Patent Application
20210108345
The present invention is generally directed to a method of hand piecing used by some quilters known as English Paper Piecing, and sometimes simply referred to as “Paper Piecing,” which is a detailed method of hand sewing and stitching that is frequently used by quilters to create decorative designs for the tops of quilts.
With regard to quilting projects, pieces of fabric with certain shapes are sometimes called “patches,” and they can be joined side by side with seams that are sewn by hand, or with the aid of a sewing machine, in a process called “piecing” or “sewing a seam.” The patches may be all the same shape and size, or they may be different shapes and different sizes, but they generally will be fitted together during the piecing process to form “blocks” that are more elaborate combinations of multiple patches that have been pieced together, normally by seams sewn along their abutting edges.
In quilting, fabric is described as having both a “right” side and a “wrong” side. The “right side” of the fabric is the decorative or patterned side that the quilter intends to be visible at the front of the finished item, while the “wrong side” is the back of the fabric that will not be seen by observers viewing the finished quilt or quilted item. Fabric patches are typically layered “right sides together” to sew a seam along their abutting edges, but the finished item will have all of the right sides facing up on the front of the finished item when the quilt or quilted item is complete.
English Paper Piecing (“EPP”) uses patterns or templates known as “foundation pieces,” and involves stitches being made through an overlying fabric piece and directly through an underlying foundation piece. In traditional paper piecing, the quilter cuts foundation pieces in a desired size and shape to serve as both a pattern and as a base/foundation for a patch that will be constructed from fabric for a specific quilting project. A foundation piece is typically made of paper, freezer paper, specialty paper, cardstock, cardboard, or even, in some cases, plastic. The foundation piece is cut by the quilter into a specific shape having a specific size, both of which are determined by the shape and size of the fabric patch that will be made by the quilter for inclusion in a block that will be made later during the piecing process for a specific overall project. Normally in EPP projects, before sewing begins, the foundation pieces are cut by the quilter into various desired geometric shapes with straight edges such that the fabric patches that will be made can later be matched together at their points and their straight edges can be sewn together to form a block during the piecing process that is intended for a specific project.
After the foundation pieces have been cut, the quilter then cuts a piece of fabric (the “fabric piece”) in roughly the same shape as the pre-cut foundation piece, but with an extra seam allowance at all of its edges (the seam allowance is usually about 3/16 to ¼″ inch) such that the fabric piece will have the same shape but will be slightly larger in size than the foundation piece. In order to create a fabric patch, the wrong side of the fabric piece is placed on the surface of the foundation piece, the seam allowance of the fabric piece is folded over the edges of the foundation piece, and the seam allowance is sewn or basted directly to the foundation piece so that the foundation piece is sewn together with and encased within the fabric piece on all sides and the fabric piece is held to the foundation piece by the thread stitches to form the fabric patch (the “EPP patch”). Once multiple EPP patches are made by the quilter, they can be sewn together into a block. Eventually when multiple blocks are completed, they can be joined together to form a whole quilt top or they can otherwise be joined to a separate quilt top, but in either case the blocks provide the decorative images of the quilt top.
During the EPP process, the foundation pieces are removed from the EPP patches prior to final completion of the quilt. Foundation pieces made out of paper, plastic, or other similar materials cannot be left within the EPP patches that become part of the final quilt top because doing do would result in a quilt that is too stiff, makes undesirable crinkling noise when manipulated, and does not have a pleasing appearance or softness. Some quilters may choose to remove the foundation pieces after a whole block is made, while others may remove each foundation piece immediately after each EPP patch is sewn. In either case, detaching and removing the foundation pieces from the EPP patches is very time-consuming and frustrating, and it often involves the use of tweezers to tear the foundation pieces out of each EPP patch. Removal of the foundation pieces also frequently weakens the seams holding the EPP patch together. Removal of the foundation pieces from the EPP patches is one of the most aggravating and difficult aspects of the EPP method.
It should also be appreciated that the traditional EPP method is entirely geared toward the specific project that the quilter is working on at the time they are performing the EPP method, such that each foundation piece and each of the EPP patches are cut by the quilter into sizes and shapes that are controlled by, and dependent upon, the overall quilt or quilted item that is being created by the quilter at that time, and therefore the traditional EPP method is inefficient.
It is an object of the present invention to provide pre-cut foundation pieces that can be used in EPP that do not have to be removed from the EPP patches prior to final completion of quilts or other quilted items. By allowing the foundation pieces to remain as part of the EPP patches, the difficulty of removing the foundation pieces is avoided and the overall integrity of each patch is maintained.
It is also an object of this invention to make the EPP method more efficient by providing multiple pre-cut foundation pieces with various shapes and geometric designs that can be used in a variety of different EPP projects by the quilter, avoiding the need for re-creation or new creation of specific foundation pieces for each specific EPP quilting project. It is a further object of this invention to allow for creation of EPP quilts that have superior appearance and superior insulating properties.
