The History of Quilt and Patchwork

      As it reported in /L.1/ "stitching of shreds for making large patchworks you can find in all cultures all over the world. Both these techniques - quilt and patchwork hang one upon the other, but they have completely different historical roots.

      Quilt, or stitching premiered in the countries of East some thousands years ago. Stitches for quilting were used firstly only for strengthening, fixation and connection of different layers of cloth� At the same time a new kind of stitches for quilting arose - those ones had a decorative function: they used for adorning warm products.

      The art of patchwork appeared from works with darning-stitches, when it was a need to connect one with the others a lot of little shreds. At the beginning for this purpose were used, as a rule, the shreds from old clothes.

      The works in the style of patchwork you can meet in Europe, in Asia or in Africa. Blankets, awnings, clothes, bags, curtains and cushions very often were made using this technique.

      The patchwork became most popular due to the ingenuity of wifes of those North American pioneers, who needled warm blankets literally from nothing because their poverty and beautified their beds with quilts. Public, historical and social conditions at that date found the reflection in their multifaceted shapes and traceries. The art of patchwork and quilt transmitted as heritage. The bride was to have make for her dowering 12 warm quilts, but the 13-th one was to have done by her girl-friends.

      Quilting served to confirm the three layers of the blanket (top, bottom and underlining) not to be shifted during the washing. Gradually the decorative traceries began to appear on the functional quilts. Like in the some places of Europe women began to labour at the certain sort of stitchcraft - for example, lacemaking, - women of North America worked at quilting together, sometimes using the only underframe for all group. Such business carried out the certain social charge. Women met for intercommunicating and exchanged new traceries.

      In 1970-s patchwork and quilt overcame their renaissance in USA. At first it was just the thing, it was fashionable to copy the traditional traceries, shapes and colors of quilts. Today a lot of special shops offer a lot of different materials, bookls and magazines about this technique. Furthermore the theme of patchwork and quilt is popular in exhibitions. Special schools are creating and specialized shops are opening. In Europe this kind of art changed into popular hobby too.

      If earlier quilts were the sign of homeliness, not to say penury of interior, that now patchwork and quilt are the peculiar kind of art. It's accepted to hang especially beatiful quilts - impressive in their variety and ingenuity of used materials, shapes, structures and color palette - on walls like carpets or pictures."

The Quilt "Royal Dalton"

      Sandy's purpose was grandiose - she decided to show the movies where Timothy Dalton took part in the elements of her future quilt. To realize this plot it was needed to choose a number of differential characteristic of every Timothy's movie to make it's image recognizable.

      Look, how wonderful it was done on Sandy's quilt - to touch off unrepeatable local colour of mini-serial "Scarlett"! The deep-green fragment reminds not only about the dress of heroine, which was sewed by her hurriedly to charm Rhett and to get the money for Tara's saving yet in "Gone with the wind", this is a colour of her eyes and the colour of endless fields of Ireland, where she went out to go from herself. This sapful deep-green colour neighbours with the soft pompadour colour of furniture's plush and the white lace's fragment, which ones could serve that times like adornment for clothes and interior. Near - the medallions with the images of estate Tara and the horse, the symbol of successes and failures for Scarlett and her relatives� Auriphrygiate inscription with the movie title on the scarlet background instantaneously involves the viewer into recollection's maelstrom.

      Look at the another fragment of the quilt! Here is legendary Coco Chanel. She seems literally coming down from the screen: all the new she has brought to the world of women's fashions was reflected on this consummate painted and embroidered with the special seam illustration - free lines of the dress without the corset and sewed from the new for that times jersey cloth, it's shorted length the small of the leg, the absence of any beautifications and butch haircut - all reminds us of this great toiler and past mistress. When you look at this fragment, it seems to you, one moment - and Gabrielle will make a step and you will feel the aura of "Chanel � 5"!


      What is the way of creation for such original things? Sandy decided to divide the secrets of her mastership with us.

From Paper To Magic

(Sandy Senter tells)

      Putting an idea for a picture onto paper is one thing but to take it one step further and put onto cloth takes a bit more doing!!

      Creating a picture for the square design for Royal Dalton took a few moments or days depending on how I wanted to portray that movie. Once and idea came to me, I would draw it out on paper. I will then make 8 to 10 copies of it so I can first create the color schemes. Once that is done, I will take the pages I left uncolored and cut certin ares out on it using and exacto knife and creat several stencils.

      For some areas, I will trace out the area onto a peice of cloth large enough to put into an embroidery hoops and then, by hand, would sew it in and create a patch effect. These parts took quite a while to finish! I would then do other parts by putting the stencil area onto a colored peice of fabric and tracing it out and cutting it leaving 1/4 more than the area to create a fabric seam. I would take a square peice the color that I wanted the backgroung to be and cut it into a 14x14 square and sew all teh peices onto it to create the picture I want. Using these technicques gave it quite a bit of depth with incredible textures and feeling to it! It was wonderful to see the picture take shape!

      One nayword says: "It's better one time to see, than 7 times to hear!". So we invite you to attend Internet Web Page by Sandra Senter, devoted to "Royal Dalton" Quilt. We also recommend you to come to the Museum of decorative-applied art in Moscow to know more about the works of Russian past mistresses.

      List of reference

       1. Dertech Bach. Quilt - Easy and Fast. Rational Cut. Contemprorary Stitching . Vanity publisher "VNESHSIGMA".

     ï¿½.�., 2000

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