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Quilting Dictionary

Seam Allowance

Piecing

The strip of fabric between the stitching line and the raw edge. Quilting almost always uses a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Scant 1/4 Inch Seam Allowance Diagram

A seam stitched just 1–2 thread widths under 1/4" to account for fabric fold loss when pressed open or to one side.

Also see

More Piecing terms

Keep exploring the glossary.

AppliquéSewing a fabric shape onto a background fabric to create a design, either by hand or machine, as opposed to piecing shapes together.Chain PiecingFeeding pieces through the sewing machine one after another without cutting the thread between them, to save time and thread.English Paper Piecing (EPP)Hand-piecing fabric around paper templates (often hexagons) and whipstitching the folded edges together.Foundation Paper PiecingSewing fabric directly onto a printed paper pattern for precise, intricate piecing, then removing the paper afterward.Half-Rectangle Triangle (HRT)Like a half-square triangle, but cut from a rectangle instead of a square — creates elongated, angled triangle units.Half-Square Triangle (HST)A pieced unit made from two right triangles sewn together along their diagonal to form a square — one of the most common building blocks in quilting.

Put it into practice

Block LibraryBrowse classic pieced blocks and their history.Pattern MakerDrag blocks onto a grid to design your own quilt top.Yardage CalculatorWork out exactly how much fabric your quilt needs.

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