MACHINE QUILTING HAND QUILTING
WE LOVE
IT
BECAUSEIt’s quicker
You’ll get a denser effect with the stitches,
creating a flatter look
The back of the quilt looks as good as the front!You’ll get a lovely handmade finish
It’s portable – stitch anywhere!
It’s easier to stitch circles, curves and spirals
Stitches are less dense, so the quilt is puffier
There are lots of threads you can useHOWEVER It’s not very portable
The beginner options (straight lines) can limit your
finished design
For larger projects it takes a bit of planning to fit
them into your machine
You’ll need to be competent with a sewing
machineIt takes longer
You have to concentrate to get your stitches
evenly sized and spaced
The back of the quilt doesn’t always look as
good as the frontSo you’re new to quilting – do you reach for your needle
and thread or get out the sewing machine? Read on to find
out about the pros and cons of each method...HAND VS MACHINE
Stitching a design onto a quilt is one of
the ways to make your creation unique.
But when it comes to how to make
these stitches, quilters everywhere are
divided about their favourite method.
Is it best to quilt by hand or machine?
To help you make your choice, we’ve
summed up the pros and cons of each
method for you, and put together some
top tips for each technique.
Machine quilting can make faster work
of a quilt and gives a lovely neat finish,
but you might not fancy rolling up larger
quilts to fit them into your machine.
Hand quilting is loved by many for its
homespun vibe and the ease with which
you can stitch wonderful patterns without
having to worry about curves or freehand
sewing. It’s great if you want to take your
project out and about with you (on
holiday, on the train, in your lunch hour...)
but it does take longer and you’ll need
practice to get stitches as neat as
machine-sewn ones.
If you decide that actually, neither hand
or machine quilting are your cup of tea,
then never fear – you can always cheat
and send your pieces off to a long-arm
quilter. They are equipped with special
long-arm sewing machines and will quilt
the layers with a pattern of your choice.
However, this can be costly and many
quilters enjoy the fun of watching their
quilt come to life! You don’t have to stick
to one method, mix and match
depending on what you’re working on.Machine quilting
The secret to machine quilting is taking
your time and starting small. To practise,
start off with a simple project, such as a
cushion, to get a feel for the technique- see our quilting guide on page 64 for
some design ideas. Once you’re feeling
confident, why not try free-motion
quilting? It’s more like drawing but with a
needle rather than a pen (see our
step-by-step guide on page 149).
Here’s a list of items you’ll need for
machine quilting: - A sewing machine: Check the manual
to see what it’s capable of, and if you can
vary the stitch length. - A walking foot: This helps feed your
fabric layers through the machine evenly
when quilting in straight lines.- Needles: Machine-quilting needles, or
‘sharps’, will pierce through all the layers
of the quilt. The size of needle will
depend on the batting thickness. Try
a 75/11 for thin batting and increase to
80/12 or 90/14 for thicker types. You can
also get needles for use with special
threads, such as rayon or metallic thread.
Threads: 100% cotton thread is ideal for
machine quilting but you can easily swap
for metallics or other decorative threads
if you want to jazz things up.
- Needles: Machine-quilting needles, or