How to Do Spoon Quilting
Quilters who stitch the final sewing of a quilt by hand must use a small hand-quilting needle and a hoop that holds the basted quilt layers together tightly. The process of pushing the needle back and forth between the top and the bottom of the quilt can be painful on the fingers. Spoon quilting --- using a spoon to push the needle --- is one solution for avoiding the pain of hand quilting.
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Things You'll Need
- Spoon (standard or special quilting spoon)
- Thimbles
- Quilting needle
- Cotton thread
- Quilt for hand quilting (in a hoop)
Instructions
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1
Hold the spoon in the hand that you keep under the quilt as you stitch. Place one thimble on the index finger and another thimble on the middle finger of your stitching hand. Hold the threaded needle in your stitching hand, prepared to stitch.
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2
Push the needle through the quilt from the top to the bottom about 3/8 inch. Angle the needle about 45 degrees as you push it through.
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3
Position the spoon so the convex side meets the point of the needle. Push the tip of the spoon up into the quilt from the underside to create a ridge that will guide the needle back up through the quilt again.
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4
Push the spoon into the tip of the needle while simultaneously rocking the end of the needle on the top of the quilt. These motions together will push the needle tip back up to the top of the quilt to make one tiny stitch.
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5
Repeat the same sequence of motions. Insert the needle back down through the quilt to take another stitch, push the tip of the needle with the spoon and rock the needle back to bring the needle tip back up through the quilt to the top.
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6
Continue making tiny stitches using the spoon to control the size and spacing of the stitches.
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Tips & Warnings
While you can use a standard kitchen spoon for spoon quilting, you can also use a special quilting spoon with a lip on the tip to help you catch the needle and a better ergonomic design in the handle.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
