| 1. What is a quilt?
| a bedcovering made of fabric layers stitched
together, or a wallhanging or other item using the same
materials and techniques.
| 2. Name the 3 basic parts of a quilt.
| the top, the batting, and the backing.
| 3. What is
| a. a charm quilt?
| a. the top is pieced. all the pieces are
the same size and shape, and every piece is a different
fabric.
| b. a medallion quilt?
| b. the top is pieced and/or appliqued. A
central design, usually one large block, is surrounded by
several borders.
| c. a strippy quilt?
| c. the top is pieced of several (5-7
usually) wide strips that run the length of the quilt.
Normally the strips are
of two solid fabrics or one solid and one print fabric
alternating. The major decorative element is the
quilting designs that run along the strips.
| d. a whole-cloth quilt?
| d. the top is unpieced, or pieced only to
achieve the desired size. Only one fabric is used, often
a solid. The
decorative aspect of the quilt is achieved solely by the
quilting design.
| 4. Give the approximate sizes of
| a. a fat quarter
| a. 18x22"
| b. a baby quilt
| b. 36x45" to 48x54" (any figure in there)
| c. a king-sized quilt
| c. 90x100" to 120" square (any figure in
there)
| 5. What is a set?
| the way quilt blocks are arranged on the
quilt
top. Includes setting elements such as sashing, etc.
| 6. When is it inappropriate to use a set?
| in quilts that don't use blocks, in quilts
with one-piece blocks, in items using only one block
| 7. Give some uses for borders.
| to expand a piece to a desired size; to
frame a piece;
to extend a design beyond the medallion; to allow the
possibility for the design to spill over a frame; to
prevent binding from encroaching into a design; to tie
design elements together; others
| 8. Why do we quilt or tie quilts?
| to fasten the 3 layers together so they
don't shift during use or washing.
| 9. What is tieing?
| tacking the 3 layers together at discrete
intervals (quilting is tacking them together in
contiguous lines).
| 10. In what situations is tieing more
appropriate than quilting?
| when the piece is to be used extensively and
washed
very often; if the top has numerous seams, making
quilting tedious or difficult; if the maker lacks the
time to quilt the piece; the design calls for it; others.
| | |||
| 11. Briefly describe
| a. applique
| a. you cut fabric into shapes and attach
them to base
blocks to create your design. Cutting away the base
fabric underneath the patches is optional.
| b. pieced blocks
| b. you cut fabric into shapes and sew
them to each other to form blocks.
| 12. Differentiate between applique
and broderie perse.
| In broderie perse you cut motifs from
printed fabric and attach them to the base fabric
so that each motif represents itself. | In applique you cut shapes from printed or solid fabric and attach them to the base fabric so that the shapes form a design. 13. Give an example of the
following pieced patterns:
| a. an all-over design
| a. Lone Star, others
| b. a one-patch pattern
| b. Spool, Postage Stamp, strippy quilt,
others
| c. a 4-patch pattern
| c. Broken Dishes, others
| d. a 9-patch pattern
| d. Churn Dash, others
| e. a 16-patch pattern
| e. Arkansas Crossroads, others
| f. a 5-patch (25-patch) pattern
| f. Flying Geese, Magnolia Bud, others
| g. a 7-patch pattern
| g. Bear's Paw, Country Roads, others
| h. a pattern utilizing curved seams
| h. Drunkard's Path, Dresden Plate, Wedding
Ring, others
| i. a pattern depicting an object
| i. Fan, Pine Tree, Basket, others
| j. a non-symmetrical pattern
| j. Checkerboard Skew, others
| 14. Define the Golden Rectangle.
| An element of Classic Greek architecture,
which to this day influences domestic design as people
of Western heritage view it as having particularly
beautiful proportions. The ratio of the short and
long sides of the rectangle is about 0.618, or about
5:8. The unique property is that if you remove the
largest possible square from the rectangle (in the
case of a 89x144 rectangle, it'd be 89x89), the small
rectangle that remains (in this example, it's 55x89)
has the same ratio.
| 15. What is a visually pleasing ratio
between the width of a block and the width of a setting
strip?
| 5:1 to 2:1. The more complex the setting
strip is (solid vs. small print vs. large print vs.
pieced/appliqued) the more pleasing a wider strip is.
| 16. Discuss the differences between
trapunto and stuffing.
| Trapunto is extra padding of lines such as
vines and stems. Stuffing is extra padding of areas
such as leaves and figures.
