know your quilting glossary
NOT SURE OF YOUR QUILTING TERMS? OUR HANDY GUIDE WILL HELP YOU TELL YOUR FAT QUARTER FROM YOUR JELLY ROLL…
APPLIQUE
Appliqué is the art of sewing cut-out fabric shapes onto a backing fabric to create patterns and pictures. The pieces can be sewn by hand or on a sewing machine, or even stuck on with fabric glue.
BACKING FABRIC
This is a large piece of fabric that forms the back of a quilt (it can be one piece or made up from several). Usually plain, in a colour that complements the colours on the top of the quilt, the backing is best made from 100% cotton.
BASTING SPRAY
This liquid glue can be used to hold the layers of a quilt sandwich together while you’re sewing.
BIAS
The bias runs diagonally to the weave of a fabric. Material that’s cut on the bias has a great deal of stretch and ‘give’ so it’s ideal for making the binding edge of a quilt.
BIAS BINDING
A length of material that’s been cut on the bias and will therefore fit more easily around curved edges. Ready-made bias binding is really useful for finishing off a quilt.
BINDING
The binding runs all the way around the edge of a quilt, holding the three parts of the sandwich together and providing a neat, strong finish.
BLOCK
A block is one of a series of components that comprise a quilt top. Blocks can be patchworked or appliquéd, and be repeated or individual across the quilt.
ENGLISH PAPER PIECING
A method of hand-made patchworking in which templates for every piece are cut out of paper. Fabric is then sewn around each cutout before the shapes are joined together into a larger design. The templates are removed once the shapes have been sewn together.
FAT QUARTER
A quarter of a yard of fabric made by cutting half a yard in half across the length to give a piece of cloth that measures 18x22in. This means you can cut larger pieces than you can from a regular quarter (which measures 9x44in).
FOUNDATION PIECING
A way to make patchwork blocks by sewing pieces of fabric to a backing of plain fabric or paper.
FREE-MOTION QUILTING
This is a style of machine quilting in which a darning foot is used instead of the usual foot so that the quilting stitches can be ‘drawn’ freehand in any direction rather than in lines.
FUSIBLE WEB
The fabric equivalent of doublesided sticky tape. Often used for appliqué work, it becomes tacky when ironed between two pieces of fabric, making it a quick and easy way to join material.
FUSSY CUT
To cut around a motif on a patterned piece of fabric to show off the design.
HEM
To hem a piece of fabric is to turn the edge over on itself and sew it in place to stop it fraying, although a hem can also be decorative.
JELLY ROLL
A bundle of 20 or so strips of fabric that each measure 2Ωx44in. Jelly rolls are produced by Moda Fabrics, but other companies make similar bundles with names such as Bali Pops, Stone Strips and Roll Ups.
INTERFACING
A reinforcing material that’s sewn or ironed to the back of fabric to make it stronger or more rigid.
LOFT
A term for describing the thickness and weight of wadding. ‘High loft’ wadding will be thicker than ‘low loft’, but low-loft wadding can be just as warm as high-loft wadding.
LONG-ARM SEWING MACHINE
A long-arm sewing machine is a domestic sewing machine that has a