Quilting Terms: A Beginner’s Glossary of Pieces, Blocks and Patterns

How does a quilt go together?

A quilt goes together from small parts to big ones. You cut pieces, sew them into units and blocks, join the blocks into a quilt top, then turn the top into a finished quilt. Most quilting words name one of these parts or one of these steps. Once you know where a word fits, a pattern is much easier to read.

1. Cut pieces. Squares, rectangles and triangles cut from fabric, with seam allowance added.
2. Sew units. Small pieced shapes such as half-square triangles, quarter-square triangles and flying geese.
3. Sew blocks. Units and pieces arranged on a grid, such as a 3 × 3 nine patch. A block is usually 6" to 12" finished.
4. Join the quilt top. Blocks sewn into rows, often with sashing between them and borders around the edge.
5. Make the quilt sandwich. The top, a middle layer of batting and a backing fabric, held together with pins, thread or spray.
6. Quilt it. Stitch through all three layers, by hand, on a home machine or on a longarm.
7. Bind it. Trim the edges and wrap them in strips of fabric called binding.

What are the basic pieces in quilting?

Almost every traditional block is made from seven shapes. The Patchwork Quilt Builder has the same seven, so learning them teaches you the builder too.

Square. One plain square of fabric. Cut it ½" larger than its finished size, so a 3" finished square is cut at 3½". Quilts made only of squares, like checkerboards and nine patches, are the easiest to sew.

Rectangle (strip). A long plain piece, also called a strip, rail or log. A rail fence block is three strips side by side, and a log cabin is strips, called logs, built around a center square.

Half-square triangle (HST). A square split corner to corner into two triangles, usually in two colors. It is the most used unit in quilting. Make two at a time: put two squares right sides together, draw a diagonal line, sew ¼" on each side of it, then cut on the line. Cut the squares ⅞" larger than the finished HST.

Quarter-square triangle (QST). A square split into four triangles by both diagonals. It is also called an hourglass unit when it uses two colors. Make two at a time from two HSTs, cut again on the diagonal and resewn. Cut the starting squares 1¼" larger than the finished QST.

Flying geese. A rectangle twice as wide as it is tall, with a large triangle (the goose) in the middle and a small triangle (the sky) on each side. Make it with sew-and-flip corners: sew a square to each end of a rectangle, corner to corner, then trim. Flying geese make the points of the sawtooth star.

Snowball. A square with each corner cut off by a small triangle, so it looks like an octagon. Sew a small square onto each corner, sew corner to corner, and trim. Next to a nine patch, the corners join into a lattice.

Bowtie. A four-patch block of two bow squares and two background squares. The bow squares each get one small sew-and-flip corner, which makes the knot in the middle.

What do four patch, nine patch and five patch mean?

These names describe the grid a block is drawn on, not one particular block. A four-patch block divides into 2 × 2 equal parts, and a nine-patch block into 3 × 3. The Ohio star and the churn dash are both nine-patch blocks, even though neither looks like a plain nine patch.

Knowing the grid tells you the unit size. Divide the finished block by the number of units across. A 12" nine-patch block has 4" units, and a 10" five-patch block has 2" units. For fifty blocks sorted by grid, see the quilt block library.

What are sashing, cornerstones and borders?

These words describe how blocks are arranged, which quilters call the setting or the layout.

Sashing. Strips of fabric sewn between blocks, like the frame between window panes. It hides small differences in block size.

Cornerstones. Small squares where the sashing strips cross, often in an accent color.

Alternate blocks. Plain or simple blocks that take turns with the main block, like a checkerboard. They give each block room and halve the piecing.

Side by side. Blocks sewn straight to each other with no sashing. New shapes often appear where four blocks meet.

On point. Blocks turned 45° so they stand on a corner. The gaps along the edges are filled with setting triangles, and the corners with corner triangles.

Medallion. One center block framed by round after round of borders, built from the middle out.

Border. Strips around the outside of the quilt top. A plain border frames the quilt and is an easy way to make it bigger.

What do seam allowance, finished size and nesting seams mean?

Seam allowance. The fabric between the stitching and the cut edge. Quilting uses ¼" almost everywhere, so a quarter-inch presser foot is worth buying.

Finished size. The size of a piece or block once it is sewn into the quilt, with the seam allowances hidden. Unfinished size (or cut size) is ½" larger, because each edge loses ¼". A 12" finished block measures 12½" before it is joined to its neighbors.

Right sides together (RST). Fabric placed printed side to printed side before sewing, so the seam ends up on the back.

Pressing. Lifting the iron and setting it down on a seam, rather than sliding it, which can stretch the fabric. Seams are pressed to one side (usually toward the darker fabric) or pressed open.

Nesting seams. Pressing the seams in neighboring rows in opposite directions, so they lock together and the corners match.

Chain piecing. Feeding pair after pair through the machine without cutting the thread between them. It saves time and thread.

