OK - I've googled this, and I still can't find the answer.

What do you call a piece of fabric that is printed to look like a quilt top, but its not a PIECED top...it's just printed to look that way? Where do you FIND something like this?

One of my friends has a quilt that she "LOVES" and she showed it to me...it wasn't a "real" quilt. I don't want to not call it real, because it was quilted - like stitch in the ditch...but there were no "real" ditches. It was printed that way.

Help! My brain! :?:

I've always heard it called a "cheater".

Cheater sounds good. I think I have seen them at JoAnn's and WalMart.

I have too...when I see the pre-quilted fabrics at Jo-anns (which is REALLY EXPENSIVE) I've heard ladies call it the "cheater" material. None of this material looks like a pieced quilt, though.

Look at this

http://www.marcusbrothers.com/makeit...ics/index.html

Ah ha! Interesting... Thanks, Lisa!

Glad to put my time wasting skills to good use! :D

I've also heard it called a cheater.

Yep, always heard them called cheaters or cheater panels. Just saw one in black and white print rectangles pieced with strips of pink material at a LQS, didn't get real close to it, when I remarked how neat it was and what was the pattern, I was told it was a cheater panel. Boy was my face red :oops:

I have seen them that are scenes and also those that look like pieced work. Good luck.

Using better search terms, I found these:

http://www.heritagequiltingandmore.c...h-in-r390.html

http://www.pre-printed-quilt-tops.com/features.htm

Wow! I could see these being helpful to learn stitch in the ditch, testing quilting patterns, etc. It just kinda drove me bonkers when my friend said her fav quilt was one that was a "cheater". :x Ah, to each their own.

Good find Adriane. I didn't know they made so many different ones.

I occasionally use cheaters for quilt backs.

cheather tops and blocks.......... have seen them used many times.

I may purchase a dresden plate one to practice echo quilting.

That second site really has some pretty "cheaters" - and the prices are really reasonable.

I have done this too, and it worked out great. I agree, it's fantastic to practice your quilting stitches on, and I am not offended by the term, "cheater", but you still do a lot of work to put one together, 3 layers, all the quilting on it, the binding. I'd rather call it something like, a 'quicker quilt', or something like that, lol! :D

I like that - quick quilt! :)

There are lots of different patterns avaliable in cheater panels. I have used them to practice learning hand quilting because there are no seams to make it harder! :lol:

It's cheater fabric. I really love some of it.

Are you thinking of a printed panel?

I have one my husband bought me when I was stash building....great idea to use it for a backing....it's been languishing in the pile for some time. I think it was the "cheater" bit that has put me off using it.

I've used some really cute 'smarties (I don't call them 'cheaters') to make quick baby quilts. I'm glad I did that for the first of my good friend's 5 children to produce a grandchild, because they've now produced 8! Let me off the hook to produce a 'real' quilt every time! So I was a 'smartie' the first time. Whenever I see good 'smartie's on sale that would make nice baby quilts, I buy a bunch! Never run out of the need to make baby quilts! People keep having 'em, and I only make 'from scratch' baby quilts for very special people. Like the Twin Baby quilts that took me all winter - but that's another story - - -

I was at my county fair on Monday and saw what I thought was a Dear Jane quilt. As all the quilts were displayed a good 5 feet away and all were folded so you could only see maybe a1/4 of the quilt, you couldn't inspect it closely. Lucky for me there was a lady there working and I asked about it. When she told me it was a pre-printed fabric (aka cheater, never heard that term before) I was shocked. The quilting work on it was truly impressive and from 5 ft away you certainly couldn't tell!

Also I think that is a great idea to use preprinted blocks (I think I like that term better then cheater) for both machine and hand quilting practice.

MarshallDryGoods has lots of preprinted baby quilt panels and woodland scenes, etc. They have various grades of fabric, and what I have gotten both bolts and panels have been very good quality. Some have been exceptional, like their blendeds and batiks. They have seconds and less on tables for $1 a yard, like a BIG rummage sale! :lol:

I love Cheater cloths! I always buy them when I see patterns I like to make a super quick quilt, usually for a charity.

I make sure I buy two yards, then I get at least two coordinating fabrics and use those for borders. I can whip up a twin sized or over sized lap quilt in no time.

I actually made one this week. Walmart had a gorgeous autumn jewel toned cheater cloth with metallic highlights, in a series of squares and rectangles, and there were two coordinates! I bought six yards of the cheater cloth, and 2 1/2 of the coordinates. I cut the cheater into two yard lenghts, added three 3' borders and was done in an hour and it is really beautiful. I quilted it at my LQS on an HQ16, which took about two hours. A stunning three hour quilt works for me! The cost to make this quilt was about $30 total, including batting and backing (great sales at Joanns) It will be raffled off this week at a cancer benefit.

One thing to be very careful of when using cheater cloths. The way the fabric is put on the machine that actually prints it, can make the grain of the fabric uneven, and then the printing of the fabric becomes slanted. This is where rippng to find the grain can be important to make sure the design is straight. If you discover it is causing the print to go off a bit, it might be best to make blocks and use sashing between them to avoid using the area of misprint. Sometimes you can work the fabric to make it 'look' straighter, but not always.

Thanks for all the links everyone provided. Looks like I'll be adding quite a few to my stash.

Diane

Some people use preprinted panels for charity quilts in our Guild. We started calling them "User Friendly".

more than likley it's a panel and most quilt shops have them depending on the collections they carry. Hope this helps

I alway's called them pre-printed quilt panels. Great for practicing on or giving kids who are rough on things.

These "cheater quilt" panels are most likely what is being used for the "made in China" quilts. That's how they can make them so cheaply.

Some maybe, but on some you can see the seams - and they're not especially well pieced by those slave labor prisoners.

there are usually several cheaters panels on ebay too. I got one and they are really easy to hand quilt because there are no seams to sew thru.

Recently saw a pattern using cheater tumbling blocks in a quilting magazine.. couldn't believe it till I look closely at the pattern....Not what you think of when you buy these magazines....

Cheater fabric is what I call it.

My MIL has a beautiful "cheater" quilt on her bed that she hand quilted. It's gorgeous! :D

Many years ago, there was a group of women in our community who quilted on "cheater" fabrics only. They did beautiful work. They gathered regularly and worked on quilts for each other.

I call them cheater quilts you can find some nice ones on ebay really low cost. I use them for my backing in that way you have a reversible quilt.

Good question, wonderful links :D :D :D

I got a really nice peice of "cheater" from the yard sale a few weeks ago. It is pinks and blues and double wedding ring with Sunbonnet Sue in the open areas. I don't know what I am going to do with it.

Remember Adriane, that a piece of fabric that is layered with a piece of batting and a backing is a quilt. It probably feels just like any quilt...soft, cozy, comforting,etc. We like to think they are not real quilts but by definition they are quilts. I have only seen one that I thought was pieced and it was wonderful. There are other names besides "cheater" like "preprinted quilt". They are wonderful to practice your quilting for longarming or regular machines. Ladies don't beat me up because I said it was a quilt.

We've always called them cheater quilts. Several years ago before quilting became popular again, they were everywhere, even the quilt shops.

They're great for beginners to learn to sew straight lines and even try some simple quilting.