Dear Geraldine,
I’m a beginning quilter. I decided on straight lines to quilt my first quilt to make it easy on myself.
But no matter what I did I could not keep the stitch length looking consistent. Ugh. Some stitches were long, some were short. What should I do next time?
-Inconsistent in Iowa
Dear Inconsistent,
Fear not, girlfriend! It's not you. There's hardly a quilter alive who can keep a consistent stitch length on something as wily as a quilt without some help. What help is that you ask? A walking foot!
It screws onto your machine where your regular pressing foot goes. Every time the needle lever goes down, the walking foot's 'spring' presses extra hard on your quilt layers to keep them moving consistently with your machine's feed dogs. (Consult your manual if these parts are unfamiliar.) This keeps your quilt moving under the needle at a rate that matches your machine speed, which you control.
It also helps stabilize your quilt so that it doesn't slip around while you are quilting, giving you greater control to keep those stitches in line. Make sense?
As a bonus, some walking feet, like the one here at Love Sew, come with a removable bar guide. Simply position that guide over a previous line of sewing, and you will be able to sew a perfectly parallel line to the previous one! Magic!
I always recommend warming up for machine quilting. Try making a quilt sandwich with scrap batting and fabric. Or better yet, quilt a small project like a placemat or hot pad.
Another tip is to pre-mark your quilt tip for quilting with heat erasable pens. That way your quilting plan is clear and you won't go astray if you follow the marks. When you're done quilting, simply pass an iron over the marks and they'll disappear!
I hope that solves the mystery for consistent straight stitching on quilts.
Readers, thank you for being here, and as always, I welcome quilty questions in the comments.
Until next week, happy sewing!
XOXO,
Geraldine
7 comments
Thank you all for your feedback. I am removing my terrible machine quilting and will hand quilt where I am more comfortable.
Another reason you might get inconsistent stitches is because your machine doesn’t have a stitch regulator. Using your foot pedal fast AND slow, will result in inconsistent stitches. :(
I find it helps to use my walking foot and to set my machine at the slowest speed setting.
I’ve found that decreasing the thread tension between 4 and 3, increasing stitch length to 3 or 3.5, and using a slower speed all help to produce more consistent stitches. Definitely use your walking foot!
I am so glad to hear this. Have not been quilting my own quilts because I do not feel confident. Also have templates for a bernina790.
My suggestion to a beginner quilter is: DON’T WORRY ABOUT STITCH LENGTHS! Enjoy the process of making the quilt, admire the interplay of colors and shapes and love the final product! Ok, then my question is are you machine quilting (in which case, I totally agree with the suggestion to get a walking pressure foot) or are you hand quilting. I have been quilting since 1973 and I still don’t have absolutely even hand stitching or machine stitching either…lol…but I do love the quilt making process and I still can’t wait for the next quilting project. I have found machine free motion quilting is a lot like learning to write. It takes a lot of practice. Need placemats? Great FMQ practice pieces! Enjoy ALL the stitches!