| 17. In what situations are trapunto
and stuffing appropriate?
| where more contrast between a design element
and its background is desired than can be accomplished
by quilting or fabric choice; if appliqued elements
"pooch" to an undesired extent; when the piece will
not be extensively handled or frequently washed; others.
| | |||
| 18. Why is pure cotton fabric generally
preferred over cotton/polyester blends these days?
| it is easier to hand-stitch; its
longevity is better understood; it shrinks
slightly, producing an "old-fashioned" look; others.
| 19. Discuss the relative merits of
pre-washing or not pre-washing fabric.
| Pre-washing removes excess dye, eliminating
the possibility of bleeding; it shrinks the fabric; it
removes sizing; after pre-washing the true "hand" of the
fabric is exposed; others. | Not pre-washing retains the mildew treatment manufacturers apply to the fabric; the sizing makes the fabric stiffer and easier to handle during cutting and piecing; it allows the completed piece to shrink slightly in the wash, producing an old-fashioned wrinkled look; others. 20. What is the difference between bleeding
and crocking?
| When dye moves from one part of fabric to
another while the fabric is wet, it bleeds. | When dye is rubbed from one piece of dry fabric to another, it crocks. 21. What is the effect of tea-dying?
| it adds a pale beige to tan shade to the
fabric, muting the colors and adding an aged,
water-stained
look; it may weaken the fabric slightly; others.
| 22. What part does fabric color play in
quilt design?
| Different colors cause eye movement across
the quilt, drawing attention toward some shapes and away
from others.
| 23. How does the following affect
a quilt design?
| a. changing color values
| a. emphasises different shapes; some pieces
may blend into each other or be more strongly
differentiated from each other; others.
| b. using print fabric instead of solid
| b. adds the illusion of surface texture to
the pieces; adds accent colors; others
| c. using print fabric all the same scale
instead of different scales
| c. reduces the effect of having different
color
values; causes pieces to tend to blend into each other;
makes the quilt more uniform
| d. using stripes or plaids instead of
non-directional prints
| d. directs eye along stripes, emphasising
some directions and minimizing others; highlights
off-grain
piecing; increases the impact of non-square elements such
as diamonds and curves; changes the illusion of texture;
others.
| | ||
| 24. Discuss the relative merits of
pressing block seams to one side and pressing them open.
| Pressing them to one side reduces the area
in which the quilter must quilt through more than 2
fabric layers; reduces bearding; reduces amount of
batting lost through parting seams; causes some pieces
to look raised relative to their neighbors; can make
almost-meeting points meet on diagonal corners (like
on diamonds) by pressing seams to one side instead of
the other; allows stitch-in-the-ditch quilting; allows
"locking" intersections when sewing pieced blocks
together; others. | Pressing them open reduces bulk in sewing multiple pieces together (like in 8- or more-pointed star centers); reduces area of extreme multiple layers; makes all pieces lie evenly in height; others. 25. What is the function of basting?
| to hold the layers together while
manipulating the quilt during quilting.
| 26. Discuss the relative merits of
pin basting (including QuilTak) and thread basting.
| pin basting requires less manipulation of
the piece,
therefore there is less shifting during basting; the
materials (not QuiltTak) are reusable, so there is no
waste; others.
| Thread basting produces a piece that is less likely to shift during quilting; others. 27. Discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of
| a. pure cotton batting
| a. it's traditional; natural fibers;
shrinkage is understood; very long lasting; cool
in summer and warm in winter; may contain cottonseed
oil that can stain fabrics; tends to bunch in washing;
fairly hard to needle; beards some.
| b. cotton/polyester batting
| b. doesn't shrink; much easier to needle
than pure cotton; not traditional; contains plastic;
cotton batting with poly bond beards very little or not
at all
| c. pure polyester batting
| c. doesn't shrink; very inexpensive; very
easy to needle; all plastic; warm in summer and cool in
winter; bonded batting beards very little or not at all
| d. silk batting
| d. doesn't shrink; a delight to needle;
very warm; natural fiber; very expensive; hard to find;
cannot dry clean; beards very easily
| e. wool batting
| e. a delight to needle; very warm; natural
fiber; tends to bunch, shrink, and/or felt in washing;
beards some.
| f. other batting (i.e., corn husks, old
blankets, etc.)
| f. traditional; doesn't beard; difficult to
needle; variable effectiveness in warmth; attack by
insects; possible cleaning problems
| 28. In what situations is it appropriate
to have a pieced or applique design on the backing?
