Shop Talk Exterior CNC and manual quilt stitching allow you to create an additional internal profi t center while providing additional design elements for your customer. Quilt stitching and CNC sewing By Mike and John Erickson I " The pattern element in your design is only limited by your imagination, sewing talent and equipment. " n the last few years, quilt stitching on cushions has become very popular in the marine upholstery industry. The trend started with high-end car interiors and has made its way into the marine industry over time. Quilt stitching adds an elegant decorative effect to any routine marine upholstery product. Computerized numerical control (CNC) and manual quilt stitching allow you to create an additional internal profi t center while providing enhanced design elements for your customer. In the early days of this evolution, quilt stitching was a fairly easy process of basic straight-line channel stitching a layer of fabric to a foam layer and some type of backing layer. This process was easy and could be completed on the same sewing equipment that we use to sew the cushions themselves. The only 36 Marine Fabricator | July/August 2021 talent required was being able to sew a straight line. The only real variable back then was the width of the channel. Increasing options and expectations Today's quilt stitching is much more sophisticated than the manual channel quilting days. There are an unlimited array of patterns and variable thicknesses of foam, along with different sizes and colors of thread that can play into the fi nal design that you may be looking to achieve. The pattern element in your design is only limited by your imagination, sewing talent and equipment. Obviously, any pattern that can be drawn or imagined can be sewn with the right automated CNC sewing equipment. With a little forethought and