Originally Posted by PatriceJ
if you see a quilt somewhere and you know the design is unique and original, the quilt - which constitutes publication - is protected by copyright law. you do not have the right to copy it.
I think part of the confusion is that people don't seem to know what 'unique and original' means anymore. You will see a picture of a log cabin quilt in a magazine, and the caption will say 'designed by so-&-so'. They didn't design the log cabin block - they just used different colors, and gave the finished quilt a different name. So even the 'designers' don't really know.