| Raw
Edge |
The
edge of a cut piece of fabric or quilt block, before the sewing
hides it underneath. |
| Redwork |
Quilt
blocks prepared with a design done in outline embroidery stitching,
with turkey red embroidery floss. There is also a blue version
known as Bluework. |
| Reverse
Appliqué |
A
method of appliqué where patches are stitched under the appliqué
design. |
| Rotary
Cutting |
A
quick fabric cutting method that uses a mat, rotary cutter and
grid ruler. It revolutionized quilting in the 1980's. |
| Round
Robin |
Done
with a group of usually 6 quilters'. Each sews her own centre
motif
and then these are passed around the group, with each quilter
adding a border or row. The quilt is a surprise when it arrives
back to the original quilter. |
| Sampler
Quilt 
|
A
quilt made of different block patterns. More
info |
| Sashiko |
Quilting
done with embroidery floss and used as a design element. It
originated in Japan. |
| Sashing |
The
fabric strips (plain, appliquéd or pieced) that are used to
frame quilt blocks. |
| Satin
Stitch |
A
very close zigzag stitch that is used to finish raw fabric edges. |
| Scrap
Quilt 
|
A
quilt made of many different fabrics. It is a great way to use
up some of your scraps.
More info |
| Scraps |
Smaller
pieces of fabric leftover after cutting fabric. |
| Seam
Allowance |
The
width of fabric from the raw edge to the stitching, that is
under the finished sewing. Patchwork uses ¼" seam
allowance. Appliqué can use less. |
| Selvage
|
The
¼" to ½" edges of the fabric that are
tightly woven. They should not be included in your quilt. The
coloured dots on the selvage are handy for picking matching
fabrics. |
| Seminole
Patchwork 
|
A
strip patchwork technique that takes cut strip
sets
and sews them back together by offsetting or staggering them.
The band of patchwork is then sewn to other bands. It looks
intricate. More
info |
| Set-In
Patch 
|
A
method of sewing patches with a "Y" joint. |
| Setting
Squares |
See
Corner
Squares |
| Setting
Triangles |
The
filler triangle patches that are used around the edge and in
the corners of a quilt
top,
when an on-point
setting
is used. |
| Settings |
The
way you arrange your blocks into a design. This includes how
you place your blocks (horizontally or on-point),
sashing,
blocks set beside each other, creating a secondary pattern or
alternating with a plain or different block. |
| Sewing
Line |
The
drawn line you sew along. It is an accurate piecing method. |
Shirting
|
A
fabric
with a small overall geometric design usually in one colour
on a white or off-white background. This cotton fabric was used
for shirts & blouses and can be found in many old quilts. |
| Signature
Quilts |
See
Album
Quilts. |
| Sleeve |
A
tube of fabric sewn across the top edge of the back of a quilt.
This allows the quilted wallhanging
to be hung on the wall with a rod. |
| Square-up |
Trimming
the raw edges of a block or patch down to the measurement it
should be. Do this by straightening the edges and making sure
the corners are 90°. |
| Stained
Glass Quilt |
A
quilt made with bias strips to resemble a piece of stained glass. |
| Stencil |
A
design cut in plastic, in narrow slots that helps with the marking
of the quilting
design
on the quilt
top. |
| Stenciled
Quilts |
Quilts
with block designs that have been stenciled with fabric paint. |
| Stippling |
Close
stitching done to quilt backgrounds in meandering lines. |
| Stitch-in-the-Ditch |
Quilting
done along the edge of the seam. |
| String
Piecing |
Strips
of fabric sewn together on a base foundation fabric. They are
cut into shapes to become units in a block; or a block. This
is good for using up long, thin scrap pieces. |
| Strip |
A
long thin piece of fabric cut selvage to selvage. They are sewn
into strip
sets
and later cut down into units. |
| Strip
Piecing |
Sewing
strips
of fabric together, into strip
sets,
then cut down into smaller units.
They are rearranged to make a pattern. It is a quick piecing
method. |
| Strip
Set 
|
Strips
of fabrics sewn together. |
| Swap |
A
trade done one for one. Charm
Square Swap |
| Tack
Stitch 
|
Stitches
sewn over each other to hold in place. |
| Tea
Dye |
Dying
fabric using tea. It gives the fabric an aged look. |
| Template |
Shape
made from cardboard, plastic or freezer paper used to help cut
out fabric or transfer a design. |
| Tied
Quilt |
A
series of knots evenly across the quilt, used to hold the quilt
sandwich
together. |
| Tone-on-Tone
|
A
fabric that has a subtle print in the same colour as the background. |
| Trapunto |
This
method is stuffing a stitched design to give it a raised effect. |
| UFO |
Unfinished
quilt project. |
| Unfinished
Size |
The
size of the block raw edge to raw edge before sewing. |
| Unit |
Patches
sewn together, making up part of the block. |
| Wallhanging
or Wall Quilt |
A
quilt made to be hung on a wall. |
| Watercolor
Quilt |
A
quilt made of small squares, cut from large floral print fabrics
and arranged in a design similar to impressionist paintings. |
| Whole-cloth
Quilt |
A
quilt using one fabric (usually solid white) as a top, quilted
with an intricate design. |
| WOF
or Width of Fabric |
From
selvage to selvage or 'strip'. |
WOW
|
White
on White fabric. |
