Question: Needles?

Nancy in NS wrote:

Good morning, all...

Over the weekend, I started doing the hand quilting on the
baby quilt I'm working on and have a question about needles.
Basically, is there a preferred/correct length for hand
quilting? I have been using a relatively short needle which
is easy to negotiate through the fabric, but results in
fewer stitches with each pull of thread. I'm not trying to
speed up the process -- I just wondered if anyone could
advise.

Thanks in advance if you can help.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt
Hi Nancy,
I personally have always preferred the shorter needles. i have more
control with them since it is next to impossible for me to use a
thimble. My finger would get more tore up trying to push the needle
through a larger number of stitches that I was always trying to do with
longer needles. I also found for me that longer needles bent or broke
more often. So now I only use shorter needles and a big on waxing the
thread to be sure of smoother stitching.
julia

ouch! No protection at all on your finger?

I have anti-thimble students who wrap first aid tape around their
fingers. I supply those suede "dots" that are sold for thimble
hater(thimble pad?). Though once I had a student who had to put one on
every finger because once one was stuck on she automagically used a
different finger :-)

I do understand. I took me years to find one that fit comfortably.
Then, I had to wear it around the house for a few days to get over the
weird feeling of something on my finger.

best of luck finding something comfortable. Better than drilling a hole
through your finger.

marcella



In article ,
Nancy in NS wrote:

Thanks, Louise. I did find the short needle easy to "rock"
through the fabric, but found myself dropping it often.
Probably because the end of my finger is numb. :-) (I have
yet to get comfortable with a thimble...)

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

I like 12s too, but I can't see well enough to thread them any more!!!

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Roberta Zollner" wrote in message
...
I like #12 betweens. You can't really do a rocking stitch with a longer
needle, unless you have space alien fingers ;-) And if you do any curved
designs, you won't want to pull up as many stitches anyhow.
Roberta in D

"Nancy in NS" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Good morning, all...

Over the weekend, I started doing the hand quilting on the
baby quilt I'm working on and have a question about needles.
Basically, is there a preferred/correct length for hand
quilting? I have been using a relatively short needle which
is easy to negotiate through the fabric, but results in
fewer stitches with each pull of thread. I'm not trying to
speed up the process -- I just wondered if anyone could
advise.

Thanks in advance if you can help.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:50:04 -0700, Marcella Peek
wrote:

... I supply those suede "dots" that are sold for thimble
hater(thimble pad?). Though once I had a student who had to put one on
every finger because once one was stuck on she automagically used a
different finger :-)
...Better than drilling a hole
through your finger.

Thanks, Marcella -- and I'll definitely look into the suede
dots. That just might be the trick for me! You're right --
anything is preferable to a hole in the finger.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:29:00 -0400, julia sidebottom
wrote:

...So now I only use shorter needles and a big on waxing the
thread to be sure of smoother stitching.

Hi Julia -- thanks for sharing your preferences with me.
I've been using a Gutermann quilting thread which so far
hasn't given me any grief.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

Get a threader. Either one of those little wire thingies, or a human helper
with good eyes. The human can slip a whole package of needles onto the
thread for you, so you can grab the end-most needle, pull out a length of
thread, and snip off, leaving all the other needles threaded. A little
rubber band would keep the end of the thread from getting loose and dropping
all the needles.
Roberta in D

"Louise" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:Wx2Eg.90733$FQ1.29078@attbi_s71...
I like 12s too, but I can't see well enough to thread them any more!!!

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Roberta Zollner" wrote in message
...
I like #12 betweens. You can't really do a rocking stitch with a longer
needle, unless you have space alien fingers ;-) And if you do any curved
designs, you won't want to pull up as many stitches anyhow.
Roberta in D

"Nancy in NS" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Good morning, all...

Over the weekend, I started doing the hand quilting on the
baby quilt I'm working on and have a question about needles.
Basically, is there a preferred/correct length for hand
quilting? I have been using a relatively short needle which
is easy to negotiate through the fabric, but results in
fewer stitches with each pull of thread. I'm not trying to
speed up the process -- I just wondered if anyone could
advise.

Thanks in advance if you can help.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

My favorite thimble is the John James with the magnetic tip for this very
reason. It's easy to "spring" the needle when inserting the 1st stitch, and
the thimble magnet is sometimes enough to keep the needle from flying away.
And when I do drop it, the thimble picks it up.
Roberta in D

"Nancy in NS" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news
On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:22:19 GMT, "Louise"
wrote:

I use size 11 quilting needles. For me, the shorter the needle, the
better,
as I find I have more control over it. Someone - I think it's the Thimble
Lady - uses much longer needles, but her method of quilting is different
than the standard rocking stitch.

Thanks, Louise. I did find the short needle easy to "rock"
through the fabric, but found myself dropping it often.
Probably because the end of my finger is numb. :-) (I have
yet to get comfortable with a thimble...)

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt

How clever! Since I will be soon quilting together these quilts this
is one trick I will keep in mind. This threading trick will be great
for evenings when the lighting is a bit lower in the living room and we
are watching tv.
julia


Roberta Zollner wrote:

Get a threader. Either one of those little wire thingies, or a human helper
with good eyes. The human can slip a whole package of needles onto the
thread for you, so you can grab the end-most needle, pull out a length of
thread, and snip off, leaving all the other needles threaded. A little
rubber band would keep the end of the thread from getting loose and dropping
all the needles.
Roberta in D

"Louise" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:Wx2Eg.90733$FQ1.29078@attbi_s71...

I like 12s too, but I can't see well enough to thread them any more!!!

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Roberta Zollner" wrote in message
...

I like #12 betweens. You can't really do a rocking stitch with a longer
needle, unless you have space alien fingers ;-) And if you do any curved
designs, you won't want to pull up as many stitches anyhow.
Roberta in D

"Nancy in NS" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...

Good morning, all...

Over the weekend, I started doing the hand quilting on the
baby quilt I'm working on and have a question about needles.
Basically, is there a preferred/correct length for hand
quilting? I have been using a relatively short needle which
is easy to negotiate through the fabric, but results in
fewer stitches with each pull of thread. I'm not trying to
speed up the process -- I just wondered if anyone could
advise.

Thanks in advance if you can help.

Nancy in NS
http://community.webshots.com/user/loves2quilt