At Purl Patchwork one issue that causes a lot of confusion is the difference between piecing and quilting. (You may be saying to yourself, what difference?) We can definitely sympathize; it was not too long ago that us employees would have been hard-pressed to discern between the two.

Quilt is a confusing term because it is used in a broad sense most of the time to describe a finished product.  Someone who makes quilts is a “quilter”.  A more accurate (if cumbersome) description  would be a “pieced and quilted blanket maker”. Since we don’t imagine this term will catch on any time soon it’s helpful to understand the difference between piecing and quilting.

PIECING is the first step in making a quilt.  Piecing or sewing together different fabrics to form a design usually produces a quilt top, or the presentation side of the quilt. The front of the quilt top will look neat and finished and the other side will be full of raw edges and seams.

QUILTING is the activity of sewing together three layers of the quilt: the pieced top, the batting, and the quilt back.  Quilting joins these three separate layers into a cohesive, lofty, and pretty blanket.

Piecing and Quilting can involve many different techniques, depending on whether you make your quilt by hand, by machine, or both.  To illustrate some of the beautiful differences between these two techniques, Molly made two mini quilts using the same block pattern.  One was made by machine, and the other by hand. 

Join Molly for her Hand vs Machine Quilting Mini-series.