| when the piece is machine-quilted or tied;
the use of the piece includes exposing the back; for fun;
to use up scraps; others
| 29. Define or sketch an appropriate piecing
design for a "plain" backing for a quilt that is wider
than the widest fabric available.
| a center seam down its length is to be
avoided; instead, have three lengthwise pieces with the
2 seams equidistant from the sides.
| | ||
| 30. Describe some techniques for
transferring a quilt design to fabric.
| stencil; trace using strong light;
freehand; pounce; photocopy; others
| 31. Discuss the relative merits of hand
quilting and machine quilting.
| hand quilting is traditional, more group
oriented, more portable, and quiet; others. | machine quilting is faster, produces a piece more able to stand up to hard use and regular washing; others. 32. How do you measure the length of your
quilting stitch?
| from where the needle pierces the top from
below to the next place where the needle pierces the top
from below, or equivalent: a stitch includes what is
visible both on top and on the back.
| 33. What is bearding?
| migration of batting through the quilt top
or backing
| 34. Give some techniques to prevent or
counteract bearding.
| use bonded batting; press seams to one
side; match batting color to fabric color; quilt with
narrower needles and thread; tie the quilt; others.
| 35. Describe the differences between the
rocking stitch and the poke stitch.
| In the poke stitch you pass the needle
completely through the quilt going in one direction,
then pass the needle completely through the quilt going
in the other direction, to make a single stitch. | In the rocking stitch you maneuver the area of the quilt immediately to be quilted to cause the needle tip to pass through all the layers from top to backing and back, until one or more stitches lie on the needle; then you pull the needle completely through the layers and complete all the captured stitches simultaneously. 36. Define
| a. stitch in the ditch
| a. quilting in the seam line or directly
against the applique edge
| b. outline stitch
| b. quilting 1/4" from the seam line or
from the edge of the applique
| c. filling stitch
| c. a usually regular pattern to quilt
background areas
| d. stippling
| d. an irregular grouping of quilt stitches
to closely fill an area (note this is a filling stitch)
| 37. Describe or draw a sketch of
these quilting designs:
| a. feather wreath
| a. figures similar to 1/2 of a yin-yang
figure, arranged in an overlapping pattern extending
both outward and inward from a circle
| b. Baptist fan
| b. about 4 concentric quarter-circles; the
fill pattern has lots of Baptist fans all oriented in the
same direction
| c. clamshell
| c. 1/2 circles side by side in rows, each
row offset by 1/2 from its neighbors
| d. diamond
| d. two sets of parallel straight lines; one
set crosses the other at an angle other than 90 degrees,
usually 60 or 45 degrees
| 38. Name appropriate quilting
designs for the following blocks:
| a. Double Wedding Ring
| a. spider web; others
| b. Ocean Waves
| b. stitch in the ditch; outline stitch
| c. Snowball
| c. feather wreath; snowflake; others
| 39. What are
| a. quilt-as-you-go?
| a. the quilt is made of blocks quilted
individually and then sewn together.
| b. biscuit quilts?
| b. the blocks are usually smaller than
the quilt-as-you-go blocks; they are stuffed but not
quilted, and then sewn together.
| 40. How should your quilting design look
on the back of your quilt?
| the same as it looks on the front: the
stitch sizes should be about equal, with no stitches
going off in wild directions simply because you weren't
watching where the needle went. ;-)
| | |||||
| 41. Discuss the relative merits of
straight-grain and bias binding.
| Straight grain is much easier to make;
can mitre the corners; others. | Bias binding wears much better on pieces that take hard use and frequent washing; is easier to ease along curved edges; others. 42. Describe the steps in making bias
binding.
| Square up a piece of fabric and cut it
diagonally at 45 degrees. Sew the two pieces together
along the outer (squared) edges. Draw lines along the
piece parallel to the other two squared edges. Sew the
piece into a tube along the angled edges, offsetting
one from the other by the width of the distance between
two lines. Cut the tube into one long strip by following
the pencil lines. Iron the edges to the center and the
result in half, hiding the raw edges within (use a bias
bar to avoid going crazy keeping them even).
| 43. How do you self-bind a quilt?
| Make the top larger than the backing,
and turn the excess top over the edge to the back;
or make the backing larger than the top, and turn the
excess
backing over the edge to the top.
| 44. What is the purpose of a label?
| To preserve the identity of the maker and
date the quilt.
| 45. What is the minimum information
that should go on a label?
| The maker's name and the year the quilt was
completed.
