A: when it is a postcard! Let me elaborate – when it is one of the current craze of 4″ x 6″ postcards with a small quilted textile on one side and an address and stamp on the other. These objects go through the mail as part of organised swaps. That they give the makers and recipients a lot of pleasure is in no doubt. I visited one textile artist’s website yesterday to find she described her small works as quilts, ie 4″ x 6″ postcards. She’d done a lot of them and although they were only thumbnails and didn’t enlarge, some were very interesting. What I had difficulty with was her calling the decorated postcards ‘quilts’ .
Quilting is a technique of stitching several layers of fabric together. The word ‘quilt’ commonly suggests bed coverings, but nowadays is taken to include a lot more such as wall quilts, art quilts, throws, lap quilts and more, but quilting can decorate or be used in the construction of many other objects, such as cushions, totebags, vests and more – yet we don’t term these things ‘quilts’. I think the word quilt has certain associations in addition to the technical construction, and that is that the whole object is quilted, and it lies or hangs, on its own, as it is. The minute you add some quilted fabric to a mount, a frame, onto a bag, or apply it as a pocket or a trim, the quilting becomes decoration to the object, and the object itself remains the important thing – a cushion, a totebag, an embroidered panel or picture. Or a postcard. It’s the gradual acceptance of these two words as interchangeable that I am objecting to. Fussy ? sure – among other things I am a retired teacher of english, and admit being inclined to the pedantic… your comments are welcome.
Hi Allison, found your blog addy on the QA list where I lurk 😉
But I disagree…the quilted postcards fit your definition of stitching several layers of fabric together and by your own admission quilts where commonly bed coverings but that definition has expanded. There is no requirement that a quilt fit a certain size or serve a specific function. I have sold my mailable fabric cards to individuals who had no desire to mail them but frame them. I think the definition of quilt is being expanded with the fabric postcards.
btw, I will be a regular reader of your blog…love reading quilt blogs from outside the U.S. (or inside the U.S. for that matter…I just enjoy reading blogs from quilters) 🙂
oh and one other thing…will you be joining the AQ web ring? I can send you the link if you don’t already have it or you can find it on my blog links.
Hi! I’m also a lurker on QA. 🙂
I think you are correct, in that we don’t call everything that is quilted a ‘quilt’. It has never been used as just a ‘blanket'(heh couldn’t resist) title applying to all quilted items. There has to be a better reason for calling a piece a quilt other than simple construction or ‘well why not?’
I, as the other poster, usually refer to these items as ‘quilted postcards’. This to me is not the same as actually saying they are quilts. Semantics, maybe. But semantics are part of what makes proper communication possible.