Quilting is one of many Crafts that dates back centuries, with the earliest piece of quilting dating back to around 3400BC; a padded garment depicted on an ivory statue of an Egyptian pharaoh. The word 'quilt' is taken from the latin word 'culcita' meaning stuffed sack and the technique of quilting has been part of the needlework tradition in Europe from around the 5th Century. Quilting is the process of taking two or more layers of fabric and sewing them together to for a padded, thicker material which can then be used to create a quilt/blanket or a quilted garment. Most quilters use three layers to create their piece. This consists of a top fabric which may or may not be patchwork, a middle insulating material often know as batting or wadding and a final backing material. Although this is the most popular way to quilt, people adopt their own styles and techniques to produce beautiful items. Quilting is a Craft that can be done both by hand or by a machine. Using a needle and thread, the sewing thread is passed through all of the layers and then brought back up through to the top layer. This is repeated across the area is that is to be quilted and can be done with decorative stitching to form a an elaborate pattern or with a simple running stitch. Some people prefer the even appearance of a machine finished quilt however if the layers are fairly thick they will not go through a standard machine and a longarm quilting system is needed. If the top layer of the quilted item is patchwork, you may wish to sew this yourself and then send the piece away to be sewn using a specialist machine. In our Crafts section online, we stock a number of items which can be used for quilting, especially if you are doing patchwork as well. We stock hand quilting and machine quilting threads in a variety of colours, rotary cutters for cutting fabric out, quilting rulers for patchwork and quilting pins which are long enough to go through all the layers of the piece you are working on. For those customers who are looking to create a patchwork effect on the top layer of their quilt or quilted garment, we also stock a beautiful range of fat quarters and quilting cottons. Fat quarters are sold in bundles of designs which work together in colour which compliment and tone with each other so you do not have the difficult task of picking complimentary fabrics.