Ask The Experts/Elsie Campbell

Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts: Elsie Campbell

Question: My quilting stitches are never as small or even as I want them to be. What can I do to make them more in proportion to the smaller scale of miniature quilts? Here's what Elsie says:

After years of experience and success with hand quilting, I've found four major factors that affect the appearance of the stitches. The first three involve choices one makes when purchasing fabric, batting, and needles. The fourth? Well, with hand quilting as with other things worth doing well, the pay-off of practice and preservation is perfection!

First is the choice of fabric. In general, you get what you pay for. A high quality cotton fabric will have a soft hand (meaning it is soft and flexible to the touch) along with a higher thread count. The thread count is the number of threads per square inch. Some fabrics have a high thread count but are stiff to touch. These are usually made from shorter cotton fibers that must be spun into thicker threads. A finer thread results from spinning longer staple cotton fibers. These threads are very strong even though very thin. Fabric with a higher thread count can be woven from such threads and still maintain a soft hand. With a higher thread count, picking up three or four threads of the fabric produces a perfect tiny stitch. Three or four threads in a lower thread count gives a proportionally larger stitch.

The next decision a quilter makes is the choice of batting. Different lofts, fiber content, and density of battings causes them to give more or less resistance to the hand quilting needle. Most cotton batts are difficult to 'needle,' making them a poor choice for a beginning hand quilter. High lofts and denser batting require that the needle pick up more batting fibers with each stitch resulting in larger stitches. For my finest quilting stitches, I prefer a very low-loft polyester batting like Thermore® by Hobbs or a wool batting.

The third item that affects the size of the quilting stitch is the size of the needle. The rule here is usually "the smaller the needle, the smaller the stitch." I prefer to use a 12 'between' for my finest stitches. The eye of this needle is very tiny, so I use a needle threader most of the time. Clover makes one that is easy to use with fine needles. Some quilters say that this size needle bends and breaks more times than other sizes. Because of the fine gauge and the pressure created by 'rocking' the needle to take stitches, I've found that beginning quilters sometimes have trouble with a needle this small. If that is the case, try the John James size 11 hybrid needle. Along with a larger, easier-to-thread eye, it has the gauge (thickness) of a size 10 needle and the length of a size 12.

The last thing on my list is the expertise of the quilter. Stitch length is controlled by the interaction between a thimbled finger of your preferred hand above the quilt and the finger(s) on your non-preferred hand underneath. The eye-end of a fine needle is almost as sharp as the point end, and there is no substitute for the control that a good, properly fitting quilting thimble provides. A quilting thimble has a lip around the rim that prevents the needle from sliding free.


Quilting Thimble	Sewing Thimble

Learn the difference between a sewing stitch and a quilting stitch. To make most stitches in sewing, the needle is grasped between the thumb and forefinger. Quilting stitches are made differently, as described here:

When taking quilting stitches, hold your preferred hand above the quilt and place your other hand directly beneath. Control the action of the needle by inserting it vertically into the quilt sandwich just until the underneath finger senses that the point has pierced all layers. Stop pushing the needle, and transfer the eye end to the thimbled finger.
Push up with the underneath finger while 'rocking' the needle horizontally with the thimbled finger. It is important not to push the needle further into the quilt sandwich at this point - just rock it into the horizontal position. Position the thumb of the preferred hand in front of the needle point, making a 'C' with the thimbled finger. Form a tiny pleat or hill of fabric in front of the needle point with the thumb.
With the thimbled finger, push the point of the needle through the hill. When you sense the point of the needle emerging from the fabric into the thumb, stop pushing. Rock the needle into the vertical position, and push down until the underneath finger senses that the point has pierced all the layers. Repeat the process as described until there are 3 or 4 stitches on the needle. (If you are a beginning hand quilter, load only 1 or 2 stitches at a time on the needle until you establish a rhythm and are satisfied with your stitches.) Pull the needle completely through the quilt. Insert it one stitch length in front of the point where it exited the quilt sandwich. Repeat the process as described above.

For more detailed instructions about the quilting stitch, you may wish to visit our Quilting "How-To" Class Hand Quilting Basics. Or, take lessons from someone whose quilting stitch you admire. Remember the old adage, "Practice makes perfect." If you wish to perfect your stitches, there is no substitute for practice. If you've never 'rocked' the needle before, it is a leap of faith to turn loose of the needle when transferring it to the total control of the thimbled finger. It is not unusual for those first stitches to be as long as 1/4" but keep at that. Soon, even within 20 minutes, you will notice your stitches getting smaller and smaller and smaller...

About the experts:

Elsie Campbell lives in Dodge City, Kansas, and is an award-winning quilter, free-lance writer, designer, and co-editor of Miniature Quilts. She teaches hand quilting and gives programs for guilds. Her quilting designs appear in each issue of Miniature Quilts. For more information about workshops and lectures, contact Elsie by writing her at 1605 Ave. B, Dodge City, KS 67801 or calling (316) 225-5357. You can also visit her website at: http://www.elsiemcampbell.com or e-mail her at: n2quilting@yahoo.com.

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