Thread: ? on Machine Quilting

I was thinking of useing a doudle needle on my next machine quilting. I only have my small viking. If I use my walking foot or my freemotion foot will the needle get in the way? Has anyone ever used the twin needle to quilt with? How did you like it?

I've only seen a double needle to sew down stain glass strips in quilting...and, it looked great. I am not sure you would have the movement or spacing you would want...always worth a experiment!! Try some practice pieces and let us know:)(Just don't forget to put in the batting for thickness to see how it can handle that)Skeat

Originally Posted by Quilt4u

I was thinking of useing a doudle needle on my next machine quilting. I only have my small viking. If I use my walking foot or my freemotion foot will the needle get in the way? Has anyone ever used the twin needle to quilt with? How did you like it?

Yes, I have used a twin needle for quilting, but only in straight lines - I did it on my Sept doll quilt, and I cross hatched small blocks. Actually, what I did was cross hatch a larger piece, then cut out what I wanted using a 4.5in square ruler. The needle worked well on warm & natural batting, then I backed the quilt afterwards, so the back of the twin needle stitching, which isn't all that pretty, didn't show. The needle should be fine on a walking foot, but don't try using it on a quarter inch foot! (not a wide enough space for the needle, so it would break with the first stitch). In fact, I always hand wind the wheel for the first stitch when I have a twin needle in, as I have broken a few, and they are too expensive to do that very often.

I used a double needle on a quilt. I didn't think about what the back would look like (duh), it was a zig zag and at first it was "oh, no!" but soon after the test piece I decided I kind of liked it. One thing to think about (I found out the hard way), is because of the zig zag, it pulls in the fabric, and so it will shrink your total size. Which you might say "that is pretty normal" but - if you have more horizontal quilitng lines than vertical, it means you are out of square! I worked and worked to get it square and it was really hard! I loved the fact I didn't have to do 2 lines, but could easily do it in one swipe (I was trying to get a quilt done that had been forever in the making, and was long overdue by the time it was ready for the quilting), and I really got to like the look and feel of the zig zag on the back - but I wish I had thought of the shrinkage factor before squaring up prior to the border, so I wouldn't have had to lose some inches. I don't think you could do a zig zag with the double needle, as it is as wide as the places where your needle goes when it zig zags - in other words the left needle is in the spot where the needle goes when it swings to the left on zig zag, and the right needle is in the right position. So, if you moved needles that are already in the extended width postition - you would be hitting your foot.

i use a double needle for free motion quilting from time to time.

for me the biggest consideration is the back, its never going to look like the front - its more like a sloppy zig zag stitch look on the back.

so i save the double needle for quilts when the back look doesn't matter or for when i'm able to just quilt the top with the batting and then i put on a back to cover all the stitch work.

then i do some SITD to attach the backing fabric and then add the binding.

i like using the double needle because you can use different threads in each needle - i've even done it with 2 different variegated threads in each needle.

I would suggest making up a sample sandwich and practicing on that. See if it sews ok, see if you like the look of it, etc. See how it looks front and back.