embroidery machines, serger/overlocker machines, and computer software for embroidery design.
Alexandra Sladky Anderson is an American quilter, television series host, and author. Anderson is the author of various quilting books, fabric lines, and developed an award winning magazine. Anderson is a former host of HGTV's Simply Quilts, which aired for 13 seasons. She has also hosted a web series and a podcast. Anderson has been called the "Queen of Quilting".
Quilt art, sometimes known as art quilting, mixed media art quilts or fiber art quilts, is an art form that uses both modern and traditional quilting techniques to create art objects. Practitioners of quilt art create it based on their experiences, imagery, and ideas, rather than traditional patterns. Quilt art generally has more in common with the fine arts than it does with traditional quilting. Quilt art is typically hung or mounted.
Mimi Dietrich is an American quilter, quilting instructor, author of 17 books about quilting and a member of the Quilter's Hall of Fame. A lifelong resident of Maryland, she lives in the Baltimore County community of Catonsville. Her first book, Happy Endings: Finishing the Edges of Your Quilts, was originally published in 1987. She teaches quilting classes in the Maryland area as well as online at Craftsy. Her books and workshops focus mainly on applique techniques and Baltimore Album Quilts. In total, her books have sold over a half million copies.
The Hat and Fragrance Textile Gallery is an exhibit space at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont which houses quilts, hatboxes, and various other textiles. The name "Hat and Fragrance" refers both to Electra Havemeyer Webb's collection of hatboxes and to the fragrant, herbal sachets used to preserve textiles. In 1954, Shelburne Museum was the first museum to exhibit quilts as works of art; prior to this exhibition quilts were only shown as accessories in historic houses.
The term Provençal quilting, also known as boutis, refers to the wholecloth quilts done using a stuffing technique traditionally made in the South of France from the 17th century onwards. Boutis is a Provençal word meaning 'stuffing', describing how two layers of fabric are quilted together with stuffing sandwiched between sections of the design, creating a raised effect. The three main forms of the Provençal quilt are matelassage, piqûre de Marseilles, and boutis. These terms, along with trapunto are often debated and confused, but they are all forms of stuffed quilting associated with the region.
Michael Francis James is an American artist, educator, author, and lecturer. He is best known as a leader of the art quilt movement that began in the 1970s. He currently lives and maintains a studio in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Kathleen Laurel Sage is a freelance designer and embroiderer who produces a wide range of textile works, ranging from traditional items through to 3D pieces in machine embroidery and stump work. Sage is particularly well known for teaching classes on how to use soldering irons, heat tools and organza to create floral panels.
Jean Ray Laury was an American artist and designer. She was one of the first fine artists to move to quilting as a medium of choice in the late 1950s. Her quilts followed neither traditional method nor pattern; they were bold, modern, colorful collages, often laced with humor and satire. Penning over twenty books and teaching over 2,000 workshops, Laury helped women see the creative possibilities in everyday objects and awake their sense of inspiration. Laury has been called a "foremother of a quilt revival", and "one of the pioneers" of non-traditional quilts.
C&T Publishing is a midsize, family-run, independent publisher of quilting, sewing, and crafting books based in Concord, CA. It was founded in 1983 by Carolie and Tom Hensley, owners of The Cotton Patch, a quilting and sewing supplies store in Lafayette, CA. Roberta Horton, a friend of Carolie's, wanted to publish a book on Amish-inspired quilting, so Carolie and Tom raised money from friends and followed do-it-yourself advice from a library book to publish their very first book, An Amish Adventure. The first edition sold 90,000 copies. The business grew from there, and Carolie and Tom's sons, Todd and Tony Hensley, purchased it from their parents in 1990. Since then, C&T has introduced two new imprints: Stash Books and FunStitch Studio, as well as a website, Patternspot.com, where quilt patterns can be posted and purchased directly by consumers. C&T Publishing has also made efforts to become more environmentally friendly, becoming a certified Bay Area Green Business especially in light of the trend for green quilting projects. In Summer 2015, C&T also acquired Kansas City Star Quilts. Authors published with C&T include Barbara Brackman, Yvonne Porcella, and Michael James. C&T Publishing books are distributed in the book trade by National Book Network and in the UK by Search Press.
Geraldine Elizabeth Kahle Beyer is an American quilt designer, quilter, author, teacher and lecturer. Considered by the quilting industry and the publishing media to be of the first designers to form a fabric collection suited to the needs of quilters, she began her career in India after she had run out of yarn. Beyer's works have won awards in the print media, and she has written about the history of quilting and her techniques. She has designed collections for fabric companies, and has taught and lectured on the subject domestically and internationally. Beyer was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame in 1984.
Anna Maria Horner is an artist, author and fabric designer in Nashville, Tennessee, known for her colorful fabric designs, quilts, and sewing patterns. In addition to teaching classes and selling items globally under her namesake brand, she has written several books about sewing, quilting, and needlework. Horner has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and been featured in Better Homes and Gardens. In May 2015 she opened Craft South, a craft store and studio in Nashville.
Lucinda Toomer was an American artist who worked in the African-American tradition of quiltmaking. Her quilts are known for their bold compositions, visual rhythm, and improvisational style. They were at the forefront of a surge of national recognition for the art form during the 1990s.
Gwen Marston née Gwendolyn Joy Miller was an American quilter, quilt teacher, lecturer, and author who championed a style of quilting she called liberated quiltmaking. She encouraged modern quilt makers to break away from using commercial quilt patterns and to learn to design their own unique pieces of art.
American 
