Essential Machine Quilting Supplies
Tools Needed for Successful Free-Motion or Machine-Guided Quilting
Jun 6, 2009
Doing your own quilting can save a lot of money and be artistically satisfying, too. Here are the tools and supplies you'll need to machine quilt your own quilts.
Some quilters are intimidated by the idea of doing their own machine quilting, but they’re missing out on a fun and satisfying form of self-expression. Machine quilting your own tops can also save you a bundle, compared to the cost of sending tops out to be quilted.
The most important tool for machine quilting is your sewing machine, but there are lots of other special-purpose aids available to help make machine quilting easier.
Sewing Machine for Machine Quilting
Can you successfully use your home sewing machine for machine quilting? Most likely you can. Here are the sewing machine features needed for machine-guided and free-motion quilting:
- As large a throat as possible.The throat is the open area between the needle and the motor on the right side of the machine. The larger the throat area is, the easier it is to maneuver a bulky quilt through the opening. While many quilts have been successfully quilted on the short-throated machines used for regular sewing, there’s no doubt that a longer throat makes the quilting easier.
- Needle-down function so you can stop without losing your place. Not essential, but very helpful.
- Walking foot or fabric feed mechanism for machine-guided quilting. A good feeding mechanism is very important to keep the top and bottom layers of the quilt moving at the same rate through the machine, so they stay properly aligned.
- Feed dogs that drop down for free-motion quilting (or at least can be covered). If your machine’s feed dogs can’t be moved, a small piece of cardboard or a business card can cover them up for free-motion quilting.
- Darning, hopping, or quilting foot for free-motion quilting. Look for a foot with a large viewing area, so you can really see what’s happening under the needle.
Other Essential Machine Quilting Supplies
- Needle for machine quilting. Choosing the right needle will help you avoid broken thread and skipped stitches. Use a quilting, denim, or topstitch needle of at least 80/12 size. For quilting on a frame, try 90/14 or 100/16 needles. Be sure to use a new needle for every sizable project. (Don’t try to be frugal with needles! They deteriorate with wear.)
- Thread. Buy the best quality thread you can find. Poor quality thread generates lint, which is bad for your sewing machine, and has slubs and imperfections that cause breakage. Superior, Mettler, Gutterman, and Sulky all make well-regarded threads, and there are many other quality brands to choose from. Cotton, polyester, rayon, and silk threads are all widely used. For quilts that will be washed often, cotton or polyester is strongest. 40, 50, or 60-weight threads are all fine for quilting. You may want to use different colored threads on the top and in the bobbin.
- Extra bobbins. For a large project, fill several bobbins with the bottom thread before you start quilting. It’s very annoying to have to stop in the middle of quilting to wind a new bobbin. Some quilters prefer prewound bobbins, which come in a variety of colors and are available at quilt shops or online.
- Machine-quilting gloves, rubber fingers, or gel to keep fabric from slipping under your fingers as you quilt. The quilt sandwich of top, batting, and backing is surprisingly slippery when you try to move several layers around under the throat of your machine. Some kind of aid to help you grip the fabric is a must for free-motion quilting, and quite helpful for machine-guided quilting too. You can buy Machingers or other brands of quilting gloves at quilting stores, or use gardening gloves with the little rubber dots on the palms and fingers, or rubber fingers from a stationery store. If gloves seem too cumbersome, Clover makes a no-slip gel called Non-Slip Finger. There are also free-motion quilting hoops that grip the fabric and help you move the quilt sandwich. The Quilting Halo or Quilt Sew Easy by Heavenly Notions are both recommended by experienced machine quilters.
- (Optional) Silicone sheet or Sewers Aid silicon spray to make the machine bed slippery, so the quilt sandwich moves on it more easily.
- (Optional) Clips for rolling up and securing the rest of the quilt out of the way while you quilt one section. Dritz and several other manufacturers make special quilting clips for this purpose, or you can use the clips bikers use to protect their pants from the bike’s gears while riding. Those are available at bike stores.
- (Optional) task lighting focused on your work area.This is especially helpful at night or when the quilting thread and fabric are similar colors, which makes the stitches hard to see. Vimco, Inc. makes gooseneck lights that stick right onto the sewing machine and bend to position the light right where you want it.
Now you're ready to quilt!
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The copyright of the article Essential Machine Quilting Supplies in Quilting is owned by Christine Mann. Permission to republish Essential Machine Quilting Supplies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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