Let your walking foot work its magic for easy twin needle quilting

In yesterday’s post we explored what a SCHMETZ twin needle is, which is everything you ever wanted to know about twin needle and how to thread your machine in preparation for stitching.

The easiest form of machine quilting is straight line stitching with a walking foot so we’ll start our journey through twin needle quilting the same way.

Why a walking foot?

A walking foot also known as a dual feed or even feed foot has feed teeth that help pull the top layer of your quilt through the sewing machine.

It does this at the same speed that the sewing machine teeth feed the bottom layer allowing
the top fabric, batting and back fabric to move through the sewing machine evenly.

This helps keep your work flat and prevents puckers.

When twin needle quilting the walking foot gives us the added benefit of reducing the amount of stress on the twin needle.

The weight of the quilt can pull on the twin needle as we sew causing one or both needles to bend.

This can damage or even break the needles.

Because the walking foot feeds the quilt evenly through the machine it’s much easier to handle and we’ll have better quality stitching.

A short test stitching with each of your twin needles will help you decide what needle best suites your current needs.

Here we have a 1.6/70, 2.5/80 and 3.0/90 Universal.

Remember that the first number is the distance between the needles and the second number is the size of the needles.

The 4.0/80 Universal and 4.0/100 Jeans/Denim are good needles to use while learning how to quilt with a twin needle.

The Jeans/Denim needle in particular has a sharp point to pierce the multiple layers.

This one is a size 100 so it’s quite thick and has a large eye.

These properties make it a good choice for beginners as it will not bend too easily.
The large eye can easily accommodate 50 weight cotton or heavier thread without shredding or breaking.

The 6.0/100 Universal has the widest space between needles that I can use on my machine.

Caution must be used with these very wide needles.

They’re almost the full width of my stitch plate so pulling on the quilt sandwich too much can result in a broken needle.

Reduce top thread tension if the stitching creates too deep of a channel between stitching lines.

Begin by stitching simple grids of parallel lines

A great way to practice your twin needle quilting is to stitch a simple grid of parallel lines using a 4.0 twin needle.

Use your favorite marking tool to draw a series of reference lines.

Stitch with your drawn line running between the twin needle for nice straight lines.

Hold your fabric steady as it feeds through the walking foot.

Try not to overcorrect while stitching as this will create wobbly lines.

Stop your machine with the needles in the down position to reposition your fabric.
Make sure there’s no drag or weight on the needles before you resume stitching!

Allow your walking foot and SCHMETZtwin needle to work their magic as you create double rows of detailed looking straight line stitching.

Repeating patterns of alternate spacing between grid lines will create rhythm, movement and interest for a fun modern look.

A checkerboard grid is created by stitching evenly spaced horizontal and vertical rows.

The twin needle adds charming detail that would be difficult to obtain if we were using a single needle.

Matchstick quilting is parallel rows of quilting stitched very close together.

I absolutely love the texture of very dense matchstick quilting.

The time to complete this beautiful design is cut in half by using a twin needle.

You’ll want to draw some reference lines to keep your stitching lines parallel and square.

I use my 4.0 twin needle and the edge of my walking foot against the previous row of stitching to make quilting these matchsticks a breeze.

Note
You can’t pivot with a twin needle in the down position. To turn your fabric this way would twist and break the twin needle.
Raise the needle and manually reposition instead if you need to turn without breaking the thread.

Have fun experimenting to see just how many designs you can come up with using your twin needles and walking foot!

Join me again tomorrow when we will see what our SCHMETZ twin needles can do in free motion quilting.