PJ's Quilt & Longarm Studio
3323 N. Key Drive Units 1-6
North Fort Myers, FL 33903

Email: Quilters@pjsquiltandlongarmstudio.com
(239) 995-0045
Follow us on Facebook

Frequently Asked Questions

Quilting Terms

What is Quilting?

The process of sewing the three quilt layers together. Quilting is generally done by hand or machine and serves three purposes; 1. Secure all three layers to each other. 2. to add to the beauty and design of the finished quilt. 3. To trap air within the quilted sections, making the quilt as a whole much warmer than its parts.

Binding

What is binding?

When the final quilting (e.g. free motion, long-arming) step is done to sew the top, batting and quilt back together - the edges of the quilt are raw. Those edges would fray without binding and do not look nearly as nice as the rest of a quilt. Binding is made to cover those raw edges as the final step.

Binding is often done by machine/machine or machine/hand sewing.

How do I prepare my binding?

I routinely create a French Binding for my quilts. Why do I prefer a French Binding? This is a binding that is folded in half 2 times. This is probably the most common and durable binding.

I used to cut my strips to 2.25 inches, however, I found over time that I really like to use the 2.5 inch strips when preparing binding. This allows my left overs to be sub-cut as 2.5 inch squares when I'm going thru my scrap bin.

After I cut all of my 2.25 inch strips, I use my sewing machine to connect all of the strips into one really long strip. See FAQ on "connecting binding strips" for more details.

I pre-heat my iron. Fold the strip in half, with the front of the fabric facing out and the raw edge at the top. I align the two sides exactly and iron with steam.

I do not personally use any starch on any of my binding. I love my Oliso Pro iron!

If you unevenly fold the binding before ironing, this will make the binding width uneven when applying to the quilt. It is important to be as evenly folded as possible. Also, it causes a difficult choice to determine what your sewing foot will use when following the guide on the sewing foot.

What is machine binding?

Your sewing machine is used to attach the binding on both the back and the top of the quilt. There is no hand stitching here.

You can cut your binding strips at either 2 1/4 inch or 2 1/2 inches. If you are using 2 1/2 inches, you need to move your needle up to 5 positions to the left, otherwise, your binding will not be even on both sides when you machine sew the top.

Machine Needles

Difference between types of needles?

Denim/Jeans Needle —Modified medium ball point and reinforced blade. For denim and similar fabrics. Advanced point design is a SCHMETZ exclusive. For penetrating extra thick woven fabrics, denims, or quilts with minimum needle deflection, reduced risk of needle breakage and skipped stitches. Available sizes: 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, Assorted, Twin.

Embroidery Needle — Designed for rayon and polyester embroidery applications. Available sizes: 75/11, 90/14, Assorted, Twin.

Jersey / Ball Point Needle — Designed for sewing on knits and some stretch fabrics. Available sizes: 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, Assorted.

Leather Needle — Designed for leather, artificial leather and heavy non-woven synthetic applications. Available sizes: 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, Assorted.

Metallic Needle — Designed with an enlarged polished eye to accommodate specialty threads by preventing shredding. Available sizes: 80/12, 90/14, Twin.

Microtex/Sharp Needle — Sharp point for straight stitches on delicate and microfiber fabrics. Available sizes: 60/8, 70/10, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, Assorted.

Quilting Needle — Special taper to shaft and slightly rounded point to prevent damage to material sewn in layers. Available sizes: 75/11, 90/14, Assorted.

Stretch Needle — Designed for synthetic suedes or elastic knitwear. Designed with a deep scarf to prevent skipped stitches. Available sizes: 75/11, 90/14, Twin.

Topstitch Needle — Extra sharp with an enlarged groove to accommodate large diameter threads and dense fabrics. Available sizes: 80/12, 90/14, 100/16.

Universal Needle — General sewing of knit and woven fabrics. Slight ball point. Available sizes: 60/8, 65/9, 70/10, 75/11, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, 120/19, Assorted, Twin, Triple.

What is the anatomy of needles?

Butt: The beveled end allows easy insertion in the needle bar.

Shank: Household needles have a flat shank, while commercial and industrial needles have round, threaded, notched or other special shanks. Shanks allow perfect positioning of the needle in the sewing machine.

Shoulder: The sloping area transitioning between the shank and blade. Schmetz color codes appear in the shoulder.

Blade: Needle size is determined by the blade diameter

Groove: The groove cradles and guides thread to the eye. The length and size of the groove vary according to the needle type.

Scarf: The indentation above the eye that allows the bobbin hook to smoothly grab the thread under the throat plate to create a stitch. The shape and size of the scarf vary according to the needle type.

Eye: The hole through which thread passes. The shape and size of the scarf vary according to needle type.

Point & Tip: Length, shape and size vary according to needle types.

Needle Type: Upper color band indicates needle type (e.g. Stretch) for Schmetz needles.

Needle Size: Schmetz uses the lower color band indicating the size.

Why Chrome needles?

Less friction on thread passing through eye.
Penetrates fabric with less resistance.
Smother stitch creation.
Resists heat - improved durability & performance.

Embroidery Needle - Schmetz options

Embroidery

Size: 75/11, 90/14, Assorted, Twin

Color Code: Red

Feature: Light ball point, wide eye and groove.

Fabric Use: Use with rayon, polyester and other specialty embroidery threads. The special scarf, widened groove and enlarged eye protect fragile threads and guard against excess friction allowing trouble-free embroidery and decorative stitching.

Quilting Needs - Schmetz options

Quilting

Size: 75/11, 90/14, Assorted

Color Code: Green

Feature: Special taper to the slightly

rounded point.

Fabric Use: Made especially for piecing and machine quilting. The special tapered design allows easier fabric penetration and helps eliminate skipped stitches.

Topstitch Needle - Schmetz option

Topstitch

Size: 80/12, 90/14, 100/16

Color Code: None

Feature: Extra long eye.

Fabric Use: Topstitch, heavy, multiple or poor quality threads. Achieve perfectly straight stitch lines and even stitches when using a straight stitch plate.

Universal Needles - Schmetz options

Universal

Size: 60/8, 65/9, 70/10, 75/11, 80/12, 90/14, 100/16, 110/18, 120/19, Assorted, Twin, Triple

Color Code: None

Feature: Slightly rounded point.

Fabric Use: Numerous – woven and knits. A great general purpose needle.

I am not receiving your emails. What can I do?

Why am I not receiving your emails?

Your email needs to be provided to an employee to enter into your customer profile within our system.

Periodically those email addresses are uploaded into the email marketing software that is used to create customer emails.

If your email address was already present in your customer profile, most of the time you are not receiving emails because at some point you had unsubscribed from our emails. If you wish to begin again receiving emails, please send an email to quilters@pjsquiltandlongarmstudio.com requesting that you be added back to our regular emails.

Thank you ---

Information

Categories

Contact Us

Telp: 1-239-995-0045
Email:
Quilters@pjsquiltandlongarmstudio.com
3323 N. Key Drive, Unit 1-6
North Fort Myers, FL 33903

Follow Us

Facebook