This is the second of a ten part series which will teach you the basics of quilting from choosing fabric to displaying the finished product and everything in between. It is meant to help make that special quilt even more fantastic.
As you begin to quilt, you will come across different quilting terminology that may sound to you like a strange language! This part will familiarize you with some of the basic terms and slang that you will encounter throughout your quilting experience.
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BASIC QUILTING TERMINOLOGY
Learning basic quilting terminology, will help you navigate your way around a fabric store as well as help you to read your patterns. As you gain experience, I am sure you will come across many more terms and jargon!
Appliqué – fabric shapes that are stitched to the fabric to create a design. If you want to learn how to applique, check out Nana’s previous post.
Backing – The fabric used on the back of your quilt. You may choose to use to use only one type of backing or get creative. Another post by Nana discusses ideas for backing your quilt.
Basting – Loose stitching that will hold two or more pieces of fabric together temporarily. When your quilt top is finished you may choose to baste (or pin) your quilt layers together. Basting is removed after quilting.
Batting – Batting is the “stuffing” of a quilt. The layer between the quilt top and the backing that keeps you warm!!
Bias – Is the diagonal of the fabric. When fabric is cut on the bias it stretches more and is useful for certain things such as binding, however, beware when making diagonal blocks that you do not stretch the fabric!
Binding – Binding is put on the edge of your quilt to make it look finished. See how this lovely pink binding finishes the quilt.
Border – A border is strips of fabric that frames the edges of the quilt and can be useful in enlarging quilts. Blocks may also have a border, however, these are usually called sashing.
Fussy cut – Cutting your fabric to center a specific design in the middle of a square to show it off in the finished block. In the photo above, Nana fussy cut the large roses to have them appear in the center of the block.
HST– Half-square triangle, a common unit in quilting. Find out more about HST in this post.
Loft -Represents the thickness or puffiness of the batting. Low-loft is flatter and less puffy than high-loft, which is very puffy and adds dimension to your quilting. We will talk about choosing batting in Part 6 – Batting and Backing.
Pre-cuts– Precut fabrics, also called specialty cuts, are fabrics cut into specific shapes and sizes and typically packaged by collection. There are many different sizes of specialty cuts, and are based on the most common cuts used by quilters. These include fat-eighths, fat-quarters, charms, honey buns, layer cakes, jelly rolls and more. We will discuss all these terms and sizes in Part 4 – Choosing our Fabric.
RST- Simply means “Right sides together”. And if you see the term WST, you will sew your fabric “Wrong sides together”.
Selvage– The finished edge of fabric, which is usually removed before cutting. In quilting fabric, one edge will often include information about the fabric such as the designer or name of the collection.
Square up– Fixing a quilt block to be square again. Very important to avoid a lopsided quilt!
Stitch in the ditch– To quilt along the natural seams in the “ditch” created by the seam
WOF – This stands for “Width of Fabric” and refers to the distance from selvage to selvage.
QUILTING SLANG
Now that you have learned the basic terms, let’s look at some of the slang quilters use to refer to various projects! Learn these and you will appear as if you are an experienced quilter.
BOM – Stands for Block of the Month, which is when a group will do one block a month and end up with 12 that you will use to create one full quilt. A lot of fabric shops will sell a monthly “kit”.
DSM – Domestic Sewing Machine, the workhorse of the majority of the quilting world.
Flimsy– A flimsy is a quilt top that has been finished, but not quilted, with no batting, backing, or binding.
LAQ – Long-arm quilter.a special machine for quilting. It is huge and takes up most of a room. It typically has a frame for the quilt. There is also a MAQ – Mid arm quilter. Nana can’t afford either, therefore, I do all my quilting on my DSM.
LQS – Local Quilt Shop. This is usually a quilt shop, not a big store, like Jo-Ann.
PIGS – Projects in Grocery Sacks.
QAL – Quilt-alongs. Like BOM’s these are quilts that are worked together. Many quilt clubs sponsor quilt-alongs. If you are interested in joining one of these, Nana keeps a list of QAL’s here on the website!
STASH– Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden. When we talk about STASH we mean ALL your fabric, including the hidden fabric that you forgot about and get excited it when you find it. A stash usually consists of USO’s. (UnStartedObjects)
TGIF– Thank God It’s Finished!
UFO– Unfinished object. A special kind of WIP (see below), UFO’s can be spotted in our closets, in grocery bags stuffed somewhere in our houses, even under the bed. A UFO is also a WIP it just hides a little better.
WIP- Work in progress also known as a PhD- Projects half Done.
WOMBAT- The worst thing you can have is a WOMBAT. This is a quilt you absolutely hate!! Waste of Money, Batting, and Time.
There are many terms and lingo used by quilters. I hope you can use this explanation of some of basic quilting terminology to expand and strengthen your quilting jargon!! If you have a term you want added to the list, please leave me a comment!
In Part 3, you will find out how to choose your patterns.
Until next time …….
