A quilt top is also called a patchwork. It forms the pretty side of your quilt using all kinds of different fabric pieces.

Most traditional quilt tops consist of several blocks and sashing. However, that is not mandatory

1. What are the different parts of a quilt?

For now, you have to know about 4 different parts of a quilt:

  1. Quilt top: this is the completed top part of the quilt. 
  2. Quilt block: One part of the quilt top. 
  3. Fabric piece: Fabric pieces together form a quilt block
  4. Sashing: Used to put the quilt blocks together (optional)

To summarize:

The best way to visualize all those different parts is from big to small, as shown in the diagram. The quilt top is the biggest part, consisting of quilt blocks. The quilt blocks consist of fabric pieces, which is the smallest unit of your quilt. The quilt blocks are sewn together with sashing, which are strips of fabric.

Elements of a quilt

When you make a quilt, you work from the right to the left in the diagram

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