The invention hereby disclosed is best understood as providing multiple pre-cut foundation pieces with a specified shape and size that have been die cut from nonwoven batting material. While batting material is frequently placed between whole quilt tops and quilt bottoms during final quilt assembly that occurs after the quilt tops are completed, the present invention involves use of batting material that has been pre-cut into a variety of geometric shapes, such as hexagons, octagons, diamonds, squares, triangles, and other such polygonal shapes, or even circles, for use as foundation pieces for EPP projects. Because most quilts will eventually incorporate batting anyway, the use of batting material that is pre-cut into various geometric shapes and sizes for use as foundation pieces in EPP projects will not interfere with the eventual appearance or softness of the completed quilt or quilted item, and, if anything, will simply enhance the appearance and the thermal insulating properties of the completed quilts or quilted items.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the nonwoven batting used for the pre-cut foundation pieces is a 100% polyester batting. However, a nonwoven batting material made out of cotton or a polyester-cotton blend may also be used for pre-cutting a variety of nonwoven batting foundation pieces having predetermined sizes and shapes. In a further embodiment, such polyester, cotton, or polyester-cotton blended nonwoven battings may be coated or impregnated with a stiffening resin.
In an additional embodiment, the pre-cut foundation pieces having various geometric patterns and sizes may also be coated with an adhesive on at least one side such that they will have at least one “tacky” side and the wrong side of a fabric piece can be temporarily adhered to that side of the pre-cut nonwoven batting foundation piece using the adhesive prior to the interconnecting seams being placed through the fabric piece and the foundation piece during sewing to create the EPP patches.
As shown in
It should be understood that the drawings of the block patterns 105, 205 are merely illustrative of a few types of blocks that may be created in the paper piecing process by the quilter. The reality is that an incredibly wide variety of block patterns may be created using the variously shaped and sized EPP patches corresponding to the variously shaped and sized nonwoven batting pieces of the present invention.
It should be appreciated that kits containing multiple pre-cut foundation pieces of nonwoven batting material having the same size and same geometric shape could be provided for facilitating the EPP process and facilitating rapid creation of EPP patches and blocks. Likewise, kits containing multiple pre-cut foundation pieces of nonwoven batting having different shapes or different sizes could also be provided for facilitating the EPP process and making the rapid creation of EPP patches and blocks much easier. This would be of great benefit to both novice and experienced quilters alike.
As discussed previously, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the nonwoven batting used for the pre-cut foundation pieces is a 100% polyester batting, such as, for example, the Thermore® batting product that is manufactured by Hobbs Bonded Fibers NA, LLC. Such 100% polyester batting is advantageous because it does not shrink when washed, it will not wrinkle, and it is thin enough and lightweight enough to provide a low-loft appearance that is desirable for EPP projects, yet it is durable and sturdy enough to be used for foundation pieces that are hand sewn to small, overlying fabric pieces. Polyester batting is inherently stiff enough to hold the pattern for the fabric pieces in order to make the EPP patches, and in that regard it performs at least as well as paper, freezer paper, or cardboard for the purpose of serving as a foundation for the EPP patches.
In another embodiment of the invention, a nonwoven batting material made out of cotton or a polyester-cotton blend may be used for pre-cutting a variety of foundation pieces having predetermined sizes and shapes.
In yet a further embodiment, such polyester, cotton, or polyester-cotton blended nonwoven battings may be coated or impregnated with a stiffening resin that causes the pre-cut foundation pieces to be even stiffer so that they are better able to hold the pattern of the EPP patches during the EPP process. This is not necessary with 100% polyester nonwoven batting for the reasons discussed above, but adding a stiffening resin to cotton or poly-cotton blended nonwoven batting can greatly enhance the stiffness of the foundation pieces and the patches. A water soluble stiffening resin is preferable so that it can be washed out when the final completed quilt or quilted item is later washed.
In an additional embodiment, the pre-cut foundation pieces having various geometric patterns and sizes may also be coated with an adhesive on at least one side such that they will have at least one “tacky” side. In this way, the “wrong side” (back side) of a fabric piece can be temporarily adhered to that tacky side of the pre-cut nonwoven batting foundation piece using the adhesive prior to the interconnecting seams being sewn through the fabric piece and the foundation piece during sewing to create the EPP patch. This adhesive coating that is on at least one side of the precut foundation pieces may be covered with a release film prior to the time that the foundation pieces are to be used in connection with the fabric pieces to create the EPP patches. Use of such release films on the tacky side of the foundation pieces will make the process of using adhesive-coated foundation pieces in the EPP method less messy and less difficult. The adhesive is preferrably water soluble so that it can be washed out after the final quilt or quilted item is completed.
In some embodiments there may be an adhesive layer on both sides of the pre-cut nonwoven batting foundation pieces, and both adhesive layers may be covered with release films. Whether adhesive is applied to one or both sides of the foundation pieces, the adhesives that are used preferably will not be heat-activated adhesives since those types of adhesives would be inappropriate for most EPP projects that involve small patches being sewn by hand.
The embodiments and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention may be best understood and appreciated with reference to the drawings, descriptions, and claims. Where used in the various figures of the drawings, the same numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “distal”, “proximal”, “lateral”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “central”, “first”, “second”, “third”, “inside”, “internal”, “outside”, “external”, “end”, “ends”, “side”, “sides”, “edge”, “edges” and similar terms are used herein, it should be understood that, unless otherwise specifically stated or otherwise made specifically clear by context, these terms have reference only to the structure shown in the drawings as it would appear to a person viewing the drawings, and such terms are utilized in order to facilitate describing the invention and in order to facilitate a better understanding of the invention.
Although the invention has been described with reference to several specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/914,872 filed on Oct. 14, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62914872 | Oct 2019 | US |