Strip piecing. Sewing long strips together into a strip set, then cutting it into segments. It makes rail fence, nine patch and Irish chain blocks fast.

Sew and flip. Sewing a small square onto a corner of a larger piece, corner to corner, then trimming and pressing it back. It makes flying geese, snowballs and bowties without cutting triangles.

Set-in seam (Y-seam). A seam where three pieces meet at one point, so you stop sewing exactly ¼" from the edge and pivot. Diamond stars like the LeMoyne need them.

Bias. The diagonal of the fabric weave, which stretches. Triangle edges cut on the bias need gentle handling.

Squaring up (trimming). Cutting a unit or block to its exact unfinished size after sewing, so everything fits.

Points. The tips of triangles. A point is “cut off” when a seam crosses it, usually because a unit came out short.

What do WOF, fat quarter and jelly roll mean?

Width of fabric (WOF). The width of fabric off the bolt, usually 42" to 44" of usable fabric. A pattern that says “cut five 2½" × WOF strips” means five strips cut from selvage to selvage.

Selvage. The tightly woven edges of the fabric, often printed with the designer’s name. Cut it off before you use the fabric.

Grain. The direction of the threads. The straight grain runs parallel to the selvage and barely stretches. The crosswise grain runs selvage to selvage and stretches a little.

Yardage. How much fabric to buy, measured in yards and usually rounded up to the nearest ⅛ yard.

Precuts. Fabric sold already cut to standard sizes, often a whole collection in one bundle. The table lists the common ones.

Value. How light or dark a fabric is, apart from its color. Contrast in value, more than in color, is what makes a block show up.

Low volume. Pale prints that read as almost white from a distance. Used together, they make a soft, textured background.

Scrappy. Made from many different fabrics, often leftovers, held together by a consistent background or value plan.

• Muslin & Linen#ECEAE6 · #D7CDC1 · #F6EAE0 · #E2D6CB · #D6BDACTry it on a quilt
• Farmhouse Sampler#F5EFDF · #DE7F64 · #424158 · #86B39E · #F0CB8ETry it on a quilt

What are batting, backing and binding?

Batting. The soft middle layer, in cotton, polyester, wool or a blend. It is bought a few inches larger than the top on every side.

Backing. The fabric on the back of the quilt. For anything wider than about 40", it is pieced from two or more widths of fabric, or bought as extra-wide backing.

Basting. Holding the three layers together for quilting, with safety pins, long hand stitches or basting spray.

Quilting. The stitching through all three layers that holds them together. It is also the name for the whole craft.

Stitch in the ditch. Quilting right in the seam lines, so the stitches almost disappear.

Free-motion quilting. Quilting by moving the quilt freely under a darning foot. A meander or stipple is a loose, wandering line that never crosses itself.

Longarm. A large quilting machine on a frame. Many quilters piece the top themselves and pay a longarm quilter to quilt it.

Binding. Strips of fabric, usually cut 2½" wide and folded in half, sewn around the raw edges to finish the quilt.

What do quilting abbreviations mean?

Patterns and quilting groups use a lot of short forms. These are the ones you will see most.

How do these terms show up in Patchwork?

The Patchwork Quilt Builder uses the same words. Its piece tray holds the seven basic pieces: Solid Square, Half-Square Triangle, Quarter-Square Triangle, Rectangle, Flying Geese, Snowball and Bowtie. Its block library has ready-made blocks, from the four patch to the log cabin, that you drag onto the grid.

You set the finished size of one grid square, and the cut list adds the ¼" seam allowance for you. It plans HSTs from squares cut once on the diagonal, QSTs from squares cut twice, and flying geese and snowballs with sew-and-flip corners. Yardage is figured from 42" of usable WOF. For the order to learn the blocks in, see easy quilt blocks for beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an HST and a QST?

A half-square triangle (HST) is a square cut once on the diagonal, so it has two triangles. A quarter-square triangle (QST) is cut on both diagonals, so it has four. For the same finished size, cut HST squares ⅞" larger and QST squares 1¼" larger.

What does finished size mean in quilting?

Finished size is the size once the piece is sewn in, with seam allowances hidden. The cut, or unfinished, size is ½" larger with a ¼" seam allowance. A 12" finished block measures 12½" before it is joined.

What is the difference between a quilt block and a quilt pattern?

A block is one square unit, such as a nine patch or a sawtooth star. A pattern is the whole quilt: which blocks, how they are set, the size, and the fabric and cut lists.

What does WOF mean in a quilt pattern?

WOF means width of fabric, from selvage to selvage. It is usually 42" to 44" of usable fabric. “Cut 2½" × WOF strips” means strips cut all the way across the fabric.

Why are they called flying geese?

A row of the units looks like a flock of geese flying in a V. Each unit is one large triangle, the goose, with two small triangles of sky on its sides.