Quilting method and system

[0002] The present invention relates to a quilting method and system and particularly to a method and system for assembling of the top and bottom quilt covers to the opposite faces of a batting.

[0003] A quilt generally consists of a top cover and a bottom cover with an interposed soft batting. The upper or top cover may be formed by sewing small pieces to each other to form a decorative cover. The top and bottom covers are further interconnected in multiple spaced locations by various elements which pass through the batting to hold the batting in place and further contributes to the decorative effect.

[0004] In the prior art methods and systems, the covers are first manually secured to each other and the batting by safety pins, tacking usually with a special gun, a basting with needle, or application of a spray set active liquid glue to temporarily hold the cover in place during the forming of a final decorative cover, including a finished connection of the cover and batting. The temporary connections are then manually removed to finish the quilt. The attachment and removal are both tedious and time consuming.

[0005] Although widely used, an alternative simpler method and system has not been suggested in the prior art.

[0006] The present invention includes a novel and less tedious method and system for use in the craft of quilting.

[0007] Generally in accordance with the present invention, the covers are attached to the batting by an inactive adhesive which is activated after assembly of the batting and covers to secure the batting in the necessary position between the covers without the necessity for sewing or other known prior art means which generally require a manual time consuming task for creating and subsequent removal of the temporary attaching means. The inactive adhesive by proper selection may remain part of quilt or removed by washing or the like.

[0008] In a preferred method and system, the opposite surfaces of the batting are covered with a thin film of the inactive adhesive and preferably a heat activated inactive adhesive. The inactive adhesive is applied to the batting and the batting sold with the adhesive thereon. Instructions for assembling the covers and activating the inactive adhesive, as by passing a hot iron over the cover are given to secure the cover to the batting. The quilt may then be completed by the known methods of connecting the covers and batting to produce the desired decorative covers.

[0009] In summary, an inactive adhesive is interposed between a quilt cover and the adjacent batting to at least temporarily attach the cover to the batting. The bonded quilt covers and batting are then fixedly attached to each other by the usual quilting method and systems to form a decorative cover. The inactive adhesive bonding is preferably applied to attach both covers to the batting for at least the temporary securing of the covers for the subsequent known type of final securing the quilt covers to the inner batting without the prior art necessity of removing temporary connection means.

[0010] The inactive adhesive is preferably a heat activated material which is readily activated by the heat of a typical well-known hot ironing unit used for pressing clothing. Other energy or other activated adhesives may be used within the scope of the invention but the heat activated adhesive using a typical hot iron will be readily understood by a typical quilter.

[0011] The system reduces the time to complete the quilt and particularly eliminates the time consuming and tedious steps of manually connecting the temporary attachment of the cover and the subsequent removal thereof.

[0012] The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[0013] In the drawings:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a plan view of a quilt constructed in accordance with the present invention, with parts broken away to show detail of the construction;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a partial cross-section taken generally on line 2—2 of FIG. 1;

[0016] FIG. 3 is an enlarge partial view of the quilt in the process of forming the quilt of FIG. 1; and

[0017] FIG. 4 is a plan view of a batting forming a part of the quilt of FIGS. 1-3.

[0018] Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 and 2, a quilt is shown including top and bottom covers 1 and 2 separated by a central batting 3. The batting 3 is formed of relatively thick and soft material which is substantially thicker than the cloth covers 1 and 2. The outer edges of the quilt 1 are joined by a sewn connection 4 to enclose the batting 3. In addition, the covers and batting are joined by any of the various prior art methods to form a decorative quilt cover and is shown for purposes of illustration including a plurality of spaced connectors 5. Each connector 5 is a thread of yarn or other material, which secures the covers 1, 2 and the batting 3 together to hold the batting 3 in place and to form a decorative cover.

[0019] FIGS. 1 and 2, as described above, generally illustrate a typical prior art quilt which is hand prepared by individuals in the quilting art. The covers 1 and 2 are formed of a suitable cloth and the batting 3 of the thicker and soft material. The one cover may be formed of small individual pieces, not shown, which are separately sewn together to form a highly decorative cover. In a typical prior quilting method, the covers and batting are temporarily joined by stitching, or other prior art means as discussed above, throughout the assembly to temporarily hold the covers and batting in place during the completing of connectors 5, after which the temporary attachment means is manually removed.

[0020] In accordance with the present invention, the quilt of FIGS. 1 and 2 include adhesive connections 6 and 7 at the interfaces of covers 1 and 2 to the batting 3. As more fully developed hereinafter, adhesives 6 and 7 are applied throughout the interfaces in an inactive state and the adhesive is selected such as to remain part of the quilt or may be removed by hand or machine washing of the quilt or other suitable means.

