Chapter Two –The Technical Bits

There are different styles of quilting, which largely reflect the country of origin and traditions of their quilting history.

Effectively though, quilting requires a sandwich of fabrics. You begin with a face fabric, which can be made up of patchwork or blocks, or which could be a plain color, or a printed fabric.

The padding, or batting, used to be inserted between the stitched areas in some old quilted pieces, such as quilt surrounds for wall hangings that were principally works of high quality embroidery.

However, these days, and particularly for bed cover quilts, there are three layers. The top layer, which if it is patchwork will have been made up separately of small pieces of fabric joined together to make blocks or sections. The blocks or sections are then stitched together. When the size or overall design has been achieved, this is then put together with the batting and a back fabric, and the quilt is created by stitching the three layers together. This should really be described as a patchwork quilt.

However, there are lots of other sorts of quilts.
If the face fabric tells a story, it is unlikely that the base fabric will be decorated.

The stitching is probably going to be on the outlines of the figures, emblems or picture elements of the fabric.

Or, plain fabric can be beautifully decorated using only stitching to create pattern, figures, flowers or whatever you like.


If, however, you are creating a bed cover, or drape, you may want to use the stitching to create the pattern on both face and base fabrics.

Machine quilting is now very popular, as it clearly enables quilters to produce work faster than by hand. However, depending on the type of quilt you are making, it can be difficult to handle, or it might not give the effect that you want.

Hand quilting is still a very popular method for many, as it does give a softer, and perhaps more luxurious look. Again, depending on the size, you may need a hoop which will secure a section of the quilt, or if it’s a bed cover, you may really need a frame to stretch out a larger area of the quilt. The old ones were hand made to suit the space available and the number of people who could work on the piece at any one time. You can still make your own. Use timber lengths covered in fabric so that you can pin your quilt to the fabric and hold it in place. The ends can be used to roll the fabric forwards and backwards so that only the working area is stretched out.

If you are doing hand quilting, you will need quilting needles and quilting thread. Traditionally, you sew with one hand, and use the other hand underneath to guide the needle back through to the face. The key is to keep the stitches the same length and absolutely in line.

They don’t have to be minute, but they do have to all be identical to give a good finish.

You can use different colored threads to match the color of the fabric, or contrasting colors, or even colorless thread.

If you are using a sewing machine, a walking foot will ensure all three layers of the quilt move together – it’s important not to allow one part of the sandwich to be more out of sync with the others.

Some of the terminology for quilting that you will find useful is given below:

Accent quilting can add pattern that works with, but follows, different lines to those of any patchwork.

Achromatic color schemes - using black white and grey only

Album quilts – these use a mix of blocks pertinent to the maker, the recipient or an event, and are usually gifts for specific events or circumstances

Amish Quilts – these are very simplistic and orderly and always functional

Analogous color schemes – neighboring colors on a color wheel

Anchor fabric – this is used when piecing to hold the fabric pieces together when machine piecing
Appliqué – not specific to quilting, but often used on quilts – this is the use of smaller pieces of fabric, often making a figure or character, stitched to the face fabric of the quilt.

Sun Bonnett Sue’s are examples of these. Various stitches can be used – visible or invisible

Backing fabric – as you would expect, this is this is the base fabric

Bargello quilting – use of fabric strips to give the look of a wave

Basting is a way of holding the three sandwich layers together on a temporary basis. You can tack, pin or use sticky spray

Batting is the middle or wadding layer of your quilt sandwich

Bearding is when the batting fibers come away and find their way through to the face or base fabric – it happens more with polyester wadding.

Beaswax coating on thread makes it stronger and prevents it from knotting.


Betweens are quilting needles, and they are very short. Sizes 9, 10 or 12 are generally used – the 12 being longer than the nine.

Binding is used to create the quilt edges. It is essential to cut binding on the bias to avoid pulling out of shape.

Blanket stitch – originally used to edge blankets and prevent fraying, it is also used as a decorative stitch for securing pieces of appliqué

Block – a section of patchwork, usually, but not always, square

Border – fabric strips used between blocks and or on the top bottom and sides.

Cats ears – a block style also known as prairie points

Chain sewing- a continual thread to sew pieces together without finishing off and re-starting

Chain stitch – is an embroidery stitch that resembles a chain.

