3 Quilting Hacks for Sewing Straight Lines
In this post I will share 3 Quilting Hacks to make straight line quilting on your domestic sewing machine easy & stress-free. If you’ve ever been frustrated trying to quilt straight lines on your domestic sewing machine, this post is for you! I was quilting for years before finding some of these quilting tips & tricks, and I have to share them with you because of how much easier they make my quilting experience!
Quilting straight lines on a domestic sewing machine may not be easy at first! It definitely takes some getting used to and lots of practice. Straight line quilting is my personal go-to method for when I’m quilting myself (as opposed to send quilts off to a long arm quilter)
Here are 3 Quilting Hacks to make straight line quilting on your domestic sewing machine easier for you!
If you’d rather see these hacks in action, check out the YouTube video:
Quilting Hack #1 – Mark Your Quilt
Marking the lines on your quilt is a very important step and the main building block for ensuring straight lines on your final stitching. Whether you are doing straight lines or not, it helps if you have a quilting plan and mark it out on your quilt!
There are lots of methods and techniques for marking a quilt. From heat-erasing pens, to water-soluble markers, to wash-away chalk, and everything in between – there are LOTS of ways to mark a quilt. For straight line quilting, I love to mark my quilts using a ruler and a Hera marker (you can also use the back end of a butter knife for this too) Simply apply pressure while you drag the Hera marker along the edge of your ruler, which creates a crease on your quilt. It is just noticeable enough to see while quilting but disappears so easily over time!
Quilting Hack #2 – Wear Quilting Gloves
Getting gloves to wear while quilting was a game changer for me! These thin, stretchy, grippy little pals make grabbing your fabric so much easier and I found even helped relieve the shoulder pain I was experiencing while quilting before I got the gloves.
I also suggest wearing long sleeves while quilting, if it’s not too hot! The fabric from the long sleeves helps grip your fabric with your elbows if you don’t like to stop and start as many times.
Quilting Hack #3 – Use a Walking Foot
Can you believe that I was quilting for 4 years before I even found out what a walking foot is? If you aren’t familiar, the walking foot is also sometimes called an even-feed foot or a dual-feed foot. It basically has feed dogs on the top that coincide with the feed dogs on your machine, which makes the layers of the quilt glide through at an even pace.
The timing of the walking foot and the lower feed dogs is perfectly matched up so that both the top and the bottom are squeezing all the layers of fabric and pulling them through with the same amount of force. It keeps the quilt from having the bottom layer pulled through and the top lagging behind. Absolutely genius!
Do you have any extra tips & quilting hacks? Share them in the comments! I’d love to hear what you do to make straight line quilting a success on your domestic sewing machine.
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