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Straight line twin needle quilting embellishes a needle organizer

Straight line twin needle quilting embellishes a needle organizer

by Julie Plotniko

Yesterday we used SCHMETZ twin needles to constructed the inside of our needle organizer.

Today we use those same needles to decorate the outside with straight line and decorative  stitching.

A variety of SCHMETZ twin needles appropriate for construction and quilting

A variety of SCHMETZ twin needles appropriate for construction and quilting

Set up the machine with a 4.0/80 twin needle and a walking foot, and thread to contrast with our fabric.

Please refer to last month’s post Everything you ever wanted to know about quilting with a twin needle for information on setting up your machine.

Remember Don’t use the needle threader on your machine to thread a twin needle. You could jam the needle threader and cause damage to the machine. If you have an automatic needle threader consider putting a sticky note over the activation button as a reminder not to push it! Place your bobbin in the machine and bring up the bobbin thread.

Threaded machine with SCHMETZ twin needle and ready to go

Threaded machine with SCHMETZ twin needle and ready to go

Prepare your fabric for twin needle stitching

It’s very helpful to draw lines on the 15″ x 24″ piece of fabric to guide the quilting work.

  • Draw a horizontal line 8½” from the bottom.
  • Draw a vertical line 12″ from the short edge.
  • Draw a 1½” diagonal grid in the 8½” x 24″ bottom section.

When the batting is in place and after the lines are drawn we are ready to go.

Draw a horizontal line 8½ from center, a vertical center line and a 1½” diagonal grid

Draw a horizontal line 8½ from center, a vertical center line and a 1½” diagonal grid

Quilt the grid starting at the horizontal line for each row and working to the outside edge.

Diagonal grid stitched with 4.0 twin needle

Diagonal grid stitched with 4.0 twin needle

Draw a 1½” diagonal grid going in the opposite direction. Once again, start at the horizontal line and work out.

This simple grid pattern has lots of possibilities. You could put buttons or beads in the center of each square, use the grid to stitch more complex designs or simply enjoy it the way it is.

Double diagonal grid

Double diagonal grid

Change to the 1.6/70 twin needle.

This fine needle will allow us to stitch a wider decorative stitch. Choose something pretty on your machine. We want something that will offer some coverage in order to minimize the effect of the starts and  stops in your grid quilting.

A wide variety of decorative stitches can be used

A wide variety of decorative stitches can be used

Stitch the horizontal drawn line using your favorite decorative stitch, it doesn’t get any easier than this!

Doesn’t it look beautiful when we combine techniques?

Decorative stitch using 1.6 twin needle

Decorative stitch using 1.6 twin needle

Join me tomorrow when we fill in the last section of our organizer front using a SCHMETZ twin needle and free motion quilting.

This is part 3 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 2: Fearless construction of needle organizer using a twin needle – yes you can!

Got to part 4: Twin needle-free motion quilting adds gourmet detail

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