Straight Line Quilting

I've talked about straight line quilting before here on the blog. It's an easy, modern quilting choice and it adds a lovely texture to the quilt, especially when the lines are spaced closely together. It’s a great choice for those new to machine quilting or those looking for a quick quilting option. It doesn’t require maneuvering the quilt too much (you can just roll it up as you go), minimizing those quilt tug-of-wars.

I find it easiest to use the edge of the walking foot as a guide. I have guide bars that can be added to my walking foot and I'll often mark quilts, but nothing beats the ease of simply lining up the edge of your walking foot with a seam or a quilted line. When quilting my Bowties quilt, I wanted the lines spaced a half inch apart. Neither the edge of the walking foot nor the notch marking a quarter inch helped much, and I wished the edge of my walking foot was just a smidge further away from the needle. Then, it hit me—my needle can move! A-ha! I shifted my needle over to the right a bit, allowing me to line up the edge of the walking foot with the seam in the quilt for precise half inch quilting lines. Awesome!

Some disclaimers—make sure your needle will not strike your walking foot. Broken needles are no one’s friend! And be sure to return the needle to the center position before moving on to another sewing task. You need that quarter inch seam to be precise!

Happy sewing!