When used to make a quilt, this larger patchwork or pieced design becomes the "top" of a three layered quilt, the middle layer being the batting, and the bottom layer the backing. To keep the batting from shifting a patchwork or pieced quilt is often quilted by hand or machine using a running stitch which can outline the individual shapes that comprise the pieced top, or the quilting stitches can be random or highly ordered overall patterns that contrast with the patchwork composition.

 

In the past hand quilting was often done in a group around a frame. Instead of quilting, the layers are sometimes tied together at regular intervals with pieces of yarn, a practice known as tying or knotting. There are three traditional structures used to construct a patchwork or pieced composition: 1) block, 2) overall, and 3) strip piecing. Traditional patchwork has identifying names based on the arrangement of colors and shapes.

International quilting exhibitions attract thousands of visitors from around the globe, while countless smaller exhibitions are held every weekend in local regions. Active cyber-quilting communities abound on the web; books and magazines on the subject are published in the hundreds every year; and there are many active local quilting guilds and shops in different countries.