Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Quilting Acronyms and Terms

In the quilting world acronyms are used all the time! This is my list of ones I see most often and also a list of commonly used terms after the acronym list.

There are A LOT more than I listed, but these are the ones I see most often (and have had to look up to know what-the-heck people are referring to).

FQ- fat quarter (18"x22" cut of fabric)
WIP- work in progress
BOM- block of the month
HST- half square triangle
LAQ- long arm quilter
LQS- local quilt store
F8/FE- fat eighth (9"x22" cut of fabric)
UFO- unfinished object
WOF- width of fabric
SA- Seam allowance
QAYG- quilt as you go (a method where you quilt each block as you sew it together)
PDF- portable document file (means you get it by file in an email, not a paper pattern in the mail :-)
WOMBAT- waste of money, batting, and time (made a few of those!)
PP- paper piecing
EPP- English paper piecing
SID-stitch in the ditch (sewing/quilting on a seam)
FMQ- free motion quilting (quilting without a pattern- using your own body strength and brain as the guide)

Terms

Yo-yo- Little Circle pieces of fabric that are gathered around the edge and then tucked flat
Charm pack-a pack of 5"x5" precut squares of fabric usually a set of an entire fabric line
Hexi- Hexagon shaped fabric that is usually sown together by hand using the EPP method
Jelly Roll- usually a line of fabric sold in a roll of 40 different fabrics cut to 2.5"x44" (usually)
Mini- A small quilt, like doll quilt size or a little bigger. Usually decorative. Like a work of art
Bundle- A bunch of fabrics picked to go together because they are complimentary or a certain type (like low volume) and sold together as a set. Don't have to be from the same line
Block- a square of the quilt, often times it is a pattern that is repeated in every block then sewn together to create the whole quilt
Stash- All the fabric you've been hoarding. Your fabric collection
Scrappy- A quilt made from all your scraps, or any project made from your scraps
Bind- The fabric that goes around the edge of the quilt to finish the edge and cover raw edges. 
Fussy Cut- Cutting out a specific part of a piece of fabric so as to get a certain design, pattern, or picture in an exact place on the quilt.