[0021] More particularly, the batting 3 is preferably a preformed member with outer inactive adhesive coatings 6 and 7 applied to the faces of the batting, as more clearly shown in FIG. 3, which illustrates the members 1-3 assembled with the coatings 6 and 7 on the batting 3. The adhesive coatings 6 and 7 are relatively thin coatings and each is shown substantially enlarged for purposes of illustration. The coatings are such as to maintain a soft, flexible quilt if they are to remain a part of the final quilt. The inactive adhesive coating is activated after assembly with covers to form an active adhesive which joins the covers 1 and 2. A preferred adhesive is heat activated to convert the inactive adhesive to a bonding state.

[0022] In the process of forming the quilt, the covers 1 and 2 and the batting 3 are cut to the desired shape. The batting 3 has the inactive adhesives 6 and 7 on the opposite sides or faces. As shown in FIG. 3, the batting assembly of FIG. 3 is placed on a support 8, such as a table, with the adhesive 7 on the exposed top face. The cover 2 is placed, in proper alignment, on the batting 3. The coating is activated by heating. In a preferred method, a conventional hot electric iron unit 9 is applied over the entire surface of the cover 2. The heat of the iron activates the inactive adhesive 7 and fixes the cloth cover 2 to the batting 3. The batting 3 with the attached cover 2 is reversed upon table 8 and the cover 1 is aligned with the batting 3. The hot iron unit 9 is again moved over the cover 1, activating the inactive adhesive 6 on the abutting face of the batting to join the cover 6 to the batting 3.

[0023] The covers 1 and 2 are thereby sequentially fixed, at least temporarily, to the batting 3, and the assembly is ready to receive the connectors 5, which are attached in a conventional manner. Each illustrated connector 5 is generally a U-shaped thread 10 passing through the assembly and secured by a knot 10ato the quilt, as shown in FIG. 2, in accordance with one of the many prior art methods for forming a decorative covered quilt.

[0024] After all or a significant forming of the decorative cover, the partially finished quilt is completed by securing the edges as by the sewn connection 4.

[0025] The adhesive used is preferably a thin layer which maintains the complete flexibility and softness of the quilt, and is preferably a material which may be removed by washing or otherwise treating of the quilt.

[0026] More particularly, the adhesive 6-7 in the preferred construction is an adhesive such as sold under the trademark “Sol-U-Web” and manufactured and sold by Freudenburg Nonwoven Group of 20 Industrial Avenue, Chelmsford, Mass. 01824. The adhesive is a water soluble nonwoven adhesive material having an inter-laced construction for bonding fabrics. The adhesive as applied to the batting 3 was a less concentrated version of the product as sold to the general public. The inactive adhesive is readily heat activated and may remain a part of the final quilt, or readily removed by hand or machine washing the quilt. Those skilled in the art can provide other adhesives suitable for use in the present invention based on the teaching of the invention.

[0027] In the current construction of the batting, the adhesive is sprayed over the opposite faces of batting and forms a thin coating to mass produce batting with in-place inactive adhesive. The batting is thus readily available in desirable sizes in a state for assembly to the covers by the quilting trade.

[0028] The above adhesive, or any other suitable inactive adhesive, could be supplied in the quilting market for appropriate application by the individual quilters. The factory mass produced product provides accurate control of the applied adhesive and the benefits of mass production as well as quality control to produce an optimal system securing the covers to the batting.

[0029] The batting 3 may be of any suitable material such as presently used in quilting or others having the necessary softness, and which is compatible with the adhesive. Acceptable present day batting is of various types and generally includes 100% cotton, cotton and polyester blends and 100% polyester. Presently used batting has included 100% cotton and 100% polyester as well as 80% cotton/20% polyester, with various types of the 100% polyester batting identified as high loft, a low loft or a needle punch/traditional type. The above disclosed product as presently produced are typical construction and are not limited with respect to the scope of the present invention.

[0030] The present invention has been found to produce a high quality quilt which is equal to or better than that produced with the time consuming and tedious prior art stitching or other means.

[0031] The preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using a heat activated adhesive which is applied to the batting and which is then sold with proper instructions for use. Any other activatable adhesive may be used to form the adhesive covered batting sold as a unit for application by the quilter. The preferred embodiment has both surfaces of the batting fully covered. Further, the system may have the inactive adhesive applied by the quilter by a suitable spray unit or other applicators which can establish the desired inactive adhesive coating. Although not considered as a particularly practical system, a thin adhesive film may be applied to the cloth cover. However, this would normally require care in the application and would not provide the final advantages of the preferred systems disclosed in the preferred embodiment and the other possible variations discussed above. The inactive adhesive may also be applied in various patterns which do not form a complete and continuous adhesive over the batting face, but which properly secure the covers and batting to permit application of the desired decorative cover. In summary, the preferred embodiment provides a most effective and useful inactive adhesive cover attachment for producing the necessary final decorative connection of the covers to the batting in the quilting art. However, variations of the method of producing and applying an effective inactive adhesive type for subsequent assembly during the quilting steps of attaching the covers to the batting may be found by those skilled in the art based on the teaching herein and are within the scope and teaching of the present invention and accompanying claims.