Dictionary

Dictionary ©

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Appliqué
Individual sections of pictures or designs are cut out of fabric and then sewn together onto a background piece of fabric as the original picture or design

Album
A type of quilt made from blocks that have been either signed by family or friends, they can include photographs printed onto fabric also.

Amish
Quilts made by the Amish Community. These quilts are typically made up of dark solid fabrics with black as the background, they have wide plan borders and the blocks are geometric.

Backing
The back of a quilt. The fabric is usually plain or very lightly patterned.

Basting
This is what holds the three layers of the quilt together before hand or machine quilting is done. Large stitches, safety pins, basting spray are among the list of methods used to baste.

Batting
The middle of a quilt. The stuffing. Wadding. The middle layer that gives the quilt warmth and depth. Batting can be made from wool, cotton, polyester and a combination of the three.

Betweens
Thin, small needles used for hand quilting. They range in size from 8 to 12. The higher the number the shorter the needle. I heard from a hand quilting teacher that it is every quilters ambition to use a size 12.

Bias
This is the diagonal line across the weave of a piece of fabric, which is stretchy.

Binding
The finished edge of a quilt. A strip of fabric is sewn over the edges of the three layers of the quilt to add strength and a nicely finished edge. Bindings can be single or double, straight or shaped.

Block
The individual pattern sections that are sewn together to make the quilt top.

Bubble Jet Set 2000
Used for pre-treating cotton fabric so that you can print onto it directly from your ink jet printer. It makes the image permanent.

Chain Piecing
The method used for sewing quilt blocks together one after the other in a continuous line with a couple of stitches in between each block.

Crazy Quilt
A type of quilt that is made up from different size pieces of scrap fabric. No design is used to make up the individual block or whole quilt top.

Cutting Mat
A special self healing mat that had measurements displayed on it to help with accurate cutting using a ruler and rotary cutter.

Darning Foot
A sewing machine foot that is used for free motion quilting. The foot only holds the fabric when the needle is coming out of the fabric which means that you are able to move the fabric around freely when machines quilting.

Electric Quilt 5
Quilting design software. Available from Quilty’s Shop.

Fabric
Something you can never have too much of! Comes in various colours and styles, border prints, novelty prints, solids, marbles, patterned, flowered, etc.

Fat Quarter
A piece of fabric cut to 18” x 22” in size. You take a metre of fabric then cut it in half width ways rather than length ways.

Foundation Paper Piecing
A method used for making quilt blocks. Fabric is sewn together using a piece of paper to show where the sewing lines are. The patterns used for this are usually quite complex. The paper must be removed once the sewing is complete.

Grain
Direction of the fabric or the length of the metre.

Guild
A gaggle of quilters who get together regularly and discuss quilting.

Hand Quilting
A method of quilting done by hand rather than machine. Quilting design are drawn onto the quilt top before the three layers of the quilt are basted together. Using a frame to hold the three layers taut small running stitches are used so that the length of the stitch on the bottom of the quilt is the same as on the top.

Hanging Sleeve
Fabric attached to the back of a quilt at the top so that you can hang it up to display it.

Invisible Stitch
Used for appliqué and binding. Generally done by hand. The stitch is done in such a way that it does not show on the fabric.

Invisible Thread
Fine nylon thread used for machine appliqué.

Label
Most quilts have a label on the back detailing the maker, the recipient, the quilt name, the date the work was started and the date it was completed.

Loft
Thickness of batting. The higher the loft the thicker and fluffier the batting.

Mitred Corner
The corner of a quilter border that is joined at a 45° angle.

Muslin
Fabric that is plain and un-dyed. This can be bleached or unbleached and is often used as a neutral background.

Novelty Print
Fabric with a fun design. Often used for the holidays, ie., Snow Men and Santa for Christmas, but also used all year round for such things as teddy bears, farm scenes, tea pots, etc.

One Patch
A quilt top made up of single blocks, ie., squares, hexagons, in different coloured fabric.

Outline Quilting
Quilting stitches that follow the outline of an appliqué design or pattern on the fabric.

Pieicing
The method used to sew blocks together to make a quilt top.

Prairie Points
Triangle shaped edge used to finish the outer edges of the quilt.

Quilt
Pronounced kwlt
n.

A coverlet or blanket made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton, wool, feathers, or down in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative crisscross design.
A thick protective cover similar to or suggestive of a quilt.

v. quilt·ed, quilt·ing, quilts
v. tr.

To make into a quilt by stitching (layers of fabric) together.
To construct like a quilt: quilt a skirt.
To pad and stitch ornamentally.

v. intr.

To make a quilt.
To do quilted work.

Quilting
The stitching used to sew the three layers of the quilt together in a decorative pattern to add strength. This can be down by hand or on a sewing machine.

Rotary Cutter
The tool used by quilters to cut their fabric. The cutter looks much like a pizza cutter, only smaller, with a rolling blade wheel. The blades are very sharp and should be used on a specially designed self healing cutting board/mat.

Ruler
Used with a rotary cutter and cutting mat to make sure even strips of fabric are cut. Rulers come in lots of different shapes and sizes and are marked with inches, halves, quarters and eighths.

Sampler
A quilt made up of different types of blocks. These are good for beginners to make as they cover a selection of methods.

Sashing
Pieces of fabric sewn between the blocks to make up the quilt top.

Scrap Quilt
A quilt top made from left over pieces of fabric.

Selvedge
This runs the length of the fabric is usually thicker than the fabric and finished looking. You should not use this section of the fabric in your quilt.

Stash
You can never have a big enough stash! Fabric. Basically your pile of fabric you have collected to make quilts from.

Stippling
A type of quilting stitch. Squiggly lines used to file background space.

Stitch in the Ditch
A type of quilting. Quilting is done in the seams that join the quilt top.

Strip Piecing
Strips of fabric are cut, sewn together then cut again to make the appropriate sized piece of fabric.

Template
Plastic pattern used for drawing around to make block pieces, appliqué pieces or lines to be quilted.

UFO
Un Finished Quilt. A quit top that you have started and never quite found the time to complete.

Wall Quilt
A small quilt for hanging on the wall, much like a picture.

Whole Cloth Quilt
The quilt top is made from one single large piece of fabric.

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