Quilts aren't just bedspreads anymore. Although quilting has been around for centuries, new ways of interpreting patchwork quilting and appliqué have brought quilting into the 21st century. Hundreds of manufacturers are making specialty fabrics that have revolutionized the quilting industry. Quilts using dynamic designs like landscapes, Impressionism, portraiture, and three-dimensional effects are changing the way quilts are displayed and used in the home.
Landscape Quilts
Small landscape quilts look much like fine tapestry and are easy to find or commission. They can give your walls a depth and texture that framed prints lack. Whether they depict a sunset on the ocean or an afternoon in Tuscany, these quilts give any setting a dynamic and unique flavor.
Traditional Quilting Designs With a Twist
Traditional designs like drunkard' s path, tumbling blocks, and the log cabin block are being reinterpreted using geometric or painterly fabrics and reflect a contemporary sensibility with eye-popping results. The introduction of strip piecing and rotary cutting techniques together with advances in sewing machine technology have made difficult effects much easier to achieve. This means that quality quilts are available at reasonable prices.
Quilt Quality and Attention to Detail
Quilted artwork, appliance covers, tablecloths and Roman shades are bringing the charm and workmanship of quilted goods into our everyday lives. Many are finished by hand and embellished with buttons, beads, ribbon and lace. Some of these one-of-a-kind works of art are even heirloom quality.
Quilted wall hangings using elaborate decorative elements like thread painting, bobbin work, and ribbon work are rivaling even expensively framed art prints in depth, luster, and intricacy. Quilts aren't just about country or cottage design. Art quilts made from one-of-a-kind fabrics use texture and value to bring out a richness, depth, and color saturation that's unique to textile design.
Quality Quilted Bedspreads
Quilted bedspreads are now commercially available in all standard sizes. These products are often sold with a large assortment of complementary accessories like sheets, draperies, pillows, dust ruffles, lampshades, and rugs for a designer look. Constructed using superior thread, batting, and binding, commercial quilts are well made and durable.
Choosing the Quilt for You
Start by defining the space you want to use and selecting two main colors and a neutral. Armed with that information you can start to explore different quilt styles that will coordinate with your room. One wonderful thing about quilts is that they can help integrate colors, making them a perfect focal point or focus piece. Why not select a quilt and design your room around it?
Tips for Displaying Your Own Quilts
If you're a quilter enthusiastic about displaying your work, consider some little explored options for showing off your creative flair. If you've made more than one or two quilts, you've probably framed quilts and hung them on rods in addition to covering every bed in the house with a custom quilt, but have you considered displaying them on doors via a wreath hanger, or as window treatments.
You can also display quilts along the backs of couches or chairs, or as tablecloths for special occasions (sans food, of course). Another option would be to drape one on a banister, or suspend it from the ceiling on a hook and pole. This last works for quilted mobiles that can be surprising and eye catching too. Don't stop there. Quilts can make wonderful shelf liners in linen closets if you make sure to turn them often. They also work as modified wall hangings for towel rods in guestrooms where one more towel would be terrycloth overkill. Just sew a few cloth tabs to the backing or affix them with a button or hook and loop tape.
A quilt, whether to cover a bed, window or table, will make an instant conversation piece. If you would like to create a focal point in a room, vary the artwork on your walls, give a special gift, or just treat yourself to something remarkable, consider bringing the luxury of a quilted product into your home.
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