QAL- The Quilting Dictionary

I am by no means a Webster, but I thought I would share my definition of a few quilt/sewing words and phrases that took me a while to figure out when I was first starting.

WIPs- This stands for "words in progress"

UFOs- This stands for "unfinished objects"

quilt sandwich- When you have all three layers (top, batting and backing) together, ready to be quilted, it is called a quilt sandwich.

quilt- A QUILT is a blanket

quilting- QUILTING is the actual process of stitching together your quilt sandwich

flimsie- A quilt top that hasn't become an actual quilt yet

grain- The grain of fabric is the way the threads of the fabric run. Look closely at a piece of cotton and you will see the threads run vertical and horizontal with the edge of your fabric piece. You will use this when you are cutting out pattern pieces.

bias- the bias of fabric is diagonal to the grain.

selvedge- This is the side of your fabric. If you buy designer fabric, is has cute little colored dots and the designers name. Like so:

binding- The fabric strip that finished the edges of your quilted, quilt sandwich.

piecing- Sewing together all the pieces that make up the top (or back) of your quilt.

OOPs- This stands for "out of print". Designer fabric is only made so long and then it becomes a OOP (and sometimes very hard to find!).

basting- This is putting your quilt top, batting and back together in a way that will allow you to quilt it. There are several ways to baste a quilt. You can use safety pins, basting spray (sticks your fabrics together), and I don't know what else to accomplish this.

tying- Tying a quilt is a way to get your quilt layers to stay together without actually quilting it. You can use yarn or embroidery thread to tie a quilt.

fussy cut- Cutting fabric so that the picture is centered. Very fun, but often wastes a lot of fabric.

fat quarter- This is a quarter yard of fabric, but instead of being cut in a strip 9" x 44", it is cut in half a yard and then in half again, ending up with 18" x 22" square.

charm- A standard charm is a 5x5 inch pre-cut square of fabric. These are perfect for a simple patchwork quilt.

walking foot- A presser foot for your sewing machine that feeds the fabric through from the bottom AND the top. These are perfect for matching up squares and for quilting straight lines.

I will continue to add more as I think of them. If you can think of any, please, let me know!