Beginner’s Guide to Basic Quilting Stitches

The Complete Guide to Quilting Stitches

From my many years of quilting experience, I know that one of the most important things for any quilter to understand is quilting stitches. The stitches you choose can make or break your quilt design. I have faced situations where picking the wrong stitch for a quilt block led me to rip out hours of work! So let’s dive into the ultimate guide on quilting stitches.

Hand Quilting Stitches

If you’re quilting your project by hand, you’ll need to become best friends with hand quilting stitches. As a beginner quilter, I used to dislike hand quilting because I found it so slow and tedious. But honestly, there is just something special about the look and feel of stitches done by hand. Here are some of my favorite hand quilting stitches to try:

Running Stitch

• This is the standard straight stitch used in hand quilting. I like to use a thimble to push the needle through the fabric layers.
• Keeping your stitches small and even gives a nicer finish than long, uneven stitches.
• Avoid pulling your thread too tight, as this fabric distortion around stitches.

Basting Stitch

• Basting stitches are longer straight stitches used to temporarily hold quilt layers.
• Later you remove these and add an actual quilting stitch, so don’t spend too much time on perfect uniformity.
• I love basting by hand for attaching bindings. The long stitches keep things sturdy but are easy to remove later.

Basic Quilting Stitches for Beginners

As a beginner quilter, I was clueless about what stitches to use on my very first quilt. From my experience, these basic machine quilting stitches are perfect for newbie quilters:

1. Straight Line Stitching – Straight lines quilted vertically, horizontally, or diagonally keep your quilt design nice and simple.
2. Zig Zag Stitch – The zig zag quilting stitch adds fun texture. I’ve used it on infant and kid quilts in playful fabric prints.
3. Looping Stitch – Sew continuous loops to make an all-over pattern on your quilt. It creates sort of a swirl or fingerprint design.

Practice those basic quilting stitches on some quilt sandwiches before moving onto your prized quilt project. Having some experience under your belt makes a big difference! Those early practice pieces of mine were a hot mess. But the 14th or 15th attempt finally started looking decent.

Decorative Machine Quilting Stitches

Once you feel good about basic quilting stitches, try taking things up a decorative notch! From my experience, using decorative stitches makes your quilt design look so much more interesting and professional. Some easy options to try are:

• Pebbling – The pebbling stitch makes small uniform shapes across your quilt, sort of like a cobblestone texture.
• Echo Quilting – Outline or echo the shapes in your quilt pattern with decorative stitches.
• Free Motion Fills – It takes practice, but free motion stitching allows you to “draw” any shapes or designs.

If you have trouble with decorative machine quilting stitches, take a class or try one of the clever free motion quilting gloves that help stabilize your hands. I wish I had discovered those gloves years ago – total game changer!

At the end of the day, don’t stress too much over your decorative quilting skills. I’ve found that quilts made with lots of love still capture warmth and comfort, even with wobbly stitching. Perfection is overrated!

Choosing the Best Batting for Quilts

As a longtime quilter on a budget, I’ve tried just about every batting option to find my favorites. Batting is the filler layer between your quilt top and bottom layers. Your batting choice impacts things like quilting texture, durability, and that oh-so-important cozy factor. But which one works best?

Cotton Quilt Batting

• Pure cotton batting gives a more traditional, lightweight feel compared to synthetic blends.
• I prefer cotton quilts for a vintage look. But cotton batting tends to require more frequent washing to retain loft and warmth over time.
• Watch out for bearding in cotton batting! Those pesky fibers poke out between stitches sometimes.

Polyester Quilt Batting

• Polyester provides affordability combined with durability and consistent thickness.
• It’s easy to quilt since the fibers don’t shift around as much mid-stitch.
• In my experience, polyester batting works especially nice for machine quilting intricate designs.

Wool Quilt Batting

• For a splurge, wool batting creates the ultimate warm and cozy quilt!
• It has nice loft and thickness to really show off decorative quilting.
• I like to use wool for special baby quilts or wedding quilts as a gift.
• The price tag seems worth it since wool batting keeps your stitches looking good for decades.

At the end of the day, the “best” batting comes down to your quilt purpose, budget and personal preference. I recommend trying out sample swatches before buying a whole roll. Play around with different types to see what works for your project vision!

Key Tools for Hand Quilting Success

We could debate favorite quilting tools forever, but there are a few hand quilting essentials that I swear by after years of trial and error:

Thimble

I used to avoid thimbles, thinking they slowed me down as I learned to quilt. Sort of like training wheels on a bike. Boy was I wrong! Using a thimble prevents painful finger calluses and gives you the strength for uniform stitches.

After poking myself for the hundredth time, I finally invested in a custom sized, open-end thimble. Finding your perfect thimble fit makes all the difference. Take it from my needle pricked fingers – don’t skip the thimble!

Stiletto/Awl

A stiletto looks scary sharp but helps immensely for hand quilting. You gently poke the stiletto through your quilt’s layers before stitching. It creates precise stitch placement without tangling threads or distorting fabric like fingers do.

I recommend a stiletto with a point protector cover. Quilting for long periods while tired or distracted has led to some close calls for my left pointer finger!

Curved Basting Needles

Dull, bendy needles make hand work unbearable and damaging to fabric. As a beginner, I put off buying quality needles. But investing in needles specifically designed for basting and hand quilting gives such easy needle glide through fabrics.

My favorites are slightly curved for ergonomic grip comfort. It makes hours of stitching quite pleasant! Needles come in all sorts of sizes too – experiment to find your best fit.

Do you have a favorite hand quilting tool I’m missing? I’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments! Let’s get a discussion going about our most loved (or hated) quilting tools.

FAQ

What are the basic quilting stitches?

1. The running stitch is a very basic stitch that is used to piece quilt blocks or do simple quilting. It involves taking even, small stitches in and out of the fabric.
2. The backstitch is like a running stitch in reverse – you take one stitch backward for every two stitches forward. It makes a nice outline and is great for applique.
3. The blanket stitch is commonly used to finish applique edges. It wraps around the edge to secure the applique pieces.

What stitches should I use for piecing quilt blocks?

1. For piecing blocks and seams, the go-to stitches are the running stitch and backstitch. The key is to use small, even stitches – about 12-15 stitches per inch.
2. You can also use a machine stitch like a straight stitch or zig zag stitch to piece blocks. Adjust the stitch length to 2.5 or so.

What stitches create texture and dimension?

1. Decorative stitches like blanket stitches, chain stitches, or stem stitches add nice texture when used to quilt a project.
2. Trapunto is a technique where you stuff areas of the quilt to make parts of the design pop out. It creates pockets of dimension.
3. Couching stitches secure yarns, ribbons or cords to the surface of the fabric. The contrast makes for great texture.