Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to the production of quilts
and more particularly to the forming of the quilt covers,
commonly referred to as piecework.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A great deal of skill and time is presently required
in the quilting craft. A piecework involved frequently
employs a variety of colors and texture of otherwise scrap
fabric pieces which are color selected and all cut to the
outline of a single key design, the pieces of which may be
assembled in a variety of ways to achieve an intricate
overall design. On occasions several key designs may be
employed.
More important aspects of the craft where extreme
care must be exercised are uniformity of seaming width and
non-stretching and non-puckering of the fabric on the seam
line. These aspects become far more difficult to master
where curved edges are provided in the design. It is
conventional practice to align the lateral edge of the sewing
machine shoe with an edge of the fabric as a guide for
uniform seaming, and carefully to adjust the tension of the
sewing machine on the fabric to avoid puckering. A most
tedious aspect is the present requirement of applying by
stencil an outline of the design upon the back of each fabric
piece.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a principal object of the invention to provide
an improved method of producing piecework for quilt covering.
According to one general form of the invention there
is provided a method of producing quilting piecework
comprising separating a sheet of backing material,
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adhesive-coated on one face and carrying a plurality of
outlines of one or more predetermined designs, into backing
pieces each carrying the outline of a single design/ adhering
said backing pieces to selected pieces of fabric material
cutting both said backing pieces and said adhered fabric
pieces to the design outlines to form quilting pieces,
placing the confronting marginal edge portions of the
intended adjacent quilting pieces in overlapping relationship
with the fabric pieces one over the other and face-to-face,
pinning or tacking together along a predetermined seam line
said overlapping marginal edge portions, sewing together said
quilting pieces along said seam line, straightening said
adjacent pieces into coplanar relationship, and proceeding to
apply further quilting pieces thereto to obtain completed
quilting piecework.
More particularly, a method of forming a quilt
according to the invention comprises the steps of adhering a
plurality of backing pieces each bearing an outline of a
predetermined design thereon to respective ones of a
plurality of fabric pieces, cutting each fabric piece and
adhered backing piece along the outline into the
predetermined design of the respective backing piece to form
respective quilting pieces, placing two quilting pieces which
are to be joined one over the other with the fabric pieces
face-to-face with, in the case of curved edges, the edges
which are intended to be joined in register at one part and
temporarily securing the two quilting pieces together along a
predetermined seam line commencing at said one part and then
at remaining parts while placing said remaining parts of said
edges in register, and sewing the two quilting pieces
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together along the seam line. Additional quilting pieces are
applied to the two fabric pieces in like manner. The sewn
pieces are straightened into a coplanar relationship, for
example, by ironing.
As disclosed the backing pieces are adhered to the
fabric pieces by means of an adhesive which is heat-
activated, heat being applied to the backing piece by means
of a warm iron, for example. The quilting pieces are
temporarily secured for example, by pinning or tacking the
pieces together.
According to one aspect of the invention, a sheet of
synthetic material is provided having adhesive, preferably a
heat-activated adhesive, applied to one face thereof and
bearing on the opposed face a plurality of outlines of one or
more predetermined designs. The sheet can be cut into a
plurality of backing pieces in a predetermined design or
which bear an outline of a predetermined design. The backing
pieces can be adhered to fabric pieces as described herein
and sewn together to form a quilt.
The sheet bears within each of the outlines a seam
line along which fabric pieces and adhered backing pieces are
intended to be sewn and further a center mark on each seam
line indicating the approximate center of the seam line. the
sheet can also bear within each of the outlines, another
similar outline with corresponding portions of the outlines
extending parallel to each other. Each of the outlines is
preferably spaced on the sheet so as to allow cutting of
backing pieces with each bearing a respective outline
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
The invention will be better understood from a
reading of the following description of an exemplary method,
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a fragmentary representation of a sheet
of backing material used with this invention;
Figure 2 shows two fabric pieces about to be pinned
along intended adjacent curved edges; and
Figure 3 shows the same two pieces after completion
of the pinning step.
Initial steps in the process of this invention
involve firstly the supply of a sheet 1 of backing material,
such as represented in Figure 1, having one face coated (the
underside as shown in Figure 1), at least in part, by a
heat-sensitive adhesive The backing material may be chosen
from any of the range of hoarse woven, non-woven, compressed,
bonded synthetic materials presently available, of which
"Violins an ideal material. A plurality of outlines 2 of
one or more predetermined designs are printed, or impressed
upon the face lo of the backing material opposite the coated
surface. Preferably, a uniform marginal edge portion (see
Figure 2) is defined about the perimeter of each design by an
inner line parallel with the outline. Each individual design
outline is separated, for instance by cutting, from the sheet
of backing material and applied by the application of a
heaved iron to toe back of a selected fabric piece. Both the
backing material and the fabric are then cut to the shape of
the design outline to form a quilting piece.
Figure 2 shows the next step in the process where two
intended adjacent quilting pieces 3 and 4 are placed one over
the other with the fabric pieces face-to-face. It is
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intended to join the two pieces 3 and 4 along a seam line 5
shown in Figure I The center mark 6 is also printed upon
the backing material on the curved guide line 7. It will be
appreciated that a similar guide line is provided adjacent
the concave edge of the quilting piece 3 on the back thereof
as viewed in Figure 2. A pin 8 is inserted through the two
pieces on the guide line 7 when the center marks 6 on both
pieces 3 and 4 correspond in position. The outer ends of the
two curved surfaces 9 and 10 are then pinned together on the
guide lines 7 and further pins inserted between these extreme
positions. During this operation it will be found that the
marginal edge portion of the underlying piece 3 or 4, will
become folded back upon itself. It is not important whether
the convex or the concave edge portion is so folded, but it
will be noticed that the folded edge portion will appear
puckered.
A sewing machine may now be employed to sew along the
seam line 7 after which the pins 8 aye removed and the two
pieces 3 and 4 are flattened into coplanar relationship. If
then pressed with a warm iron it will be found that a minimum
of puckering along the seam line 5 has occurred. In fact, it
is quite surprising how little puckering has occurred and
this quite obviously has resulted mainly due to the use of
the backing material. It has also been found that far lets
stringent requirements are imposed on the tension of the
sewing machine upon the fabric apparently due to the use of
the backing material. Furthermore, the provision of seam
lines 7 ensure more uniform assembly of pieces 3 and 4 thus
reducing the chance of accumulative errors detracting from
the appearance of the finished quilt.
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Further pieces may then be added in similar manner to
the exposed sides of the joined pieces 3 and 4 subsequently
to obtain a completed quilting piecework. It will be obvious
that straight edges or edges of almost any shape may be
joined together by a pickerels seam by following the above
technique. By practicing this invention it has been found
that considerably less skill is required to achieve a well
constructed piecework than has hitherto been possible.
Whereas a preferred embodiment has been described in
the foregoing passages it should be understood that other
forms, modifications and refinements are feasible within the
scope of this invention. It will be appreciated that besides
being directed to a method of producing quilting piecework,
the invention also includes the provision of backing material
prepared for use in the said method.
