Stitch length for machine quilting

I have no idea if my Janomes are set up like your Bernina, but I piece at

1.8 setting. But then I do a lot of strip piecing, so I don't want my stitches fraying when I cut the strips. I believe the suggestion is about 15-18 stitches per inch. With PFP, I use 1.0 or 1.2 setting.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Hi Jerry on my Janome Memory Craft 4000 I use 2.6.

Wendy .... NSW

I do actually use a variety of stitch lengths, because you can get such different effects with them. Apart from that, if I am quilting a miniature, I try to reduce the scale of those stitches, too, so I might use something like a 1.5 or even1.2. On a larger quilt, I will try 3 or possibly 3.5. I say 'try' because I make up a sample piece, to experiment a bit, for each quilt. The reason I use a longer length is to take account of the batting and extra pieced layers. . In message , MaleQuilter writes

Hey Jerry:

For piecing I use 12 to 15 sts per inch. For machine quilting such as STD I use the basting stitch. Why because of the three layers of the quilt. If I need to frog (rip-it) sts to be big enough to easily remove.

If I am using my MQF I set my SM at 0 because I control the length of the sts. Some of the MQF owners use stitch regulators. If you take a look at commercially quilted items you will see that they use the basting st for all their products.

Hope this helps.

Kate T.

Jerry, I tend to use a shorter stitch length for curves than for straight lines. For the straight lines, I will probably use the default of 2.5. However, the smaller the curves, the shorter the stitch length I use in order to keep the curves smooth instead of pointy. For the tiniest curves, I have been known to go down to somewhere between

1.0-1.5.

I increase to 3.0 for most machine quilting. joan

That's a very good point, Sandy - the curve size, I mean. . In message , Sandy writes

I use a little longer than you do Jerry, on my Bernina. It is about

2-3/4 to 3 depending on the thickness of the batting. On my Janome I use 3 for quilting most batting sandwiches.

John

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:05:20 -0500, MaleQuilter wrote (in article ):

If I'm using my walking foot, I tend to set the stitch length to 3.5. Easier to rip out wayward stitches that way. If free motion quilting, I don't much bother with changing the stitch length, since its my hand movements that determine the size of the stitch.

Maureen

Well, DUH, I outta not read the group so late at night! I use my walking foot at 2.0 and with free motion.... any thing goes!!!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

One of the local quilt teachers told all her students to shoot for 6 stitches per inch (this would be like using a 4.0). Ugh -- not attractive. Personally, I go for about 12 spi (this is about a 2.0). I find this gives a good balance between looking attractive, holding the quilt securely, and still being able to frog stitch when needed. Er, not that I ever need to.

*cough* *cough*

I like 2.5 too, and try to match it when doing free motion. Not always successfully. Roberta in D

"MaleQuilter" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@r34g2000hsd.googlegroups.com...

Jerry - are you talking about piecing or quilting?

Piecing, I use my machine default of 2.5 or 2.0. If I am foundation piecing, I use a much smaller stitch.

For machine quilting, it doesn't matter. You can set it to zero. The feed dogs are dropped and the stitch length is controlled by the quilter!

HTH! Laurie G. in CA

mailto: snipped-for-privacy@KayneyNOSPAMQuilting.comhttp://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/> remove the obvious to reply Kathy, what is a frog stitch?

Jerry in North Alabama

I use about a 2.5 on my Berninas, 1000 and 1008.

Dogmom

In message , MaleQuilter writes

Rip it, rip it. Rip it out. LOL Shirley

Howdy!

Acksherly, KathyA, you have indeed conquered the balance between looking attractive & holding the quilt securely. So does your machine quilting.

Answer to Jerry's question: none. .......machine quilting: I've heard of it.

Ragm>

Snort!

If you think I hold the quilt securely, you obviously haven't seen me trying to hold up quilts for others at our guild's Sew and Show. ;-P