Thread: Needle sizes to use for piecing and quilting

My repairman has told me to use Schmetz needles, but I'd like to know what size to use AND I'd like to know where to get them in 10 packs because they are half as expensive that way.

A woman who was clerking at a quilt shop told me she always uses 120/?? for piecing and a 70/?? for quiltng. Is a smaller # a larger needle? And what about the "green dot" quilting needles? I am so confused!

What do you use for piecing? .....for quilting? and do you use the ones with green dots? Is the Universal style the best (it has a slight rounding of the the end of the needle)?

AND do you have a place you can order a pack of 10, all of one size, by mail for about the price of a normal 5 pack? I saw such the other day and I have spent hours trying to find that site again w/o avail.

I hope some of you really experienced quilters will help me out here.

I just priced 100 Schmetz needles size 90/14 for $32.95 on Ebay. I consider that a good price.

This is another informative site:

http://sewing.about.com/od/sewingmac...Sizes.--94.htm

Sewing machine needles:

The larger the number, the thicker the shaft of the needle.

For piecing ordinary quilting cottons, I use a 70 or 80 Schmetz needle, so far, I haven't noticed a major difference if I'm using a ballpoint, universal, or regular needle.

Hand sewing needles:

The larger the number, the needle is slimmer and shorter (for a given style/type of needle)

Originally Posted by Scissor Queen

Mostly you should match your needle to your thread and the type of fabric you're sewing. Since I mostly sew cottons I use a 75/11 quilting needle for piecing. I generally use either Aurifil or Prescencia threads to piece with. For quilting I use a wider variety of threads so I use more sizes of needles. For most quilting I use either 80/12 or 90/14 topstitch needles. The topstitch needles have a larger eye and work better with the heavier threads.

For cotton fabrics the sharp needles work best. For knits you'll need the ball point needles. You're supposed to be able to use universal needles on either type of fabric but I've found they just don't work all that great for either one.

I had forgotten about the 75/11 needles.

There are all sorts of charts to help select compatible threads and needles to go with certain types of fabrics.

I've had 2 different Brother machines and the Schmetz from Walmart fit both of them. No idea about gage or anything like that. I use the ones with the smaller needles for piecing and the larger ones for quilting.

Can you tell I'm not with the Quilt Police, lol