| 46. How can you keep the label from being
detached from your quilt?
| Write the information directly onto the
quilt fabric; attach the label before quilting so that
the quilting goes over the label.
| 47. Describe the construction of a rod
pocket.
| Make a tube of fabric slightly shorter than
the top edge of the piece; finish the raw edges; place
the tube on the back, along and slightly below the top
edge with the seam against the quilt so it doesn't show;
hand stitch the top and bottom edges of the tube to the
backing.
| 48. What are embellishments?
| Fabric and non-fabric items separately
attached to the quilt top for decoration and/or as a
design element.
| 49. In what situations are embellishments
appropriate?
| When the piece will not be used as a
bedcovering and will be seldom or never washed.
| | |
| 50. How do you store a quilt
| a. short-term?
| a. Clean and fold; store in a cloth bag
in a dry, dark area.
| b. long-term?
| b. Clean (including removing cleaning
residues); fold over rumpled bars of acid-free paper,
with acid-free paper between the quilt layers; wrap in
acid-free paper; store in acid-free box in dry, dark
area.
| 51. What is the best way to clean a modern
quilt made with 100% cotton fabric?
| cold/cold water, delicate cycle, Orvus soap
| 52. What is the best way to clean an antique
quilt?
| don't; place flat on clean surface, cover
with clean window screen, and vacuum over the screen;
take it to a restoration firm familiar with antique
fabrics; wash in cool water (no soap) in bathtub, gently
squeezing water
through it, then lift out in a sling made of a bedsheet,
dry flat on raked grass in the sun; others.
| 53. What is a cutter quilt?
| a quilt that is too damaged to be repaired,
not of enough historical value to preserve whole, with
some attractive sections and/or of sufficient emotional
value to preserve less damaged sections
| 54. What factors do you use in determining
whether to restore a damaged antique quilt?
| how damaged is it; how significant is it
historically or emotionally; do you have the
time/money/skill to do an adequate job and/or hire
someone to do it; others.
| 55. In 1995, what is the official
age of a quilt
| a. that was started and completed in 1954?
| a. 41 years
| b. whose top was made in 1834 and was
quilted in 1973?
| b. 22 years! age is determined by the
piece's completion date
| c. that was made in 1914 and repaired in
1992?
| c. 81 years! repair is not part of original
construction
| 56. Who is/are the maker(s) of the quilts in
question #55?
| a. the maker in 1954; | b. the makers in 1834 and 1973; c. only the maker in 1914 | |||
| 57. How does black light help to date a
quilt?
| polyester thread glows under black light,
cotton thread does not. nearly all thread used in
piecing
and applique after 1930 or so is cotton/polyester blend.
| 58. What are the unique features
of
| a. Amish quilts?
| a. no print fabrics; somber colors
(Indiana quilters also use dark yellow); very scrappy
look, or large broad patterns such as Diamond In A
Square; elegant, exquisite quilting; others
| b. Japanese quilts?
| b. assymmetry; use of antique fabrics,
particularly obi and kimono brocades and indigo-dyed
fabrics; nature themes; others
| c. northern English quilts?
| c. strippy quilts and whole cloth quilts,
with exquisite quilting; whole cloth quilts frequently
made with glazed cotton
| d. Baltimore Beauty quilts?
| d. red/green applique blocks of
floral/bird/historical/etc. motifs, ruching and similar
3-dimensional effects, with elaborate appliqued vine or
swag border, on white or unbleached background
| 59. Give a short history of
| a. Seminole piecing
| a. When the Seminole Indians of the
Southeast US were moved into reservations in Florida,
missionaries gave them sewing machines to make them
"useful" citizens. They developed this elaborate
pieced border technique on their own.
| b. Hawaiian applique
| b. Before the European invasion, the
Hawaiians had applied designs to their bark clothing by
dyeing strips of bark and then pounding the strips into
dampened sheets in elaborate designs. Missionaries'
wives taught piecing to native women. The latter
invented applique on their own and adapted their
traditional designs to the technique.
| c. the role of quilts in the Underground
Railroad
| c. Log Cabin quilts with center squares made
of black fabric were hung outside safe houses on the
Underground Railroad, signaling to fugitives that
safe haven was available.
| 60. Approximately how old is the oldest
existing example of quilting?
| According to Averil Colby's book
Quilting, the oldest example of
quilting is a figurine of an Egyptian pharoah showing him
wearing a quilted vest. It's dated to about 3400 B.C.,
which makes it about 5400 years old.
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