Quilting Equipment

RULE #1: KEEP YOUR QUILTING EQUIPMENT IN GOOD CONDITION.

Sharpen your scissors and change the blades on your utility knife and rotary cutter on a regular basis. Discard burred needles and pins which may mark your fabrics, and keep your iron clean and your pencils sharpened. These preparations will make all the difference between professional quality and inferior work.

Quilting Equipment: Sewing Needs

NEEDLES: Use sharps for all hand sewing, including piecing and applique work. Use betweens for all hand-quilting*. For basting try using a long, thin milliner's needle, which is excellent for holding many stitches at one time.

* Size 8 is recommended for beginners as you progress you may want to switch to a smaller needle-size 12 is the smallest needle.

THIMBLE: A thimble is indispensable to quilting, where you'll need to push the needle through several layers of fabric. Select a metal thimble with a flat top that fits comfortably on the middle finger of your sewing hand.

THREAD: For hand sewing and quilting, use 100 % cotton quilting thread which is very strong or standard No. 50 cotton thread. Select a color that matches the darkest fabric you are sewing. If you are using many different colors, select a neutral thread that will blend with all of them.

BEESWAX: Run your thread over a small cake of beeswax to strengthen it and help it to glide smoothly through the fabric. This will also help to prevent the thread from kinking.



QUILTING EQUIPMENT: SEWING NEEDS (con't)

PINS: Choose narrow, fine dressmaker's pins which slide easily through the fabric. Do not use thick, burred or rusted pins which will leave holes or marks. Pins with plastic heads or colored glass are easy to maneuver when you are pinning through thick fabrics.

*Safety pins are sometimes used to pin-baste the layers of a quilt together, use size 2 safety pins, which are large enough to hold all 3 layers but small enough not to leave a mark.

IRON: It is best to use a steam iron for pressing because the steam will help to set seams and remove wrinkles.

SEAM RIPPER: This is an essential tool for removing machine sewn stitches.

TUBE TURNER: While not essential for quilting, this is useful when making small projects that require loops.

QUILTING HOOP: Consists of wooden hoop composed of two rings; the other ring is tightened by twisting a screw which draws two wooden blocks together. For hand quilting use as large a hoop as you feel comfortable with. A round hoop is best, although oval is available, these do not keep an even tension across the work and are not recommended.

Quilting Equipment: Measuring, Marking and Cutting

SCISSORS: You'll need 3 pairs. Dressmaker's shears, preferably with a bent handle, use these only for cutting fabric. You'll also need a pair of scissors for cutting paper, never cut paper with your sewing shears as this will dull the blade. Embroidery scissors for clipping threads and seam allowances.

ROTARY CUTTER AND MAT: Excellent for cutting strips, straightening fabric edges, even cutting out geometric patchwork pieces. Choose a cutter with a large blade, and keep spare blades handy. Always cut on a mat specifically designed for rotary cutters to keep the blade sharp; the mat will grip the fabric and also help to keep the cut straight.

ROTARY RULER: Made of thick, clear plastic and is marked with straight and sometimes angled lines to aid in measuring.

DRESSMAKER'S RULER: A clear plastic ruler marked with horizontal and vertical grid lines to aid in marking seam allowances.

COLORED PENCILS: Keep a variety of colors on hand, using lighter pencils to mark dark fabrics and medium pencils to mark light fabrics; pale blue usually shows up well on light fabrics and white or yellow stands out on dark fabrics.

CHALK PENCIL: Useful for marking quilting or embroidery lines that may need to be brushed away later.

PENCIL: Use a regular lead pencil for drawing templates and designs and for marking templates on fabric.

PENCIL SHARPENER: Keep all your pencils very sharp so that your fabric pieces can be accurately marked.

YARDSTICK: To be used with a drafting triangle to straighten edges of fabric yardage.

TAPE MEASURE: For measuring fabric yardage and scraps of fabric to determine whether you'll have enough.

ADJUSTABLE MARKER: For making repeated small measurements, such as when sewing pleats and tucks.

Quilting Equipment: Tools for Making Templates

MORE QUILTING EQUIPMENT:

UTILITY KNIFE: Essential for cutting templates from sturdy material such as cardboard. Keep spare blades on hand and change them frequently.

METAL EDGE RULER: Use with the utility knife to cut templates.

PROTRACTOR AND COMPASS: Use a protractor when drafting templates with unusual angles or for making notches along curved seams. A compass is necessary for drafting many geometric shapes as well as curved or circular templates.

DRAFTING TRIANGLE: Usually made of clear plastic, this is used to verify correct angles of templates. Also use in conjunction with a yard stick or rotary ruler to straighten edges of fabric.

SPRAY GLUE: While rubber cement can be used to glue your template shapes to cardboard, spray glue will allow you to reposition the pieces and place them flat on the board.

GLUE STICK: Useful for applique work, where pieces must be temporarily secured to a base. Test your glue stick on a scrap of fabric before using it.

GRAPH PAPER AND PLASTIC: Have a supply of squared and isometric graph paper on hand to enable you to accurately draw your template. Keep a sheet of plastic available for making reusable templates.

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