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Wagga rugs are Australian coverings made from four or five flour sacks or chaff bags, sewn together with a bag needle and twine. Modern wagga rugs are considered to be a form of patchwork rather than quilts. They were originally made by men working in the Australian outback to keep out the cold.

See overcast couching.

See overcast couching.

Thread count is the number of warp threads (ends) or weft threads (picks) per unit of measurement (for instance centimetres).

A thread is a continuous strand (with fibres or filaments spun together) or combination of strands, made from any fibre or filament by reeling, spinning, twisting or throwing. A thread formed of a single strand is called a ‘single’ or an ‘end.’ A thread formed of two or more singles twisted together is a ‘plied thread.’ A 'plied thread' is often, and especially in UK English, called a yarn, but both terms are generally used synonymously.

Tabby weave is the simplest weave binding system. It is based on two or more warp threads (ends) and two or more weft threads (picks). Each weft thread crosses over and under the warp threads. Then the next weft thread goes under and over the warp threads. The third weft thread repeats the action of the first, going over and under, and so forth.

A twill is a basic weave based on a unit of three or more individual warp threads (picks) and three or more individual weft threads (ends). In this type of weave, each end passes over two or more adjacent picks and under the next one or more. The binding points move one end on successive picks and form characteristic diagonal lines. There are many forms of twill weave.

Story quilt is a term used to describe a quilt, usually with appliqué details, which provides pictorial images that portray some episode of the quilter’s individual or family history. This type of quilt is usually associated with other types of African-American quilts.

This is an embroidered picture of a shepherdess worked by Esther Stoddard (1738-1816; Northampton, New England, USA) in c. 1750-1760. The image is of a reclining shepherdess in a wooded landscape with a spotted dog, woolly sheep, lambs, a leaping deer, blackbirds, a peasant and a small pond with ducks. In the background there is a two storey house with two chimneys.

Stitching is a term sometimes used in decorative needlework for the application of the back stitch.