Quilting material handling and feeding method and apparatus

A quilting machine for sequentially forming quilts from a multiple layered web of fabric formed of a web of facing material and one or more webs of backing and filler material, the machine comprising:

• a quilting station having a stitching mechanism operable to sew the webs of facing material and of backing and filler material together in stitched patterns, in response to a pattern control signal, to form a sequence of quilts when the web of fabric is guided through the quilting station;
• a backing and filler material supply station upstream of the quilting station;
• a facing material supply station upstream of the quilting station, the facing material supply station including a plurality of holders, each configured to support a respective one of a plurality of webs of facing material;
• the facing material supply station being operable in response to a selection signal to selectively move a selected one of the webs of facing material into position for feeding to the quilting station;
• and
• a controller having means programmed for controlling the operation of the machine in accordance with batch job data defining each quilt of the plurality to be sewn by the machine, the data including pattern identifying information and facing material identifying information respectively defining the pattern and material by which each quilt is to be made, the programmed means including means for generating the pattern control signal in accordance with the pattern identifying information and the facing material information selection signal in accordance with the facing material identifying information.

A method of fabricating quilts from a multiple layered web of fabric formed of a facing material and of backing and filler material, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a quilting machine with a controller programmed to form a sequence of quilts each in accordance with a set of specifications;
• inputing to the controller data pertaining to the specifications corresponding to each quilt of the plurality, the specifications including a corresponding designation of a facing material which each quilt is to include;
• providing a magazine containing a plurality of webs of facing material, including each of the designated facing materials which each of the plurality of quilts is to include;
• for each quilt of the plurality, selectively advancing from the magazine facing material of the corresponding designation, in response to signals from the controller;
• and
• forming quilts along the web of fabric with facing material, so advanced, of the corresponding designation, in accordance with the data of the specifications in response to signals from the controller.