Patchwork Cheater Cloth - research request

I've never been asked to put out a research appeal before, but it is something I am interested in and am happy to ask you all for help.


Some call it 'cheater cloth', some say 'simulated patchwork' and others go for 'faux patchwork'.  Is is pre-printed cloth pretending to be patchwork.  When it was around in the 60s and 70s in clothing, and new to my eyes, I had no idea that it has a much longer history.  I am sure that I have seen examples in quilts in the UK, but not for the first time I wish I was organised enough to keep  a notebook of everything I see when I see it, as an aide to my increasingly unreliable memoire.


Deborah Kraak is an independent textile historian, and she is specifically looking for information about 19th century English examples of cotton fabrics printed in imitation of patchwork quilt tops or blocks.  She is studying American examples which mostly date from the mid-19th century, or the last quarter of the century.  They were used for wholecloth quilt tops, backs, blocks, strips, pillowcases and cushions, and occasionally for garments.  Deborah is preparing an article about printed patchwork for the upcoming issue of Uncoverings, the journal of the American Quilt Study Group, and she would be very grateful to learn more about the history of printed patchwork in England.  To date she knows of of no examples in English quilts.  

Deborah kindly sent me these two photographs to illustrate this blog entry, and the second fabric in particular, featuring friend Pickwick, seems familiar to me.  Please do let me know if you can tell me where in the UK I might have seen it.  And if you have any information at all which might be of use to Deborah please do contact her at 

rickraak@verizon.net