A patchwork-quilt pattern is popping up in different color schemes on banners, athletes' uniforms, sport arenas, and, fittingly, patchwork quilts covering beds in many Olympic hotels. The quilt pattern is actually a compilation of sixteen different motives from folk arts across Russia – which include embroidery, painting, wood carving, and metal crafts – pasted together from diamond-shaped snippets, according to the Sochi 2014 webpage (where you can check out individual designs).
The only motif in the tapestry that’s not in fact a riff on traditional crafts is a small snap-shot of the twirly pattern decorating Russia's Olympics uniforms since the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008.
