Quilt Making 101: Quilting Options
Quilt Making 101: Episode Two
The process of finishing a quilt requires that you connect all three layers of the quilt, backing, quilt top and batting. This process makes the quilt more durable and stable. Although its not required, almost all quilts are finished in some way, either with hand or machine quilting. I walk through the options for hand or machine quilting and my preferences. Feel free to explore what makes sense for your designs and your tastes!
Make it stand out
Hand Quilting
Most of my quilts are made with hand quilting, because I prefer the look of hand made stitches to machine stitch. Machine quilting requires a lot of pinning and patience and if you’re not careful, the fabric can shift and pucker and not line up perfectly.
Hand quilting requires much less preciseness, and is much more forgiving, although much less durable than machine stitching. Depending on the size of your quilt, it can take a very long time to hand quilt and will require either a hoop or a quilt rack to make sure all the layers stay flat.
Another way to hand quilt would be Yarn tying. This is an old school way of quilting where instead of using hand stitching, you tie off sections of the quilt with yarn. I have never personally used this method, but many of my Grandma’s quilts were done using this method. From what I heard it can be a much quicker route to finishing a larger quilt that hand stitching.
Below are some examples of types of hand quilting in my own work:
Make it stand out
Machine Quilting
This type of quilting is how most modern quilts are put together, as it is more durable and much faster than hand quilting. I will often use machine quilting when a quilt requires a lot of durability or I am looking to have a pinstripe look, as seen in the photo.
Machine quilting can be done two ways, either on a regular sewing machine or with a Long Arm quilting machine. Long arm quilting machines are extremely expensive and take over your whole studio, so the average quilt maker is probably using just a sewing machine. Long Arm quilting machines are often available for hire so I would look into that before buying your own!
See below for some more examples of what you can do with machine quilting:
I would definitely recommend experimenting on different methods of quilting to figure out what you prefer. Also know that you don’t need to stick to one method! I often will determine my quilting method depending on the style of the quilt! This is an opportunity to have fun with different styles until you determine what your aesthetic will be! Happy Quilting!
