What Is Frogging in Quilting? Plus 22 Other Terms Decoded

The 23 terms, alphabetical

Jump to any term, or scroll through to learn the vocabulary all at once.

Backing

The fabric on the back of a quilt. Backings are usually wider than the quilt top to give you a few inches of overhang on each side for the longarmer to clamp onto. Many shops sell "108-inch wide backing" specifically for quilts so you don't have to piece it.

Basting

The temporary attachment of all three quilt layers (top, batting, backing) before you actually quilt them together. Can be done with safety pins, spray adhesive, or large loose stitches. Removed once the real quilting is done.

Batting

The middle layer of a quilt — the fluffy or flat stuffing between the top and the backing. Most modern batting is cotton, polyester, wool, or a blend. Different battings give different drape and warmth.

Binding

The narrow strip of fabric sewn around the edges of a finished quilt to enclose the raw edges. Many longarm services offer binding as an add-on if you'd rather not do it yourself.

Block

One of the repeating units that make up a quilt top. A typical bed-sized quilt has 20–40 blocks. Block patterns have names — Log Cabin, Nine-Patch, Bear Paw, Drunkard's Path.

Charm pack

A pre-cut bundle of 5-inch squares, usually 42 squares from a single fabric collection. Designed for quick projects where you don't want to cut squares yourself.

Dirty quilting

A deliberately messy, free-motion quilting style that embraces imperfection. The stitches are intentionally uneven, motifs overlap, and the look is loose and organic. The opposite of precise ruler work. Some quilters use it for art quilts; some use it for fast charity quilts where speed matters more than perfection.

Edge-to-edge (E2E)

A longarm quilting style where a single repeating pattern is stitched across the entire quilt top, ignoring block boundaries. Fast, consistent, and the most budget-friendly longarm option. Typically priced per square inch. See: longarm quilting services.

Fat quarter

A quarter-yard of fabric cut as an 18×22-inch rectangle instead of the usual 9×44-inch strip. Quilters prefer fat quarters because the shape gives more usable cutting area for blocks. Quilt shops typically display them in tidy stacks called "fat quarter bundles."

Frogging

Ripping out stitches you've already sewn. The word comes from "rip-it, rip-it" — the sound frogs make and the sound your seam ripper makes. Every quilter frogs. The good news: experienced quilters frog less only because they've learned to check before committing — not because they sew perfectly the first time.

Free-motion quilting (FMQ)

Quilting done by hand-guiding the fabric under a sewing machine's needle without using the machine's feed dogs. Lets you stitch curves, swirls, and freehand designs. Takes practice to get even tension and consistent stitch length.

HST (Half-Square Triangle)

A square block made from two right triangles sewn together along the hypotenuse, creating a diagonal seam. The HST is the workhorse of quilting — hundreds of block patterns are built from rearranged HSTs.

Jelly roll

A pre-cut bundle of 2.5-inch wide strips, usually 40 strips from a single fabric collection rolled into a cylinder. Designed for projects that use strips as the base unit (jelly roll quilts, strip-pieced blocks).

Layer cake

A pre-cut bundle of 10-inch squares, usually 42 squares from one fabric collection. The big cousin of the charm pack. Often used as the base for one-block-wonder or disappearing-9-patch designs.

Longarm

A specialized sewing machine with an extended throat (usually 18–26 inches) mounted on a frame. Used for quilting a finished top together with batting and backing. Most quilters either send their tops to a longarm service or rent time on one at a quilt shop.

Modern quilting

A quilting movement (formalized ~2009) that favors bold solid fabrics, asymmetry, negative space, and improvisational piecing. The Modern Quilt Guild is its umbrella organization. Distinct from traditional quilting but shares all the same techniques.

PIGS (Projects In Grocery Sacks)

The pile of half-finished quilt projects stored in shopping bags, plastic bins, or under your sewing table. A cousin of WIP and UFO (below). Every quilter has them.

Quilt top

The pieced fabric layer of a quilt — the part with the pattern. "Finishing a top" means you've assembled all the blocks into a single fabric piece, but you haven't yet quilted it together with batting and backing.

Sashing

The narrow strips of fabric that separate blocks in a quilt top. Sashing gives each block visual breathing room and can dramatically change a quilt's look.

Stash

The fabric you've accumulated but haven't used yet. Most quilters' stashes outpace their projects by years. "Shopping the stash" means using fabric you already own instead of buying more. Some quilters host "stash busts" to clear theirs.

UFO (UnFinished Object)

A quilt project you started but haven't finished. Distinct from a WIP because there's usually no plan to finish it soon. Guilds sometimes host "UFO finishing" challenges where members pull old projects from the closet and commit to wrapping them up.

WIP (Work In Progress)

A quilt project you're actively working on. The honest WIP-to-UFO ratio in most quilters' studios is somewhere around 1:5.

WOF (Width of Fabric)

The full width of a bolt of fabric, typically 42–44 inches. Patterns often say "cut three strips WOF" — meaning cut three full-width strips, then sub-cut into smaller pieces from there.