2. Technique.
You have a bunch of scraps, and you want to put them together in some meaningful, useful way, with the final result in the shape of a rectangle large enough to cover and warm a sleeping person.

Given the requirements and the constraints, the result will be a series of common patchwork patterns using simple geometric shapes.

A few examples from 18th and early 19th century America--and of course the names themselves conceal volumes of cultural, pioneer history:

As the industrial revolution got underway, fabric became both cheap and colorful. The simple geometric designs of primitive quilts became complex, and then gave way to representational quilts, with elaborate pictures, sometimes appliqued, sometimes embroidered. The 20th century added synthetic fabrics and more complex sewing techniques.

Quilts continued to be utilitarian, but the craft became an art, a medium of self-expression equal in potential to that of any of the "high" arts.

Enough words. If you want more info, explore the hundreds of quilting sites.

Just one note about attribution. The creators of the oldest quilts, like the creators of folk songs, are unknown. They did their job and then got on with their lives.

The quilts that follow proceed from comparatively simple designs toward more complexity.

Here's what we found to pleasure your eyes. . .

First Quilt

Magellan's Log X

Magellan's Log front page