Quilt Types

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Album Quilt-A quilt assembled from individual blocks, each designed and/or executed by a different person. Album blocks are appliquéd or pieced (or both), and frequently stitched into a quilt by a group for presentation to a public figure to commemorate a special occasion. In the past, blocks often were signed and dated by the maker in India ink or embroidery. Today, special markers are available for signing.

Amish Quilt-Quilts done in the style of the Amish. Usually solid materials in deep hues. Patterns tend to be geometric with intense, heavy quilting, often feathers, scrolls, cables. Click picture for larger view.

Baltimore Album-A style of album quilt, named for quilts made in Eastern Maryland between 1844 and 1855, featuring ornate appliqué and embroidery blocks.

Bargello-quilts made up of off-set squares of color in a rising or falling pattern. Strips of different fabrics are sewn together, then cut into smaller segments, and pieced together in a style in which there are "waves" or geometric patterns in the design.

Broderie perse-From the French for "Persian embroidery," a technique in which a printed motif, usually a flower or animal, is cut from fabric and appliquéd onto a plain background.

Cathedral Window Quilt-A particular quilt block that makes use of fabric folding to reveal an inner window of a different fabric. Click the picture for larger image.

Celtic Quilting-Intricately designed quilts using thin, bias strips in the form of the Celtic. (pronounced Keltic). Check out our page for a look at the Quick Bias fusible tape- great for Celtic and Stained Glass quilting!

Channel Quilting- Stitching on the finished quilt in parallel lines. Lines may be diagonal, vertical or horizontal and are usually evenly spaced.

Charm Quilt-A quilt made up of "block" units that are all the same shape/size but all different fabrics. The pieces are generally small (less than 5", but most commonly 2" or less) and are common themes for fabric swaps.

Crazy Quilt-Term used for quilts that are made up of "crazy pieced" blocks. That is, scraps of all different types of fabric are sewn to a background fabric using decorative stitches to join the seams and embroidery to decorate. Pattern pieces are usually irregularly shaped. Crazy quilts were popular in the Victorian age when young girls pieced together these quilts to display their sewing and embroidery skills. Often times, the ornate stitching is what makes the quilt stand out from other quilts. Velvets and silks were often used.

Echo Quilting-A method of quilting by which the stitches outline (run parallel to) to an existing motif or piece in the quilt.

English Paper Piecing-A method of hand quilting in which paper templates are used to help turn under the seam allowances. Papers are generally left in the quilt top until all pieces have been joined together, and then removed for future use.

Eye Spy Quilt-The style of quilt in which novelty prints are fussy cut and assembled randomly in pairs to create a "memory" game style quilt for a child. Common block styles are hexagon, triangle, or just squares.

Filler Quilting-A method of filling in large, open spaces on a quilt top (either by machine or hand quilting). Usually done in a cross hatch pattern.

Free Motion Quilting-A method of machine quilting in which the feed dogs are lowered or covered, so that the quilt is guided through the sewing machine entirely at will by the hands of the quilter. See also stippling or meandering quilting.

Foundation Piecing-A method of assembling a quilt block by sewing pieces to a foundation of muslin or other fabric. Adds stability to delicate fabrics as well as stabilizing bias. Sometimes used in Crazy quilting.

Foundation Paper Piecing-A method of using a pattern that has been previously drawn on a piece of paper, as a guide for constructing a quilt block. The fabric pieces are sewn right onto the paper using the drawn lines as a guide. Great for piecing complicated blocks and miniature blocks. Also know as just "paper piecing."

Freezer Paper Appliqué-A method of appliqué in which a piece is drawn onto the dull side of freezer paper, and then ironed onto the wrong side of the fabric. The seam allowances can then be eased to the backside of the piece using the freezer paper as a guide. The freezer paper is then removed after the piece is sewn to its neighbor, or to its background foundation. (Freezer paper is used by butchers to wrap meat and can be found at most grocery stores in the paper section. Most common brand is Reynolds in a blue box.)

Friendship Quilt-Similar to an album quilt, blocks made up of signatures are then sewn together into one quilt.

Hand Quilting-The method of quilting done by hand, not machine. Normally, a quilting pattern is applied to the quilt top using templates and chalk pencils. The quilt sandwich is then inserted into some type of frame or loop to hold the sandwich taut while hand quilting.

Hawaiian Appliqué-A method of appliqué by which large floral shaped, solid-color pieces are stitched onto a white background. Developed by Hawaiian native quilters.

Lap Quilting-A method of completing all three layers by quilting one block or section at a time and then assembling the finished quilt from those pre-quilted squares. Squares are quilted in small lap frames or held in the hands rather than using a large quilting frame.

Log Cabin Block-Perhaps one of the most popular, traditional blocks, this block begins with a center square that is then surrounded by long, narrow strips, or logs. These logs are usually sewn on in an orderly fashion, moving clockwise around the center square with each strip addition. Commonly, the strips will become darker as they move to the outer sides of the block. Variations are: courthouse steps and pineapple block. Click picture for larger view

Long Arm Quilting-Machine quilting done by a long armed machine. Normally only done on a commercial basis due to the size, 14 feet or more, and the cost of the machine.

Machine Quilt-The method of quilting a quilt sandwich using a sewing machine (and walking foot instead of the traditional method of hand quilting with needle and thread.

Meander Quilting-A style of quilting that is done with the feed dogs down, or covered, and the quilt sandwich guided through the machine with hands, in lose motions, closely together, but without any lines crossing over each other.

Medallion-A large central block or patterned area on a quilt top, defined in some way by space or a border. The center is often a large square on point.

Memory Quilt-A quilt made up of blocks to commemorate an occasion. Common Memory Quilt themes: Wedding, Retirement, Birthday. The individual quilt blocks can be made up of signature blocks, direct printed photo blocks, theme related blocks etc.