Charm quilts have only one shape which is used repeatedly, but never using the same fabric more than once

Cheaters Cloth – fabric which looks like it is made of patchwork, but which is actually printed

Cool colours – blues or greens

Crazy quilt – quilt using irregular fabric pieces stitched to foundation fabric and then decorated.

Cross hatch – parallel lines marked on the quilt to help hand stitching.

Cross hatching uses straight lines on a grid – diamonds or square or rectangles can be used.

Dimensional appliqué – this stands in relief from the quilt cover, either stuffed or not.

Echo quilting – lines of quilting that repeat around the edge of a piece or design

Fat Quarter is a yard and a half of fabric cut in half to enable a square piece 18” x 22”

Foundation blocks are blocks that are made up of any number of small pieces of fabric. The finished block is then joined to other finished blocks to create the patchwork face. Try and keep the fabric, if possible, to have the straight grain on the edge of the block.

Frames can be small circular hoops for hand sewing or large rectangular frames for holding bigger quilts.

Friendship quilt – made to be given to friends or family and often having messages or using swap fabric

Grain – the line of fiber running perpendicular to the side selvedge

Hawaiian appliqué – A technique for applying very detailed design pieces onto quilt fabric.

Hoops – large frames to hold the quilt for hand or machine stitching

Lap quilting – quilting squares as complete pieces,
and then joining the pieces when they are all made

Lattice strips – strips bordering the blocks

Loft – the spare between face and the backing fabrics – high lofts mean warmer, thicker quilts

Meandering or stippling style – this is a style of filling in areas of quilt with stitch, but none of the stitching should touch. So you can’t cross over a line you have already stitched

Marking – marking the quilt by tracing or freehand to indicate where to stitch the quilt. Tailors chalk or wax is often used – soap also works.

Medallion quilt – a quilt with a central design from which the rest of the design follows outwards

Millenium quilts - or Y2K quilts – to commemorate the year 2000

Miters – a method of measuring diagonals and angles

Monochromatic – all one color

Motif stitching gives a pattern which can be done on plain or patch work quilting. Motifs allow the quilter to incorporate names, hearts, animals, flowers, in fact any object, or, an abstract pattern.

Muslin – a very thin plain fabric, often used as a foundation fabric for piecing blocks

No knots – No knots are to be seen when quilting. The trick is to pull the knot through to the batting layer so that it can be hidden. When you finish you will also need to lose your knot in the centre batting. As with a starter knot, wrap the cotton a couple of times round the needle, check your last stitch hole, and pop the needle back in, and pull it through so that the knot stops in the batting, then cut the thread close to the fabric.

Off hand – usually the left hand which guides the needle from underneath the quilt

Outline stitching is, as you would expect, intended to provide an outline, and achieved by stitching about ¼ away from the seam. By doing this, the quilt is strengthened, as you get, in effect, a double line of stitching, and the other advantage is that the stitching is inside the cut edge and no seal allowance is needed.

Paper piecing – using paper to attach pieces in a block. The paper is usually numbered or lettered and the pieces are matched, stitched to the paper and the adjoining pieces.

Piecing – stitching pieces of fabric together – or called patchwork

Quilting Thread is single strand of very strong cotton and glazed to help it pass through the batting.

Rocking – this is the popular method – if you rock the needle back and forth you should be able to get about 4 or 5 stitches on at one go.

Sampler – showing a number of different quilting techniques

Sashing – fabric strips that separate blocks

Satin Stich – side by side stitching

Selvedge – the edges of the fabric where the weave was finished.

Seminole quilting – creating large pieces of fabric with pieces so that the joined fabric can then be cut and used with shapes repeated.

Sewing in the ditch refers to stitching very close to a seam where the stitches are barely visible.

Sharps – fine needles for joining pieces and stitching on appliqué

Stencil – using a pre made shape for transferring designs and motifs

Template – a shape for cutting pieces – made of plastic, paper, sandpaper.

Warm colors – orange, red, yellows and tans

Piecing together the foundation blocks is easiest using foundation paper. This will need to be marked so that you can attach the fabric matching your number sequence. Each piece needs to be sewn both to the paper and together. Small stitches (min. 14 per inch) and machine needle size 14 is recommended.

