
In the
textile arts
Textile arts are arts and crafts that use fiber crop, plant, Animal fiber, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative Physical object, objects.
Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of ...
, a motif (also called a block or square) is a smaller element in a much larger work. In
knitting
Knitting is a method for production of textile Knitted fabric, fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done Hand knitting, by hand or Knitting machi ...
and
crochet
Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made ...
, motifs are made one at a time and joined together to create larger works such as
afghan blankets or shawls. An example of a motif is the
granny square. Motifs may be varied or rotated for contrast and variety, or to create new shapes, as with quilt blocks in
quilt
A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of padding, batting or w ...
s and
quilting
Quilting is the process of joining a minimum of three layers of textile, fabric together either through stitching manually using a Sewing needle, needle and yarn, thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting ...
. Contrast with motif-less
crazy quilting.
Motifs can be any size, but usually all the motifs in any given work are the same size. The patterns and stitches used in a motif may vary greatly, but there is almost always some unifying element, such as texture, stitch pattern, or colour, which gives the finished piece more aesthetic appeal. Motifs may commemorate events or convey information or political slogans. For example, the individual blocks of the
AIDS Memorial Quilt, the possible
Quilts of the Underground Railroad, and the "
54-40 or Fight" quilt block.
[54-40 or Fight]
", ''Antique Geometric Quilt Designs''.
See also
*
*
List of notable North American quilt-block patterns
*
Tessellation
A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety ...
Sources
Textile arts
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