Miniature Quilts-Quilts made on a much smaller scale than a full sized quilt. Blocks tend to be 2-3" large. Paper piecing is a common method to use for miniature quilts.

Motif Quilting- used to emphasize a portion of a printed design of fabric. example: on a floral print the flowers may be motif quilted.

Mystery Quilt-A quilt pattern, that is released to the recipients, step by step, to hide the final appearance of the finished quilt.

Outline Quilting-A method of hand or machine quilting in which the stitches are spaced between 1/4" and 1/2" away from the seam line.

Patchwork-Generally refers to the process of combining fabric pieces to make a quilt top.

Penny Squares-Small simple designs marked on muslin quilt block patterns for embroidery which were popular in the late 1800s and after. They cost one cent each, the look was similar to the redwork patterns popular later.

Postage Stamp Quilt-A style of quilting in which all of the pieces in the quilt are the size, approximately, of a postage stamp. Similar to a charm square quilt.

Quillow-A lap quilt that folds into a square pocket on the back to form a pillow.

Quilt As You Go-A method of assembling a quilt by which each square is pieced, sandwiched, and quilted before it is attached to the next square in the quilt. Similar to Lap Quilting

Rag Quilt- a flannelette quilt made with the seams left out on the front and then cut and washed to "fluff" them up. Click here to see a picture!

Redwork-Simple embroidery designs worked in running stitch in either turkey red color or in blue ( Bluework) and used for quilt blocks. These were popular in the 20's and 30's. Embroidery using red thread. Traditionally, animal themes, children's themes, nature themes, and kitchen themes.

Reverse Appliqué-A method of appliqué in which the top piece of fabric is cut away to reveal the background fabric underneath. The raw edges are turned under and finished as in any appliqué method.

Round Robin-A popular swap among a group of quilters. A small piece of a quilt is started by each, then sent to the next quilter who adds to it, then it moved to the next and so on. When the Swap is complete each quilter has back the original piece with the additions of everyone else in the group.

Sampler Quilt-A quilt top in which each block is a different design or style. A popular "beginner" style quilt to give experience in many different quilt block patterns and styles. Click on the picture for a larger view

Sashiko-A method of quilting in which large stitches are made on the top of the quilt top, with small stitches on the back, using embroidery or crewel style thread. The stitches usually create intricate patterns. Originating in Japan as a form of mending clothing, sashiko is usually done with white thread on indigo fabric. Click on the picture for a larger view

Scrap Quilt-Typically, a quilt made up of many, different fabrics. Commonly "scraps" of fabric left over from other quilt projects. Swaps are commonly held to give each participant enough different fabric to have a "scrappy" feel to their quilt project.

Seminole-A technique devised by the Seminole Indians of Florida in which strips of fabric are sewn together, then cut into segments and re-sewn to create intricate geometric designs. This technique is often used for quilt borders or quilted clothing.

Shadow Appliqué-Appliqué done using a see-through fabric such as silk organza or polyester netting to shade or shadow the images. The transparency of the fabric gives a different color look to the areas covered.

Stack and Whack-A method of creating kaleidoscope style blocks using repeats in fabric. Bethany Reynolds is commonly credited for this method.

Stained Glass-A style of quilting meant to resemble a real stained glass window pane. That is, pieces of glass joined together with some type of leading, usually copper. The pieces are often vibrant hand dyed or batik fabrics. Quick Bias tape is great to use for the "leading" and it's fusible!
Click on the picture for a larger image.

Stipple Quilting-Closely spaced machine or hand quilting stitches that form squiggly lines, but do not cross over each other. A common style of "filler" quilting. Stipple quilting is a great way to quickly quilt a project. When done by the machines, the feed dogs are either lowered, or covered, so that the quilter feeds the sandwich through the machine using their hands

Stitch-in-the-Ditch Quilting-A form of quilting, either by machine or hand, in which the quilting stitches are placed right in the seams of the patch pieces, or just along that seam, thus, "in the ditch" of the seam. This is a common form of machine quilting for new quilters and is a good alternative when you are using fussy cut fabric pieces.

String Piecing-Similar to crazy quilting, the process of randomly joining similarly sized pieces of fabric or scraps together to form a larger piece of fabric, which is then either joined together with another string pieced fabric strip, or cut into smaller pieces for squares or appliqué.

Strip Piecing-The process of joining long strips of fabric together and then cutting the strip sets into the individual blocks/squares.

Strip Set-A name given to the pieces that make up strip piecing.

Summer Quilt-A quilt made of only a quilt top, and a backing, commonly used in the hotter months of the summer.

Template Quilting- used to add stitched designs to a finished quilt using a template. Templates are either plastic or paper. Similar to stencils.

Tied Quilt-Tying replaces machine or hand quilting. Instead of stitching as a means of holding the sandwich together, a series of ties are spaced about 3-5" apart all over the quilt. More commonly used with high loft quilt battings, which are harder to quilt.

Trapunto-A dimensional design in a quilt by which closely sewn lines of stitching are stuffed with batting to make them appear 3-dimensional, or raised from the surface. A common style to use in Whole Cloth quilts. The Tailors Awl is perfect for stuffing small areas!

Utility Quilt-Name given to simple quilts, often tied, that are made to use for everyday bedding.

Wall Hanging-A small quilt usually made specifically for displaying on a wall

Watercolor Quilt-A quilt made up of many, many small squares (usually only 1 or 2" in size), sewn together to create a new design in the quilt top. Overall impression of the quilt top is that of an Impressionistic Painting.
Click on the picture for larger view

Whole Cloth-A quilt top that is one whole piece of fabric elaborately quilted using various quilting styles, such as trapunto.

Fabricland thanks all staff and friends who provided pictures of their quilts.