The world of quilting has many terms and acronyms specific to its rich history and unique techniques.
Many are self explanatory, some are confusing. I've compiled a list that will hopefully be helpful for you. Be sure to bookmark the page or save it to your quilting Pinterest Board.
Appliqué: A technique where pieces of fabric are sewn
onto a larger piece to create designs.
Batting: The layer of material (cotton, wool, or
polyester) between the quilt top and backing that provides warmth and
thickness.
Bias: The diagonal direction of the fabric, which has
the most stretch.
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| Wild Blossoms |
Binding: The fabric strip used to finish the edges of a quilt.
Block: A unit of a quilt, often square, that is
repeated to form the quilt top.
Block Of The Month (BOM): A program that offers a new block each month with a finished quilt at the end.
Chain Piecing: A method of sewing blocks or pieces
together without cutting the thread between each one.
Charm Pack: A collection of 5-inch fabric squares,
often from the same fabric line.
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| Frayed Edges |
Cornerstones: Small squares of fabric placed at the
intersections of sashing strips.
Crosswise Grain: The direction of the fabric
perpendicular to the selvage.
Design Wall: A vertical surface where quilt blocks
can be arranged and rearranged before sewing.
English Paper Piecing (EPP): A hand-sewing technique
where fabric is wrapped around paper shapes and sewn together.
Fat Quarter (FQ): A fabric piece that measures
approximately 18" x 22", half of a half-yard of fabric.
Foundation Piecing: Sewing fabric pieces onto a paper
or fabric foundation to create precise designs.
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| Pinwheel Pivot |
Free Motion Quilting (FMQ): A technique of quilting where
the quilter moves the fabric freely under the needle to create designs.
Fusible Web: A material that, when heated, bonds
fabric layers together, often used in appliqué.
Grain: The direction of the fabric threads, either
lengthwise or crosswise.
Half-Square Triangle (HST): A square made from two
triangles, often used in quilt blocks.
Jelly Roll: A collection of 2.5-inch fabric strips,
often from the same fabric line.
Layer Cake: A collection of 10-inch fabric squares,
often from the same fabric line.
Loft: The thickness or fluffiness of batting.
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| Winter Trees |
Long Arm Quilting (LAQ): The process of using a long arm quilting machine to quilt together a top, batting and backing.
Local Quilt Shop (LQS): A small, independently owned store that specializes in quilting supplies, fabrics, tools, and often offers quilting classes or workshops.
Paper Piecing (PP): A quilting technique in which fabric pieces are sewn onto a paper or fabric foundation following a specific pattern.
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| The Border Quilt |
Patchwork: The process of sewing fabric pieces
together to create a quilt top.
Piecing: Sewing together fabric pieces to form a
quilt top.
Quarter Square Triangle (QST): A quilt block unit that is made by cutting a square of fabric diagonally twice to create four triangles.
Quilt Along (QAL): A group of quilters making the same quilt at the same time either virtually or in person.
Quilt As You Go (QAYG): A quilting technique where you quilt individual blocks or sections of a quilt one at a time, and then join these pre-quilted sections together to form the final quilt.
Quilt Sandwich: The three layers of a quilt—top,
batting, and backing—before they are quilted together.
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| Diamond Run |
Quilting: The process of sewing through the quilt
sandwich to create the final quilt.
Raw Edge: The unfinished edge of fabric that can fray.
Right Sides Together (RST): Refers to the technique of placing two pieces of fabric with their "right" or "front" sides facing each other before sewing.
Rotary Cutter: A tool with a circular blade used to
cut fabric.
Sashing: Strips of fabric sewn between blocks or rows
of blocks in a quilt.
Seam Allowance (SA): The area of fabric between the edge of the fabric and the stitching line in a sewing or quilting project.
Selvage: The tightly woven edge of fabric that
prevents it from fraying.
Stitch in the Ditch (SID): A quilting technique where the
stitches are placed in the seams of the pieced quilt top.
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| Harlequin Court |
Square In A Square (SIS): A quilt block, also known as an Economy Block, is a classic quilting block design where a smaller square is surrounded by four triangles, forming a larger square.
Unfinished Object (UFO): Refers to a quilt or quilting project that has been started but not yet completed.
Work In Progress (WIP): Refers to a project that is currently being worked on, even if it's not completed.
WOF (Width of Fabric): The measurement of the fabric
from selvage to selvage, typically 42-44 inches.
Wrong Sides Together (WST): Refers to the side that is not intended to be seen on the finished quilt.
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| Pinwheel Pizzazz |
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What a helpful quilting dictionary of terms! Thank you for sharing, this is sew amazing!
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