Guide to Common Quilting Terms

Learn the definitions of some of the most commonly used Quilting terms and sewing terminology with our free comprehensive guide to common quilting terms.

Here, I thought I’d cover some frequently used quilting terms and their meanings. Including some of those pesky acronyms!

The finished edge of a piece of fabric. This edge is created during the manufacturing process and is usually removed during the cutting process.

Selvage

A yard of quilting weight fabric is 36″ x 44″. Some fabrics other than quilting cotton are wider, but a yard is always 36″ long

Yard of Fabric

WOF stands for the width of the fabric. When a pattern asks you to cut a piece by WOF, this means cutting the fabric from selvage to selvage.

WOF (Width of Fabric)

Bias

When the fabric is pulled horizontally or vertically, it has minimal stretch. However, if it is pulled at a 45-degree angle to the direction of the fibers, it has much more stretch.

Runs perpendicular to the selvage edge. If you draw an imaginary line from one selvage edge to the other, this is the crosswise grain.

Crosswise Grain

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