Hand Quilting Thread
 

I have inherited a few spools of hand quilting thread and I need to know if I can use this thread in my sewing machine. I have both Singer older models and a recent Brother as well as the Singer 160

I've always understood that hand quilting thread should not be used in your machine.

I would not use it.....it may have a "glaze" on it which could "gunk up" your machine....you could use it for sashiko stitching......

hand quilting thread is for hand sewing---it has a waxy type finish on it to help it glide through the fabric nicely that can do a lot of damage to your machine. you should never use a thread that is specifically called (hand sewing/quilting) in a machine.

While the hand quilters are here ...... I have another question about hand quilting ....

What batting is the easiest to hand quilt thru.

I have a small GFG ready to sandwich, and with all the layers of fabric, from the corner folds, I want something that won't fight me as I try to hand quilt.

Hope someone can help me with an answer!

No! Hand quilting thread has a finish on it so it doesn't tangle as easily as regular thread. However, that finish gums up the tension mechanism in a sewing machine. Using it in a machine can result in a costly repair service call!

Regarding batting, a lot of hand quilters really like Quilters Dream cotton in Select or Request weight. This is a thin batting. If you are looking for a little more "poof", then Hobbs 80/20 is a good choice and still easy to quilt.

By far, the best batting to hand quilt is wool. It is a dream to work with.

Prism ...Would Legends Cotton batting (by Pellon) be much the same as the ones you are mentioning (not familiar with Quilters Dream and not sure if we even get it here.) Or what about flannelette?


Spstout ... Thanks for the wool suggestion ... though I don't think I'll be looking for that this time, being that it is only a small item. I'm just a newbie to hand quilting and have been trying to stumble my way thru doing small items and probably will never attempt a full quilt.

There is no way I could know if the Pellon batting would be similar to Quilters Dream for hand quilting without trying it out. I looked up Pellon's batting; do you mean the Legacy batting?

In general, for hand quilting, you want to avoid batting that is needlepunched through scrim. The scrim makes an extra layer for your needle to go through and makes quilting harder. Quilters Dream is simply needlepunched cotton -- no scrim.

Traditional cotton batting that is not needlepunched and does not have scrim is a toss-up for hand quilting depending on how it is made. Bonding agents (added to the batting to make it stick together better) can be sticky to quilt through. If the batting is allowed to have some seeds, this can make the batting more difficult to quilt. Traditional batting without any bonding agents, needlepunching, scrim, etc. have the drawback of needing to be quilted very close together. Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon 100% cotton batting, for example, needs to be quilted no more than 2 inches apart.

Flannelette can be used but is very thin and flat. For hand quilting, usually you want your stitching to show up more than that.

Your best bet is probably a thin polyester batting. Polyester is easier to hand quilt than cotton as long as the loft is not too high. Mountain Mist Lite polyester would be very easy to hand quilt, and also the loft next up in size to that.

Is there a quilt shop you could call to ask? They should know which battings available locally would be easy to hand quilt.