Needle Size Colour: Green size 70 is for extra fine fabrics. Orange size 80 is for light fabrics. Blue size 90 is for medium fabrics. Violet size 100 is for heavy fabrics.
Use a 90/14 needle. A Quilting Needle has a slim, tapered point and slightly stronger shaft for stitching through multiple fabric layers and across intersecting seams. Use a 70/10 or 80/12 for intricate designs. Use a 90/14 if your quilt sandwich is thick.
Medium needle sizes – 80/12, 90/14 – work well with quilting cottons, lightweight upholstery, denim, silk dupioni, and other similar weight fabrics. The eye of the needle is sized for general sewing threads such as all-purpose polyester and 50-weight cotton..
Quilting needles are a very short and fine needle with a round eye. The diameter of the needle is the same as a sharp needle however they are much shorter in length to allows the quilter to create quick and even stitching.
Double Eye 80/12 A Universal needle with two eyes, used on wovens and knits. Used with two threads for topstitching, shading and texturing effects and for embroidery.
80/12 needles are appropriate to sew lightweight fabrics like lawn, faille, and georgette. Think lightweight flowy fabrics for dresses and blouses. 90/14 needles are great when you are starting to sew medium weight fabrics like poplin, broadcloth and muslin. Think printed quilting cotton.
Quilting Machine quilting 75/11 and 90/14 Quilting needles feature a sharp, tapered point and are designed to stitch through thick layers and intersecting seams. Use them for piecing quilts and machine quilting the layers together.
The average machine quilting stitch length chosen is between 10 and 11 stitches per inch. This length complements both delicate designs as well as bolder quilting motifs. However, your stitch length may need to change as you increase both your batting thickness as well as your thread thickness.
Big Stitch quilting
Most often perle cotton thread in size 8 is used, or a few strands of embroidery floss. These threads are thicker than standard quilting cotton and therefore require a needle with a bigger eye. Embroidery or Crewel needles are best to use for these threads as they have large eyes and sharp points.
A good rule of thumb to keep in mind: the lighter the fabric the smaller the needle size and the heavier the fabric the larger the needle size. Many times the thread you will be using for your sewing project will also determine the type of needle you choose.
When hand-quilting a quilt, choose a needle with a large eye that will accommodate medium-weight thread. You may want to select a size 7 or 8, as the shaft will be longer and easier to work through several layers of your quilt. The higher the number, the shorter and finer it is with sewing needles.
For most quilting on a home machine, a 40-weight cotton thread is an excellent choice. Because the 40 weight cotton thread is heavier than the finer 50 weight cotton thread, quilting stitches will show up more easily on the quilt.
Quilting needles have a slightly rounded point and are designed specifically for machine quilting. One of the most common sizes of machine needles is 90/14. Its sturdy shaft holds up well when quilting through the layers of a quilt sandwich. The 90/14's needle eye is big enough to accommodate most types of threads.
Also it works well when quilting with polyester thread. Janome Purple Tip - is a size 14 ball point needle specially designed for Janome machines. This needle is best for heavy weight knits and dense embroidery designs. It is the recommended needle for quilting with cotton threads.
Horizontal or Vertical Quilting
This is the simplest of all quilting stitches. You decide, based on your patchwork design, whether horizontal or vertical lines will look better on the quilt.
My favorite, most used stitch length is 1.5 mm for walking foot quilting. This is the setting I use for piecing too, so it's become a routine to sit down at my machine and immediately adjust the stitch length down to this setting.
Usually the reason for uneven stitch lengths is to do with poor travel of the work through the machine. This can be for a variety of reasons: The work is under tension and not lightly bunched so it will not feed evenly. Do not spread the work out but keep it a bit bunched with only the part you are sewing flat.
Some 100/16 are for Medium to Heavier fabrics like Jean and coat fabrics. 90/14 needles are for medium fabrics like broadcloth or corduroy. Size 11 is for cottons. It is best to consult your sewing machine manual for what is compatible with your machine.
Size 11 (European 80) – Use these with light-weight fabrics such as silk, muslin, and calicoes. Size 14 (European 90) – Choose when sewing medium-weight fabrics such as rayon, gabardine, satin, chino, linen, denim; thick quilts. Use ballpoint size 14 for light to medium-weight knits such as tricot or jersey.
Use needle 75/11 when embroidering. 7. When embroidering heavyweight fabrics or fabrics that require stabilizer fabric (denim or puffy foam) use a 90/14 needle.
Size 13 and 14 are commonly used for heavy and coarse fabrics. These needles are very short and fine with a round eye. The shorter length allows the quilter to create quick and even stitching.
?14 GAUGE (Orange): A 14 gauge needle is usually used to rapidly infuse fluids or blood during surgery or trauma. This insertion is pretty painful due to its size. ?16 GAUGE (Grey): The 16 gauge is also used for fluids or blood in ICU, surgical, or trauma settings due to its size.
Needle size:
We recommend a size 90/14 when sewing with a 40 wt. thread and a 100/16 needle when sewing with a 30 wt. or 12 wt. thread. If you find your thread to be shredding or skipping stitches, try a new needle and go up one size.
The best choice for lighter cotton is a sharp number 14 needle (90/14). If cotton is unlined or used in a lightweight, unlined garment, such as a cotton blouse, it may be best to use a cotton-specific needle in 80/12 and then finish by hand with cotton thread to ensure that the stitches don't pull out.
The American sizing system is numbered from 8 to 18. For both sizing systems, the lower the number the finer the needle and the higher the number the larger the needle. Most needle companies show both sizes on the package.