Quilting Terms Glossary
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Album Quilt Quilt made of many different blocks. If the blocks are signed with embroidery or ink, the quilt is an autograph or signature quilt. Anchor Piece Small piece of fabric used when chain piecing to move the machine easily from piece to piece Appliqué Sewing small pieces of fabric onto a larger background fabric in a decorative design. B Backing The back fabric of a quilt, generally plain as opposed to the pieced top. Batting The cotton, polyester or wool filling in a quilt between the top pieced layer and the backing. Basting Temporarily holding the three layers of a quilt (top, batting, backing) together while quilting. Basting can be done with running stitches in an easilyseen contrasting color, curved safety pins (pinbasting), spray adhesive, a tacking gun, or fusible batting. Bearding The movement of batting fibers through the weave of the fabric in the quilt top, resulting in a fuzzy look on the surface of the quilt. This most often happens with cheaper polyester batting. To help prevent batting, coat your thread with beeswax or use coated/mercerized thread. This is also help to prevent breakage and knotting in the thread. You can also use silicon spray on the fabric. Betweens Shorter, thinner needles used to in hand quilting or to finish quilting. They come in sizes from 812, with larger numbers shorter and thinner. Block These are the most basic units of a quilt and can be appliquéd, pieced, or plain. Bias Direction running diagonally across the fabric grain or at a 45 degree angle to the straight grain. Bias cuts provide more stretch in the fabric. Binding A strip of fabric folded double and sewn over the edges of the quilt layers. The binding provides stability and is often also a decorative accent. This is the most common way to finish a quilt edge. Bias binding or French Double Fold binding is done with fabric cut on the bias and is especially useful for binding curves. C Chain piecing (assembly piecing) Continuous machine stitching of each piece of the quilt without cutting threads between each seam. This method is faster and saves thread. Cheater’s cloth A preprinted fabric which mimics the look of appliquéd or pieced quilt top. Charm Quilt (scrap quilt) A quilt made of many, many small pieces of different fabric, ideally with no two pieces alike. Charm quilts are often accomplished through quilter exchanges. Clamshell A kind of quilting filling pattern with overlapping circular shapes, reminiscent of fish scales.
Crazy Quilt A quilt made from blocks with no set pattern or design and irregular or scrap fabric pieces. They are often heavily embellished with embroidery. Cross Hatching A quilting filling pattern made by diagonal lines an equal distance apart in one direction and then in the opposite direction to form square or diamond shapes. D Darning Foot A sewing machine attachment that is especially useful for free motion quilting as it holds the fabric down only when the needle is coming out of the fabric. Directional Print Fabric with an obvious direction, such as stripes. E Ease To seam together two different sized pieces by stretching or bunching slightly. Echo Quilting Type of quilting where repeating, radiating stitches run around and mirror specific shapes in the quilt. F Fat Quarter A unit of measurement in quilting made by cutting a half yard in half again vertically, yielding a piece measuring around 18” by 22”, instead of the normal 9” x 42” quarteryard cut. Feed dog The teeth under the plate of the sewing machine that help move the fabric while it is being sewn Finished size The final size of a sewn block without seam allowances. For example, a 6” finished size would be cut to 6.5” to allow for ¼” seam allowances. Foundation Piecing Assembling a block by sewing pieces onto a muslin or plain fabric foundation, which adds bulk to the quilt. In foundation paper piecing, tear away paper is used to make quilting easier but reduce the bulk. Fussy Cut- to target and cut a specific motif that's printed on fabric, rather than randomly cutting yardage as we normally do.
