Quilting Glossary: A-E | F-L  | M-P | Q-Z

Medallion Quilt.  A quilt with a central motif as the focal point, surrounded by multiple Borders.

Memory Quilt.    A quilt Pieced from scraps of a loved one's clothing. May be made of children's outgrown baby clothes, or the clothing of a deceased relative or friend. More recently, memory quilts include transferred photographs of the loved one.

Miniature Quilt.  A small-scale reproduction of a full-size quilt.

Muslin.  A plain, undyed cotton fabric, available bleached or unbleached. A fine quality bleached muslin is used in quilting as a neutral background or as a foundation under thinner fabric.

Needle-Punching.  The process of inserting a needle through the layers when hand quilting. It is done to prevent shifting and to help the Batting maintain its loft. Also called Needling.

Nine-Patch Block.  A Block composed of nine units, joined in three rows of three units each.

Novelty Print.  A fabric printed with small whimsical designs, often for a holiday or for craft use. Also called "conversation" prints and "craft" prints.

One-Patch.  Any quilt pattern that uses a single shaped patch for the pieced top. May be squares, triangles, hexagons, etc. repeated in color patterns or different fabrics.

On Point.   A Block arrangement in which a block is placed with its corners up and down and to the sides.

Paper Foundation Piecing.   A method of piecing (particularly for Miniature Quilts) where fabric is sewn to a paper foundation with a printed Block pattern, in a specific order, to more accurately assemble a complicated design.

Paper Piecing.  The use of paper Templates with the fabric basted onto the paper shape to retain accurate Piecing. This is typically used when making the hexagonal Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern.

Patch. An individual fabric shape joined with other patches to make a block or a quilt. Also known as a Piece.

Patchwork.  The process of making a quilt by sewing many small pieces of fabric together. Also known as Piecework.

Pieced Border.  A long strip of fabric made up of patchwork units to be joined to the inner quilt.

Piecing / Pieced Quilt. A quilt made up of many small pieces of fabric sewn together by hand or machine. Also known as Patchwork.

Prairie Points.  Folded fabric triangles used as an edge finish.

Quilt Top.  The top layer of a quilt Sandwich.

Quilting. In general, the process of making a quilt. Specifically, the small running stitches that hold the three layers of a quilt together.

Quilting Frame.  A large free-standing floor apparatus made from wood or plastic pipe that holds the layers of a quilt together during quilting.

Quilting Guild. An organization of quilters which may provide opportunities to share projects, instruction and community service.

Quilting Hoop.   A small circular or oval apparatus that is used to hold the layers of a quilt together during quilting.

Reverse Appliqué.   Designs made by sewing on a patch to the underside of a Block and then cutting away and turning under the edge of the top fabric.

Rotary Cutter and Mat.   A fabric cutting tool with a circular blade that cuts through several layers of fabric at once. It is best used with a clear plastic ruler as a quilting guide. A cutting mat is essential to protect the work surface and preserve the blade's sharpness.

Sandwich.  Traditional description of a quilt: a sandwich consisting of a Quilt Top, filling or Batting, and a Backing.

Sampler Quilt.   A quilt constructed of a collection of Blocks in different patterns, usually with no pattern repeated. Blocks may be the uniform or varying sizes.

Sashing. The fabric that separates the Blocks, framing them and making the quilt larger.

Scrap Quilt.   A quilt, usually patchwork, made of many different fabrics, often left over from other projects.

Seminole Piecing.   A method of cutting joined strips of fabric into sections and re-piecing them with either plain contrasting fabric strips in between, or in staggered rows similar to a checkerboard. Adapted from the bright patchwork of the Seminole Indians in Florida, this technique is often used in Borders and quilted clothing.

Setting.  The arrangement of completed Blocks forming the Quilt Top. Blocks can be set side by side, or on point, like diamonds, with or without Sashing. Arrangements can also vary with certain asymmetrical block patterns.

Stippling.  Very closely stitched background quilting that can be done by hand or machine to create surface texture.

Stitch in the Ditch.  To sew your stitches in the "ditch" created by the joins of the pattern pieces.

Strip Piecing.  A technique in which strips of fabric are cut and joined lengthwise to form a strip set of fabric strips that resemble striped fabric. The strip set is cut at intervals across seam lines to form segments. Joining these segments to form block units is also called strip-piecing.

Template.  A cardboard or plastic shape used as a pattern for tracing either Piecing or Appliqué patches, or for tracing lines to be quilted.

Trapunto.  A dimensional design created by parallel outlining stitches that are then stuffed with yarn or Batting.

Tied Quilt.  A type of quilt in which yarn or thread ties are used to secure layers of the quilt, instead of quilting stitches.

Utility Quilt.   A quilt made for everyday use, generally in a similar pattern involving no elaborate sewing skills.

Wall Quilt.  A small quilt intended to be hung on the wall for decoration. Can contain specialty fabrics and embellishments that are not meant to be washed or undergo strain or wear.

Warp/Weft.  The woven threads in the fabric. Warp threads are long and run from top to bottom in the length of the material. Weft threads run from side to side and are shorter.

Watercolor Quilt.  A quilt made of small squares of floral fabrics that create a quilt pattern in the style of an Impressionist painting. Also called colorwash quilting.

White Work.  A quilt in which the entire design is in the quilting stitches. Usually made up in solid white fabric as a display of the quilter's stitching skills.

Whole-Cloth Quilt.  A quilt made from one large piece of fabric, usually a solid color, that is quilted only. Neither Patchwork nor Appliqué is used to decorate the Quilt Top.

Quilting Glossary: A-E | F-L  | M-P | Q-Z