Just like any other specialty craft or hobby, quilting seems to have its own language. There are many terms that quilters use over and over. When you are just starting out in the craft, it can be frustrating to try to read a pattern or a quilting article if you don’t know what some of the more common words mean.

Starting with the different types of quilts, you will find applique. Applique is a technique where pieces of fabric are sewn or fused onto a background fabric to create different patterns or pictures. A medallion quilt has one center block surrounded by multiply borders. A patchwork or piecework quilt is one in which many small pieces of left-over fabric is sewn together into a quilt shape. A similar quilt is a sampler quilt in which each block is a different pattern.

The quilt itself is made up of three parts, the top sewed design, the batting which is the filler material that makes the quilt warm, and the backing which is generally one piece of material. The three pieces are sewn together and then “quilted”, either by hand or by machine to hold the three pieces together. Quilting the final product is sewing small stitches through all three layers in a pattern throughout the entire quilt. Quilting “in the ditch” means the quilting is done almost in the seams on the quilt and follows the quilt pattern instead of creating a new pattern of it’s own. If you are following a quilt pattern or reading an article about quilting and you come across a term that you don’t understand, do a quick search on the web. There are many websites devoted to quilting full of good information.