The Art of Quilt-Knits and the Fabric Arts at the Treetops Studios

The Quilt-Knit Jacket      Elaine's early quilts were all tied or pieced in traditional patterns. However, over the past few years, our principal Studio Associate, Heather Corbitt, has introduced her to more recent patterns and to artistic quilting. That led to experiments with quilt-knit combinations for women's outerwear and then to a studio association for their production and marketing. Typically the 'Island Look' garment is longer than our model jacket or vest, falling straight to or over the hip. A Batik Series garment starts as two or three sections of printed cotton or silk and a selection of cotton or woolen yarns in complementary colours. The material is cut into pattern elements that are then pieced together and quilted into a single piece of Studio fabric. The garment is assembled as three quilted panels - the left and right fronts and the back - cut from the quilting to create a centered pattern. A knit or knit-woven yoke and two large side gussets complete the combination.

The Art of Quilt-Knits      Our approach in the Batik Series is quite decorative. Unlike the Swing Series jackets, where a loose knit-weave fabric curves and flows to accent your own movement, the Batik vest or jacket is intended to be 'wearable art'. The play is in the movement of colour and light across the quilted panels, framed within the straight cut garment itself. We prefer Oriental prints for the colour and variety in their designs. They let us set the mood of the garment anywhere the client would like, from bright and colourful to a subtle combination of earth tones and burnished golds and bronzes. Each garment is unique and each is a challenge. There are always artistic issues, like balancing the quilted patterning across the two front panels. And no matter how appealing the artistry, the twin taboos of feminine garment design, not locating strong accents at the bust or hip lines, have to be considered. Top