Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

S

titching 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 stitching

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 takes the

fun out of watching your quilt come

together as you sew. 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 66 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 147 or the

table mat on page 150). Here’s a list of

items you’ll need for machine quilting:

s฀A sewing machine Check the

manual to see what it’s capable of, and if

you can vary the stitch length.

s฀A walking foot This helps feed your

fabric layers through the machine evenly

when quilting in straight lines.

s฀Needles Machine-quilting needles, or

‘sharps’, will pierce through all the layers

of the quilt. The size of needle will depend

on the wadding thickness. Try a 75/11 for

thin wadding 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.

s฀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.

It’s worth taking the time to set up the

machine correctly in order to get the

best results. Make up a small quilt

sandwich from the same materials and

use it to check threads, stitch length

and tension. Use a new needle for

each new project and check it’s in the

So 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...

All about Quilting

72 Beginner’s Guide to Quilting

HAND vs

machine quilting

Machine quilting Hand quilting

WE LOVE IT

BECAUSE

s฀It’s quicker

s฀ You’ll get a denser effect with the stitches,

creating a flatter look

s฀ The back of the quilt looks as good as the front!

s฀You’ll get a lovely handmade finish

s฀It’s portable – stitch anywhere!

s฀ It’s easier to stitch circles, curves and spirals

s฀ Stitches are less dense, so the quilt is puffier

s฀ There are lots of threads you can use

HOWEVER... s฀It’s not very portable

s฀ The beginner options (straight lines) can limit your

finished design

s฀ For larger projects it takes a bit of planning to fit

them into your machine

s฀ You’ll need to be competent with a sewing

machine

s฀ It takes longer

s฀ You have to concentrate to get your

stitches evenly sized and spaced

s฀ The back of the quilt doesn’t always look

as good as the front