Stab stitch needles?
 

I was just reading Holice's post about a new book coming out that focuses on stab quilting. I went to amazon to check it out and came across these needles:

http://www.amazon.com/Colonial-Needl...+Hand+quilting

They are two sided, with sharp points at both ends and a narrow eye in the center!! :shock: According to Amazon, you don't have to turn the needle, which makes the quilting go faster. I'm completely blown away by this! Has anyone used these needles?

wow, okay, makes sense. glad both ends don't need to be threaded ;-)

Wow - those are really cool. I'm also interested in the new book Holice mentioned, so these may be perfect to go along with that.

look intresting, but the shipping is more than the needles! Think I'll wait, I'm sure the postage in a well paded envelope with a ridged core is less by weight, They must ship in a box.

I tried them and I think they will work great if I could just get it out of my head that I DON'T have to turn the needle over underneath the quilt! I got lots of pokes, minimal bleeding and then just put my project away! I know that I will get them back out again someday and work a little more with them. I am a stab quilter, I just can't get that same size stitches, rocking motion down yet! I am just learning hand quilting and working on my very first project. I pull it every now and then.

They certainly look like they would work, and it's a great idea.
But I was thinking it would take a bit of getting used to, including changing the way one held and handled the needle.
Thanks for confirmation (and warning). ;-)


As for the price, it's cheap enough.
Hancock's has them as well. I'll add them to my next order.
And I'm sure they'll eventually show up at Joanns.

I can get the rocking and the same size stitches but I have trouble getting my first stitch started.

Maybe these needles are what I need to be able to better my hand quilting. Or maybe I just need to practice more. I would certainly be willing to try these out if I can find them locally. John James usually makes good stuff so they should hold up. I also would like to try the Aunt Becky's thimble but haven't found one locally yet. Guess I could send for both though.

I have heard of them, I think it is a great idea, but I have never used them, and I am a hand quilter.

Is stab stitching and big stitch quilting the same thing? I'm starting to do hand quilting using big stitch. I decided to try it after reading a article by Joe Cunningham in "The Quilt Life", Feb/2011. Even that is hard, for me, trying to get the stitch and space even. Might have to give these needles a try.

Sandy - no, stab stitching and big stitch quilting are not the same. Usually, hand quilters will "load" several stitches on their needle by rocking the needle back and forth as they push it through the fabric. Then they pull the needle and thread all the way through. Most "traditional" hand quilters try to make their stitches as tiny as possible, 10 to 12 stitches per inch. Big stitch quilting throws the goal of 10 to 12 stitches per inch out the window, but you can still load several stitches on the needle with that technique.

Stab stitching is when the quilter simply makes one stitch at a time, instead of rocking the needle and loading several stitches at one time. It's called "stab" because the quilter stabs the needle straight down through the fabric, and then straight back up, to make the stitch.

I have hand quilted in the past and now want to get back to it. I'm going to try several different things and then settle on what works best. There are so many new gadgets out there now. I know how to do the rocking stitch and do ok, but can't load a lot of stitches on the needle at one time and my stitches are not consistent. My husband bought me a floor frame for my birthday. I just ordered the stab stitch twin needles and figured I might use those when quilting away from me. Hope it works.

All I could think was "Ouch". I always rest the eye of the needle on my middle finger when stitching - I'd have dozens of holes in my hand before the first 2 stitches were done :)

These definitely would require a different technique! :D

I got the stab stitch quilting book mentioned. You put your dominant hand under the quilt and the non-dominant hand on top. Keep the needle at a 90 degree angle at all time and go up and down. Really pretty easy. The trick is always keeping the needle at the 90 degree angle.