Experts recommend using tracing paper for machine stitching, but not for hand stitching. Other options are the paper used in medical exam rooms – it’s cheap, and works very well. Anther option is the vegetable parchment you use in the kitchen, which some people find works very well. The tracing paper will pull away really easily after you have created your block, as long as you use small stitches. Muslin is recommended for hand piecing.

Present the wrong side of the fabric to the central piece to the back of the foundation paper ensuring you have a quarter inch seam allowance all round. Machine the paper and fabric together.

Then take a piece of fabric for an adjoining section, and place the right side of the fabric facing the right side of the first piece. Then turn over the foundation paper to see the marked side, and sew on the line between shown between the first and second piece. Then when you turn it over, the second piece should cover its space with the necessary seam allowance.

Next, lay the work down with the numbers on the foundation paper facing you. Fold the paper on the stitching line you have just done, so that the numbers on the paper face each other and the seam allowance of the first piece and the main fabric of the second piece are open. Cut the fabric to the minimum of a quarter inch on the edges.

Patterns can be made from almost anything. The traditional American patterns work on a block or section, and are repeated throughout the quilt, with each block being made up of a number of pieces. The quilts are then edged to surround the blocks.

Traditionally, paper and sand paper have been used. The benefit of sandpaper is the fabric will stick to it well and not slide. Now you can find plastic template material that has a much longer life than paper, and doesn’t blunt the scissors like sand paper, nor does it catch on anything.

So how do you make the patterns for quilting?

First, of course, it depends on why you are making a quilt, which determines what sort of pattern you would like and what sort of fabrics you would use.

For patchwork quilting – most American Colonial Style for example, it’s very straight forward to make your patterns, and you can find lots of examples, with sizes, for you to print off from the internet.

Cut paper templates for your shapes, and then trace them on to sand paper (fine gauge) or plastic template material. Then trace the templates onto the fabric and cut out.

Or, if you are making a quilt from varying shaped pieces, you can make a large paper or card design, and gradually cut out and put together sections to match your design.

You will need to determine the sequence of stitching to create each square or section if there are overlapping pieces of fabric. Follow the tips above for using foundation paper, which is numbered to reflect the pieces you use to make up the block.

The art of quilting is really in the care and precision, both in the planning stage, and for the stitching.

These days you can buy wadding to sit between the back and face fabrics, and stitch through to create the quilt finish. If you secure the three sections, i.e., the back cloth, the wadding, and the face fabric at strategic points, you can then appliqué the decorative pattern on the face fabric.

Rotary cutting is more precise than using scissors. The cutters are extremely sharp, and need to be used with care – definitely something to be kept out of sight and access for youngsters.

When you use a rotary cutter you need a proper cutting mat that won’t get ridged from the blade and won’t damage the blade either. If you use a damaged mat, the cutter can slide off course, which could mean that your fabric wouldn’t have the straight edge you need. The cutters should always have their blades closed when not in use, and the guard in place whenever you are not using it.

Even experienced quilters and crafts people have managed to cut themselves, so it is essential to ensure you have the right mat, that the cutter blade is only open when you are actually using it, and that blade and mat are kept clear of bits and pieces. Do take care when using the cutter, and don’t allow your attention to wander or you risk cutting yourself, and worse – getting blood on your lovely quilting fabric.

Most people working with soft furnishings of all descriptions have an iron and ironing surface in their work space. Pressing fabric to create your seam lines makes assembling pieces and blocks that much easier. Having said that, many people do prefer to finger press the edges of the smaller pieces, and when all is said and done, it is personal preference and skill level that informs your decision.

However, for rotary cutting, when you need to create the cross fabric line for cutting, it does make it much easier if you use the iron. Before you cut the cross line, fold the material selvedge edge to selvedge edge and ensure the material lies smooth with the grain of the material in the fold. Then fold it again so the first fold and the two selvedge edges are aligned.

Machine stitching large quilts can be quite tricky. If you don’t have a massive work table that will hold the complete quilt, try putting together some pasting tables, or support some board on chairs. You will find it much easier to work if the quilt is not catching on the edge of your work table and being weighted down.

You can find a host of information on ‘how to’ with quilting, in books, on the internet and in craft magazines. However it’s much more fun to find someone who has a level of expertise, and volunteer to work with them on one of their own quilts – you gain experience, and hopefully friendship.