Originally Posted by
quiltingloulou
I wonder if this comes from the original Chinese/Japanese type of work where the old "work" clothing was stitched to other old cloth rather roughly to keep warm in the winter.
You may be thinking of Japanese Shashiko stitch. I looks just like the "utility" and "big" stitch mentioned. There is a sewing machine made that stitches exclusively in the Shashiko stitch. Some lovely items are made with this stitch.