Encyclopedia

Bias bars are used to make bias applique.  These bars are often made from metal or a heat tolerant plastic. The bars in the photo are plastic bias bars. A metal bias bar is the most popular. As you can see, they come in different widths. The bar is inserted into a long tube of fabric made… Continue reading Bias Bars

  Quilt Binding goes around the outer edge of the quilt. It is a long strip of fabric that is sometimes cut on the bias. Binding can match the border fabric or it can be a different fabric. Not all quilts have binding. Quilts that have binding will last longer (or at least the edges… Continue reading Binding

  A blanket stitch is often used as a decorative edging around applique. The stitch can be done by hand or by machine. In the photo, the leaves and stems have a blanket stitch that was done on my sewing machine. The 3 circle centers have a blanket stitch that was done by hand. All… Continue reading Blanket Stitch

Blenders are fabrics that “read” as solids from a distance but actually have subtle patterns.  These patterns are often “cloudy” or organic in nature.  The colors on the fabrics are tints and shades of the dominant color. Quilters like to add blenders to complement favorite prints in their quilt.  Examples of these fabrics can be… Continue reading Blenders

  “Blocks” refer to the squares (or other shapes) in a quilt that make up the overall pattern. There are thousands of blocks that quilters can use in their quilts.   Many quilts are made by repeating one block pattern.  Other quilts contain two or more blocks that form designs that repeat.  In the sampler… Continue reading Blocks

    A bobbin is a reel-like shape that holds the bottom thread for machine stitching.  Bobbins can be made of metal or plastic.  The thread is wound tightly from the center out.  You can wind bobbins on your sewing machine or on a bobbin winding machine.  Pre-wound bobbins are also available for purchase from… Continue reading Bobbins

A border print refers to a type of fabric that is designed for use in borders.  Instead of an all-over print, this fabric has rows that can be cut apart for borders.  Sometimes the rows are all the same and other times they vary as seen in the yellow quilt back and blue quilt back… Continue reading Border Print

    There’s no set rule about adding borders to quilts.  Borders vary in shape and size.  Some quilts have borders on all four sides.  Other quilts might have a border on the top/bottom or just on two of the sides.  At times, a quilter might decide the quilt can stand on its own without… Continue reading Borders

  A calico fabric is made from cotton and has a tiny print on it.  In the 60’s and 70’s this was quite popular.  Often it was the only printed cotton available to quilters at that time. Calico prints are small scale designs on 100% cotton fabric popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s. These were… Continue reading Calico Fabric

Chain piecing refers to a sewing process. When you chain piece, patchwork sets are sewn one after the other. You do not back stitch.  You do not cut the thread.  The second set goes right behind the first and you continue sewing.  Then the third is added, and so (sew) on…. This can save you… Continue reading Chain Piecing

  Quilters sometimes use chalk to mark their quilting designs especially if the background is a dark fabric.  There are many different types of chalk on the market.  Some wash out and some disappear with a hot dry iron.  It’s best to try the product on a small practice piece of fabric before marking a… Continue reading Chalk

A challenge quilt refers to a ‘contest’ that quilters enter.  Sometimes there are prizes for the winners and sometimes there aren’t.  Each challenge has different rules. Sometimes the challenge quilt involves using a particular fabric or groups of fabric in your quilts.  Often the fabric companies will use a challenge to introduce a new line… Continue reading Challenge Quilt

Charm quilts are made up of different pieces of fabric.  No one fabric is repeated.  Often these quilts are also classified as one patch quilts as the shape is the same  throughout the quilt. The colorful quilt on the left is a charm quilt as no two fabrics are alike. (The two white/grey checks may… Continue reading Charm Quilt

Charm squares are 100% cotton fabric squares that are usually about 5”. A charm pack is made up of all different pre-cut fabrics; no 2 are alike. Quilters like to collect these to make charm quilts (no two pieces are from the same fabric). The squares are also fun to exchange with fellow quilters. If… Continue reading Charm Squares

The color wheel is used in many fields other than quilting. It shows the primary colors, the secondary colors and often different shades and hues. Some people like to use this when selecting fabric for their quilts. If you would like to purchase a color wheel from Amazon, click here. This wheel also defines common… Continue reading Color Wheel

    A colorway refers to the color of the pattern in fabrics. Below you will find 3 fabrics in different colorways. The print design on each fabric is the same (even though I have the fabric on the right in the top photo turned in the opposite direction – sorry!). The color combinations are different.… Continue reading Colorway