Below is a list of various techniques of quilting that Sadiye Okyar has learned over the years and uses in her artistic creations.
Click on the technique for details.
ApplIque
It is made by sewing a shaped fabric onto a larger fabric, a patchwork square or a foundation fabric. Various techniques of sewing may be utilized for this assembly process.
This is the technique of creating 3D flowers with fabrics using different folding and sewing methods. It can be used singly in a tableau or fabric bundles as well as in combination with other techniques to embellish the art piece.
Boutis is a handcraft originated in Provence, France in 17-18th centuries. Maidens could not get married before completing their boutisses back then. Boutis is hand made, embroidered and filled later. The motifs are embroidered with chain stitch or stem stitch on the fabric with lining, then the gap in between is filled resulting in the puffed appearance.
Assembly of irregular shaped fabrics, subsequently embellishment of the assembled piece with embroidery, beads, crochet and ribbons is the outline of this technique. Its peak of popularity was in 19th century in England. The frivolous assembly of luxury fabrics such as silk, satin and velvet and then ornamenting with intensive handcrafts characterized the world known "Victorian crazy patchwork".
The sewing methods that are utilized to assembe the parts is the main challenge in this technique. The most important facet of crazy patchwork is the extent of customization for person. It's generally preferred to use fabric pieces that have special meaning for the person, like old clothes or souvenirs of beloved ones, etc thereby the resulting piece, whether it's art oriented or utilization oriented, will reflect the person's identity and memories.
This is a technique especially used in the applique of petty pieces. The applique that is pinned to the background with a relatively large allotment around is sewn and the allotment is cut away simultaneously. In addition to its ease in making small-sized appliques, cut-away applique is also advantageous in making big appliques neatly with one piece of fabric(seam free).
It's the application of Origami, Japanese art of paper folding, to the fabric. It can be used to get different forms from a folding you have. Also you can get distinct designs with color tricks.
Log cabin, that is one of the most traditional patchwork techniques, is
named after its appearance's likeness to log cabins. Starting from the square
piece in the middle, log pieces are sewn clockwise with horizontal and vertical
placing. It should be noted that Pineapple technique is a specialized log cabin
as well.
This is the technique that is generally visualized in minds when "patchwork"
is mentioned. It entails using paper/cardboard formworks around which fabric is
basted and finally all pieces are assembled. Thereafter the paper is removed and
sandwiching and quilting steps are the finishing touch.
Bias are assembled like the shape of pineapples. As each layer may be colored differently, the quilter may prefer to make color distribution as a new shape maker.
Punch embroidery is a technique that creates a 3 dimension feeling on the
fabric surface. Using the special needle, it is a real work of art and taste to
make a new texture on the fabric. This technique is generally called "oil
painting with thread", due to its advantage of using colors freely and in a
complex structure as in oil painting. With derivatives like Russian embroidery,
Bunka, punch embroidery, this technique entails embroidering on the reverse side
with the special needle and creating the 3D motif on the front side. Despite the
fact that the appearance is like carpet weaving, its delicacy merits it to be
rather called an art. Bunka is the Japanese version of this Russian-based art.
Its basic difference from punch is that the front side of the fabric is the work
side. This technique is generally used for landscape drawings. The use of
different sized needles enables threads of different thickness and 3D view even
more. This technique is a favorite especially when used in embellishing crazy
patchwork pieces. And it has a real harmony with ribbon embroidery.
It's the embroidery that uses silk or organza ribbon instead of embroidery thread. Ribbon embroidery is a contributory technique used especially in making floral figures and embellishments. It's ideal in ornamenting clothes. The result is even better when you use the ribbon embroidery in combination with thread embroidery. The basic stitches in ribbon embroidery are straight stitch, ribbon stitch, lazy daisy, French knot, and stem stitch.
It's a technique to be used in small bed covers and floor decorations, that
is best when made with soft, wide-threaded fabrics that do not dilate. Pieces
are assembled with sewing machine with the sewing allotments on the open side
and then they are vertically cut with 1 cm distance. After washing, the cut
parts are knitted together giving the piece a softer look. Especially with
cotton flannels and polar fabrics, this technique is best for knee size blankets.
It's the technique that involves covering the figures with a layer of light fabric such as chiffon, organza or tulle that will shadow the background and make the appearance less sharper. The transparency of the upper fabric gives the figure colors an exquisite air. The quilting made topmost, either with the applique colors or with silver/golden threads, will sharpen the figure shapes down under, but the figure colors are blurred.
It is the technique that entails very tightly quilted figures to be filled
with silicon, fibre, etc with a puffed appearance. Quilting can be made either
with hand or machine. 2 filling layers are used: one is the filling of the
figures, the other one is the general sandwiching filling under the lining.
