Heirloom Machine Quilting—Essential Supplies
Creating a Hand-Quilted Look with a Home Sewing Machine
Jun 15, 2009
Heirloom machine quilting uses an ordinary home sewing machine to create the look of traditional hand quilting, without the need for time-consuming hand stitching.
Heirloom quilts are known for formal, densely stitched designs of the type often seen on antique quilts in museums, with elaborate wreaths, feathers, swags, and flowers; tiny, intricate stipples and grid patterns; and trapunto (areas stuffed with extra batting to make them stand up above the main body of the quilt.)
Solid Fabrics Show off Heirloom Machine Quilting Best
Nothing sets off the beauty of intricate stitching as well as a solid-colored fabric. That’s why heirloom quilts often have large open areas of pale solids to showcase the three-dimensional effects created by the stitching, instead of fabrics with prints, which tend to obscure the stitches.
Fabrics with a slight sheen also help highlight stitched details. Heirloom quilter Joanie Poole recommends cotton sateens. For quilts that won’t get hard use or be washed often, she also recommends Radiance by Robert Kaufmann, a 55% cotton / 45% silk blend in that comes in 27 solid colors. The solid fabrics are often combined with reproduction fabrics and florals to give new heirloom quilts the look of genuine antiques.
Lightweight Quilting Threads for Detailed Stitching
High-quality, lightweight thread is essential for the close stitching required for heirloom machine quilting. Cheap “bargain” threads contain imperfections that can cause thread breakage while you sew. They also throw off lint that causes wear on your sewing machine, and they can abrade the fibers in the quilt fabric over time.
Three types of threads are popular for heirloom quilting:
- Cotton thread. 50-weight, three-ply thread with long-staple fibers. Some quilters recommend choosing a color slightly darker than the fabric color to emphasize the stitching.
- Silk thread. Award-winning heirloom quilter Diane Gaudynski uses 100-weight silk thread almost exclusively for her quilts. While silk is expensive, it creates very fine, fluid stitches that make it possible to backtrack over an earlier line of stitching without creating a bulky-looking line of thread. Silk thread also makes it possible to create very small, intricate stipples.
- Nylon monofilament thread. Nylon thread comes in two colors: clear for use with light fabrics, and a grey for use with darks. The thread is invisible against the fabric, so all you see is the interesting texture caused by the quilting.
Lightweight Cotton or Polyester Bobbin Thread
Many heirloom quilters use either 50-weight cotton thread or Bottom Line polyester thread from Superior Threads in the bobbin. Don’t use polyester bobbin thread with nylon thread in the sewing machine, though. Polyester abrades the nylon and causes broken stitches. Use cotton instead.
Wool, Cotton, and Polyester Batting
Wool batting is favored by heirloom quilters because its natural loftiness enhances the three-dimensional byplay of light and shadow caused by the stitching. It is also light and easy to work with. Cotton and polyester batting are also popular. The batting brands used by well-known heirloom quilters include Fairfield’s Classic Cotton, Quilter’s Dream Cotton batting, Hobbs Heirloom Cotton blend, Hobbs Heirloom or Tuscany wool battings, Mountain Mist 100% Cotton Natural batting, and Fairfield Poly-Fil Extra-Loft batting.
Match Sewing Machine Needle to Quilting Thread
Your choice of quilting threads should always determine which needle to use for machine quilting. In general, lightweight, flexible needles that punch the smallest possible hole in the fabric are the best for the thin threads and close quilting required for heirloom quilts. 65/9, 70/10, or 75/11 needles are popular choices for heirloom machine quilting.
Choosing the right fabric, thread, batting, and needles puts you well on the way to creating heirloom quilts that will be treasured for many years to come.
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