MATCHSTICK QUILTING

Matchstick quilting is a method of straight-line quilting where the quilted lines are repeated ¼ in or less apart from each other: a matchstick apart. Using a walking foot and some careful marking, matchstick quilting can be a great way to add some texture to a quilt, without taking away from the quilt design.

HOW TO DO MATCHSTICK QUILTING

As with most quilting, the preparation is important. It is worth taking your time to baste the quilt to get a good flat surface to work with. Paula uses spray baste and presses the quilt top and backing thoroughly before basting. After spray basting, Paula likes to press the quilt again to set the spray and get out any creases and lumps.

MARKING

In Issue 122, Paula covered the pros and cons of marking tools. For matchstick quilting, Paula prefers to use an air-erasable pen or, if there is good light, a Hera marker. You may need to press the quilt whilst it is marked out, so you should avoid markers that set once heated.

WALKING FOOT

Most sewing machines aimed at quilters come with a walking foot, sometimes called an even feed foot. If your machine did not come with one, you can purchase one. A walking foot helps to feed the fabric through your machine, enhancing the work of the feed dogs. This is especially useful when quilting through the three layers, as it helps to feed the top and bottom layers through at the same rate.

STITCH LENGTH

For straight line quilting, you will use a standard straight stitch that has been lengthened. Paula likes to use a stitch length between 3.8 and 4.2. Have a play with different stitch lengths and see which you prefer.

THREAD

Paula mainly uses Aurifil 50wt for quilting, but any standard weight thread will work well. You can also add some extra definition by including some lines using a thicker thread, such as a 40 or 28 weight. Choosing the colour of the thread is important to the overall look, as matchstick quilting creates a dense design. The colours in the quilt will determine the thread colour, so you should be looking for a thread colour which shows up evenly on the majority of the quilt. There will always be some areas where it shows up more, such as very dark or very light areas, but try to get a balance. Paula finds a light grey or very light pastel colour is a good base rather than a white, as it will show up subtly on any white areas.

QUILTING

Before starting on a quilt, it is good to piece and baste a simple striped block using the colours or fabrics from the quilt. Using the sample piece, you can then test out different thread colours, the distance of quilting lines and the length of the stitches. In the following tutorial, Paula is working on a sample piece.

1 Using your preferred marker, draw lines 1in apart down the sample piece (Fig A).

2 Attach your walking foot, increase your stitch length to between 3.8 and 4.2 and then neatly quilt along the drawn lines (Fig B).

3 For the next quilted lines, you will quilt between the previously quilted lines; this gives you quilted lines at ½in apart. A lot of walking feet are 1in wide so you can use the previously quilted lines as a guide for the edges of the walking foot (Fig C).

4 For the final quilted lines, you will once again quilt in the middle of the ½in lines. As before, your walking foot will likely have markings that can be lined up with the quilted lines to help you keep your lines straight (Fig D and E).

ADAPTING THE MATCHSTICK QUILTING

There are lots of ways you can adapt the matchstick quilting for different projects and visual preferences. Paula’s favourites are:

1 Start with marked lines at ¾in instead of 1in. This will give you a denser finish (Fig F).

2 For the final quilted lines (see step 4 of the quilting tutorial) use a different colour thread, or vary the colours (Fig G).

3 You could also add in some hand quilted lines, use a thicker thread, and change the colours as you go down the quilt or go on the diagonal. There are numerous ways you can make it your own, so have fun and experiment!