A Glossary for New Quilters

by Steffani McChesney

**Another useful online resource for quilting term definitions is the Creative Glossary where you'll find definitions for hundreds of words related to creative endeavors such as quilting.

Appliqué – From the French word meaning to apply, appliqué is the technique of sewing fabric onto a base to form the decoration of the piece. There are several different styles of appliqué.

Appliqué foot – A sewing machine foot with short, wide “toes” making it easier to see the edges of the appliquéd piece.

Appliqué needles – Most appliquérs use sharps needles, which are long and thin. The thinner the needle the smaller the stitch bite you can take in the appliqué piece. Some people use milliner’s or straw needles. These needles are quite long and thin allowing for more control, especially for needle-turn appliqué. Always match the color of your sewing thread to the piece being appliquéd rather than to the background fabric.

Backing – The backing is the lining of the quilt. These should be pieced vertically if possible, and be sure to cut the backing at least two inches larger on each side for ease of quilting.

Basting – The backing, batting, and quilt top must be secured by some form of basting to make sure the different layers do not shift during quilting. There are several methods of basting the quilt sandwich.

Batting – Batting is the layer of material between the quilt top and the backing. There are many ways to “stuff” a quilt from using flannel and old blankets to using the fine commercial batts available on the market today.

Bias binding – Bias binding is made by cutting fabric on the bias grain. Bias binding is best used on quilt with irregular edges such as scalloped or pointed ones.

Bias edge – A bias edge is where the threads of the fabric meet at a 45-degree angle on the cut edge of the fabric. This is desirable in bias tape used to stretch around curves or make hand appliquéd stems but not for the edges of triangles or quilt edges.

Binding – Binding is the thin strip of fabric folded and sewn in place to finish the edge of the quilt.

Chain piecing – Chain piecing is a fast technique to sew a lot of pieces together rapidly by sewing the pieces without stopping to cut the threads between the units until you are finished.

Charm quilt – A charm quilt is a one-patch quilt using a different fabric for every piece. No repeats allowed. Some charm quilts have over a thousand different fabrics in them.

Cheater cloth – Cheater cloth is the name given to a single piece of fabric printed to look like patchwork. This is not a modern phenomenon. Cheater cloth has been around since the 1850s.

Cornerstones – Also called corner squares, these are used in the sashing between blocks as a design element and are also placed at the four corners of the quilt in the borders.

Darning or quilting foot – This is the funny large based foot with the spring on it that came with your sewing machine. It is used for free motion quilting when the feed dogs are lowered.

Design wall – Usually a large board covered with flannel or fleece. Fabric will stick to it easily. It is used to audition fabrics for blocks without having to sew them together first.

English paper piecing – This style of patchwork requires a paper pattern around which the fabric is basted before being sewn by hand to the next patch. The paper is later removed after the patch is surrounded by other ones. This technique is very accurate.

Fabric grain – The grain of the fabric is created by the weaving process. The threads used to produce the fabric are at ninety degrees to one another. This is called straight of grain and has little or no stretch. Bias is created by cutting the fabric at a forty-five degree angle and is very unstable, stretching easily.

Fat quarter – A fat quarter measures eighteen inches by twenty-two inches. If a quarter of a yard of fabric is cut straight across off a bolt of fabric it measures nine inches by forty-four inches. The shape of the fat quarter makes it easier to cut patchwork and appliqué pieces out of it.

Feed dogs – These are the little teeth under the presser foot of your sewing machine that pull the fabric along to allow stitches to be formed. They must be lowered or covered to allow for free motion quilting.

Finger press – Using your fingers to press a seam open rather than using an iron.

Free-motion quilting – You control the stitch length when free-motion quilting because the feed dogs are lowered. This quilting technique is more like drawing than sewing because you can follow any pattern you want by sewing in any direction.

Freezer paper – Freezer paper is found in the aluminum foil section of the grocery store. It is plain paper on one side and plastic on the other. If ironed, plastic side down to fabric it will stick but is easily removed by just pulling it off. It can be used for a variety of things in quilting such as making appliqué patterns and quilt marking.