G Glazed Finish (Bonded Finish) This thin resin often applied to thread helps to prevent bearding or shifting of the fibers when used on fabric. Grain The warp (lengthwise) and weft (crosswise) threads of a fabric. The crosswise grain, the weft, perpendicular to the selvage stretches more. H Hanging Sleeve A 34” sleeve or tube sewn on the back of a quilt to facilitate hanging. (Quilting) Hoop Like an embroidery hoop but larger, this pair of plastic or wooden rings helps to keep the layers of a quilt taut during quilting. I
InTheDitch Quilting stitches at the edge of appliqué or close to the seams of a block (the ditch) J K L Lap Quilting Assembling a quilt by completing all three layers of a block one at a time by hand and then joining all the blocks together. Lattice Strips (Sashing) Strips of fabric between blocks in a quilt Loft The thickness, resilience, and height of quilt batting. Lower loft batting better shows off the quilting stitches. Log Cabin A popular block pattern in which narrow rectangles of fabric surround a center square. M Meander Quilting Random quilting stitches moving fluidly across the quilt but not overlapping Medallion Quilt A quilt with a large, central motif surrounded by many borders Miter/Mitering A method to create a smooth quilting corner with a diagonal, 45 degree seam from the corner point to the inside seam N Needlepunched Batting To prevent bearding of the batting within the quilt, this type of batting is punched through with barbed needles to lock the fibers in place (much like in needle felting). Needleturn Applique In this type of hand appliqué, the seam allowance of the appliqué shape is turned under with a needle as the piece is being attached to background. . O Onpoint In this arrangement, the blocks of the quilt are turned 45 degrees, so that corners are pointing up and down and the square seems to be sitting on a point (like a diamond). P Paper piecing Using paper templates of shapes to assist you with cutting and piecing accurately Piecing Sewing pieces together to make a whole quilt. The quilt is called a pieced or patchwork quilt. Prairie Points These are fabric triangles (squares of fabric folded over into triangles) used as a decorative finish for quilt edges. Q
Quillow A special kind of quilt that serves as a sleeping bag with pillow, and folds up into a carrying bag. Quillows make great gifts for kids. Quilting Feet Offered with most sewing machines, these special feet measure ¼” from needle point to inner edge of the foot, making it easier to sew a ¼” seam in quilting. Quilt Frame A large, freestanding frame that holds the layers of a quilt in place. Some can be used for basting. R RawEdge The unsewn edge of fabric Reverse Appliqué Instead of sewing on the top of a fabric in traditional appliqué, this method sews on the underside of the background fabric. The top fabric is then cut away and the edges turned under and sewn. S Salvage/selvedge Woven edge of fabric with manufacturer information or other information Sandwich Describes the three layers of the quilt: top, batting, and backing Sashing See Lattice Strips Satin stitch a tight zig zag stitch with very small stitch lengths (just above 0) Sawtooth Edging See Prairie Points Seam Allowance amount of extra fabric added to allow for a seam or the area between the seam stitching and the cut edge Setting The arrangement of blocks and borders to form the quilt top. Sharps Short, thin needles with a very sharp tip primarily used for piecing. Stash A quilter’s collection of fabric Staystitching a stitch 1/8 inch from permanent line of stitching on a curve to keep the curve from distorting Stippling Irregular quilting stitches set very close together to create texture and fill background space Stitchingintheditch See IntheDitch Summer Quilt A quilt with a top and backing but no batting or filling T Tacking/tack temporary stitching to hold material until final stitching is completed Tacking gun A tool for basting which inserts a plastic piece into the three quilt layers to hold them together. Tied QuiltInstead of quilting stitches, knotted strings or ties hold the three layers of the quilt together
Trapunto Closely sewn lines of stitching are stuffed with batting to make them appear raised from the surface of the quilt U UFO/WIP UnFinished Products/Works in Progress V W Wadding See Batting Walking foot a special foot for your sewing machine that assists in moving several layers of fabric or slippery fabric Warp (lengthwise grain) Threads running the length of a woven fabric Watercolor Quilt In this style of quilt, small floral squares build up a subtle, varied design Weft (cross grain) Thread running perpendicular to the warp, from selvedge to selvedge XYZ Zinger Small border added just outside the assembled quilt top to add attention to the center