To me, a 'quilt' means a sandwich, back, batt/fill, and top. Top can be pieced, applique, or whole cloth (what Liz is tallking about)all held together by running stitches as in 'to quilt'. A tied quilt (held together by yarn knots with tails) is also a quilt, but 'I' don't consider it a 'real quilt'. Grin. Lots of people use old blankets for batt/fill in a tied quilt.

A comforter is a big,thick, puffy thing, often tied, but it's a 3 layer sandwich too.

Applique--hand or machine. For hand, the raw edge is turned under 1/4" and then the piece/patch is sewn to the top with a blind or buttonhole stitch. I've seen other decorative stitches, such as a feather stitch used too. For machine, usually the zig zag satin stitch is used unless you WANT the raw edges to fray. Used mostly for circles or patterns with a lot of curves.

Back--just what it says. Can be any colour, used to be almost always white or unbleached muslin. Now, it's often a colour from the top, or a complimentary colour.

Fill/batt--the middle. Cotton (still available for True Purists), polyester bonded fiberfill available in several weights, wool sheeting, or an old blanket

Top--What it says. Can be pieced (patchwork), hand or machine applique patterns, or a large seamless piece of fabric to show off fancy quilting

Piece--one tiny piece of the top, usually square, rectangle, triangle, etc.

Patch--a group of pieces that forms part of the block, ie, 9 patch

Block--a finished unit of the top design. When 'set' the blocks will often form a secondary pattern on the top. See the pattern called Variable Star.

Set--how the blocks are put together. Alternate plain with pieced, pieced to pieced, set between strips of plain or complemtary fabric

Sash--the strips sometimes set between the rows of blocks

Border--the very outside edge, not always used. Can be pieced or plain. Also can have only the corners pieced. Can be mitered or squared on the corners.

Binding--finishing the raw edges. Can be front to back, back to front or applied bias tape/quilt binding.

I've noticed that the older I get the smaller my quilts get. I used to do huge King size with pillow toss and bottom tuck-in. Now, they are lucky to get a lap quilt/crib size! LOL