Friendship group– Consists of small group of like-minded quilters who get together outside of the guild meeting, usually a couple of times a month to quilt. You can either be invited to join an existing one or start one of your own.

Fusible web (interfacing) – A lightweight heat-activated interfacing used to position appliqué pieces on quilt tops.

Half square triangle – These are formed by cutting a square in half diagonally once.

Hand quilting needles – Needles used for hand quilting are usually betweens, a shorter, thicker needle than the sharps used for applique. The general rule is the shorter the quilting needle used, the shorter the quilting stitch.

Needle-turn appliqué – The needle is used to turn under the seam allowance just ahead of the stitching line.

One-patch blocks – Quilt tops made of blocks of just one shape of patch such as a hexagon or square or diamond.

Paper or foundation piecing – This technique involves using a base of either paper or fabric. The pattern pieces are sewn to the base to form the pattern for the quilt block. If paper is used, it is removed when the block or quilt top is completed. If fabric is used it is left in place.

Press to the dark – The rule is, when joining two different fabrics together, press the seam towards the darker fabric if possible to avoid a shadow under the lighter fabric.

Prewash – Washing fabric before using it to make quilt blocks. The reason for this is to prevent colors running and to preshrink the fabric.

Quarter inch foot – This sewing machine foot sews a quarter inch seam.

Quarter inch seams – Quarter inch seams are used in quilting to provide a strong seam without undo bulk for sewing blocks together and quilting.

Quarter square triangle – These are formed by cutting a square in half diagonally twice.

Red work – A type of quit block decoration popular in the early part of the Twentieth Century using embroidery done with red thread on a white background.

Reverse appliqué – Just what it says it is. The top layer of fabric is cut away and a seam allowance is turned under and stitched to reveal the bottom layer.

Sampler quilt – A quilt made up of different blocks rather than matching ones. This type of quilt is a good teaching device for beginners because it lets the quilter try many techniques.

Sandwich – The quilt sandwich refers to the three layers that make up a quilt, the quilt top, the batting, and the backing.

Sashing – Sashing refers to the strips of fabric used in a quilt top to separate the blocks. Sashing can be either plain or fancy.

Scant quarter inch – A scant quarter inch seam is one usually just a few threads under a regular quarter inch.

Scrap quilts – Quilts made with many different fabrics, usually what is on hand rather than buying fabric just for the project at hand.

Setting – Setting refers to the way quilt blocks are sewn together to form a quilt top. Most settings are either straight set where the blocks are sewn together in rows or on point where the blocks are sewn together at a forty-five degree angle to the vertical.

Setting triangles – Setting triangles are needed to fill in the edges of a quilt where the blocks are sewn together on point. Otherwise the edges would be zigzag instead of straight.

Sewing machine needle sizes – The smaller the number of the needle the smaller the size of the needle. For example, a 70/10 needle is smaller than a 90/14. Always match thread size to the needle size. Look for charts in quilting books to see what works best.

Sleeve – A sleeve on a quilt is a tube sewn on the top back of the quilt to be able to hang the quilt from a dowel. This sleeve is required for entry in most quilt shows.

Stitching in the ditch – This term refers to quilting in the seamline of the top of the quilt where the patches of the blocks meet.

Stipple quilting – Wandering lines of quilting that do not cross each other. Usually used for background quilting.

Straight of grain binding – Quilt binding cut on the straight of grain of the fabric.

Strip piecing – This technique, along with the rotary cutter has speeded up quilt making considerably. It consists of sewing long strips of fabric together, then cutting out the shapes needed to create patches and even entire blocks.

Thread size – The larger the number, the finer the thread. For example, 80 weight thread is as fine as a hair and 30 weight thread looks almost as thick as string.

Tying – Tying refers to using thread or yarn tied in knots to hold the quilt sandwich together rather than quilting with needle and thread.

Walking foot – A walking foot is a sewing machine foot that feeds both the top and bottom layers of a quilt under the needle evenly.