Have you ever wondered what makes a quilt a quilt? I have seen quilts called blankets many times. There are a few differences and a quilt is not just a blanket.
What is a Quilt?
Quilt is defined as:
“a warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching, typically applied in a decorative design.”
By contrast, blanket is defined as:
“a large piece of woolen or similar material used as a bed covering or other covering for warmth.”
As you can see, a quilt is far different from a blanket besides the end goal of keeping you warm.
The Quilting Layers
A quilt is constructed of three separate layers:
- Pieced Quilt Top
- Batting
- Pieced or Wide Back Backing
Holding It All Together
Once you have completed your quilt top and backing, it is time to finish your quilt. To finish a quilt, you can do one of these options:
- you can add ties made of yarn or heavy embroidery thread,
- hand sew quilting lines, or
- machine sew quilting lines
Finishing with Ties
A quick way to complete a quilt is to tie it together. This can be accomplished with yarn or embroidery threads such as Pearl Cotton. You will need a large needle to pierce the quilt sandwich. Once you pierce down and up, cut your yarn/thread and tie a secure double knot. I have a hand tied quilt that is over 30 years old and the ties are still holding strong.
Quilting your Quilt
Hand quilting is a great way to finish your quilt, but it is very time consuming. If you plan to hand quilt, please make sure you purchase a hand quilting thread. It is waxed which makes it easier to sew through the three quilting layers. Never use hand quilting thread in your machine as the wax can leave residue inside your machine which you don’t want.
Another way to finish a quilt is to quilt it on a home sewing machine or long arm machine. Quilting can be as simple as stitching in the ditch where you follow the channels created in the construction of the blocks or as difficult as complex free motion quilting. It is totally up to you.
If you feel overwhelmed by the quilting stage, you could outsource your quilt to a long arm quilter instead. If you decide to work with a long arm quilter, you could choose a simple all over design called a pantograph, or request custom quilting which involves sewing different patterns into different quilt sections, sometimes with multiple thread colour changes. Please note there is a big price difference between pantograph and custom quilting.
My Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed what is a quilt, and you now understand that a quilt is three layers of fabric sewn together and bound around the edge versus a single fabric blanket.
For more helpful quilting tips and tricks, make sure you follow me on Youtube and Pinterest.