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. Quilts may contain valuable historical information about their creators, "visualizing particular segments of history in tangible, textured ways".
1940 photograph by Russell Lee of Mrs. Bill Stagg of Pie Town, New Mexico with state quilt
Little Amsterdam
Pieced quilt, cottons, c. 1865, unknown maker, Kentucky, dimensions: 80×85 inches. The design had numerous names such as Rocky Road and Crown of Thorns until it was renamed and marketed as "New York Beauty" in the 1930s by the Mountain Mist company. Included in the book "New York Beauty, Quilts from the Volckening Collection" (Quiltmania, France). Collection of Bill Volckening, Portland, Oregon.
Quilting bee in Central Park, 1973
Quilting is 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.
Quilter in Bazaar of Nishapur, Iran
Women of Gee's Bend, Alabama quilting, 2005
Quilted skirt (silk, wool and cotton – 1770–1790), Jacoba de Jonge-collection MoMu, Antwerp / Photo by Hugo Maertens, Bruges.
This early American wholecloth quilt was made in the Colonial period, c. 1760–1800. The blue resist fabric includes bold, fanciful botanical motifs. Collection of Bill Volckening.
