Much Ado About Quilting Needles and Thread

Several quilters have been asking about quilting needles and thread. Specifically on how to choose which needles to use with which threads and for which quilting situations. So here’s a post all about the needles and thread I use for piecing quilt blocks and machine quilting on my home machine. I’ve also recently updated this post to include information about my longarm quilting needles and thread too!

Now, I must say from the first that I’m probably the worst quilter to write about this because my opinion on needles and thread would probably make most other professional quilters cringe.

Or cover their ears.

Or run away screaming.

My Favorite Home Machine Needles

Here’s the truth: I’ve only used Universal 80/12 needles in my home sewing machine since 2005.

I don’t use different needles for piecing. I don’t use different needles for quilting. Yes, I actually use the same needles for almost everything.

Of course, now that I’ve admitted that, I’ve probably just flushed my credibility down the drain.

Professional “experts” are supposed to have hoity toity expensive advice, like to only use gold embossed, impossible-to-find needles that cost more than my son’s new shoes.

Frankly, I don’t have the money and I don’t have the time to mess with funky needles. I just want to sew and quilt and I don’t want to think about what needle is in the machine, if it’s properly balanced with my thread weight and ply. Too many quilters make this WAY… TOO… COMPLICATED!

When I Use Different Needle Types

The reason why I use only one needle for quilting on my home machine is because of my history sewing garments professionally. When I sewed 50-60 garments a week, I DID change needles – often!

I was sewing knit fabrics, cotton woven fabrics, denim, corduroy, and slinky (a truly horrible stretchy material that still gives me nightmares). I’d separate my bag of cut garments by the type of cloth so I could change needles efficiently. I’d stitch the knit fabrics and slinky using a Jersey or Ball point needle, then switch to a Universal needle for the cotton, denim, and corduroy.

When piecing and quilting normal patchwork quilts, however, the material I’m using doesn’t change. My needle is stitching through 100% cotton fabric, or cotton fabric and batting. Because the fabric type doesn’t change, I don’t feel a need to change my needle.

So I piece, applique, and free motion quilt all with a Schmetz 80/12 Universal Needle.

How Often I Change Needles

Here’s the important bit: I change needles about 2-4 times a month, depending on how much I’m using the machine.

I personally believe that changing needles regularly is far more important than the type of needle you use.

Needles can become bent or burred, and are often the culprit behind breaking threads and stitch issues. Changing needles more regularly can dramatically improve your stitch quality and your frustration level with your machine.

I should know this from experience – the machine I had growing up had a total of 1 needle change every 5 years. To say it straight – that machine stitched horribly – and that is not an exaggeration!

Keeping Needle Choice Simple

Why do I use Universal 80/12 needles so much? Because they work well for me in my machines and don’t skip stitches or break my thread. If I suddenly began having issues with this needle type or size, if my thread suddenly began breaking all the time, I’d find something that worked better.

I like to keep things very simple, and also less expensive. Having 10 different types of sewing machine needles in my drawer is costly both in the price of materials and having a place to store and organize it all!

So long as what I’m using is working and I’m able to make the quilts I want to make, I don’t change it.

This is why I’m still piecing and machine quilting with the same thread – even after more than 10 years of quilting. The reason why I love the Universal 80/12 is because they work great with both cotton and polyester threads.

The Quilting Thread I Use Daily

Here are the threads I’ve used for quilt piecing and machine quilting, embroidery and longarm quilting for years:

For quilt piecing, I use Aurifil 50 weight Mako Cotton Thread. It’s thin, virtually lint-free, and comes in a million colors, though I mostly use white. Yes, you can use this thread for machine quilting. Sometimes if I’m feeling lazy I will leave it in my home machine for free motion quilting.

It can free motion quilt beautifully, but every once and while I’ll travel stitch and break thread and I find that annoying. That’s why I use a different thread for machine quilting.

For free motion quilting, walking foot quilting, ruler quilting, longarm quilting (and any other new forms of quilting we might invent in the future!) I use Isacord Polyester Embroidery Thread.

Isacord comes in one weight and type – 40 weight, polyester – and YES, it’s terrific for machine quilting!

Are You SURE You Use This Quilting Thread?

I’m updating this post in 2023 and I’ve been using Isacord thread in my quilts since 2009. I still get emails from quilters deeply concerned about using a polyester thread designed for embroidery no less, for machine quilting.

Having used this thread now for more than 14 years, I can safely say it works great. It stands the test of time as well! I’ve used Isacord to quilt baby quilts, table cloth quilts that get washed weekly, and changing table covers and the thread still looks as good today as it did when the project was first quilted.

I’m still not sure where the disconnect is here. If a thread is good enough for machine embroidery – and machine embroidered garments get washed often – why would the same thread not work great for machine quilting?

But What Do You Use for Bobbin Thread?

If this whole quilting needles and thread topic wasn’t complicated enough, we now have specialty bobbin threads to deal with. Extra thin, extra smooth, extra invisible to hide in your backing fabric – uggh. You can probably tell, I don’t like special bobbin threads and I don’t use them.

I always use the same thread in the bobbin that I’m using in the top.

So if I’m piecing and Aurifil Thread is in the top of the machine, the same color Aurifil is wound in the bobbin.

If I’m machine quilting, I have Isacord thread loaded in the top of the machine, I have the same color Isacord thread wound on the bobbin.

WAIT!!! Same COLOR?

What if My Bobbin Thread Contrasts with the Quilt Backing?

Yes, that will happen. Thread can be allowed to show and yes, I’m okay with my thread contrasting on the front and back of my quilts.

Part of building good skills for machine quilting is taking responsibility for what the back of your quilt looks like. When you hear your machine gag, stop and take a look. Deal with your thread breaks. Don’t leave birds nests on the back of your quilt.

Another thing I’ve found is that thread likes to balance with itself. I rarely have to adjust my tension dial if I use the same thread in the bobbin as the top of the machine. If I put a super thin bobbin thread in, however, I’m going to have to do a lot of tedious fiddling and stitch testing to get the tension balanced.

Using the same color thread also hides small tension inconsistency. No machine stitches with perfect tension all the time – especially when free motion quilting. When you contrast thread, you’ll end up continually fiddling and obsessing about your tension. Save time, save brain space, and keep it simple – use the same thread in the bobbin.

Simple. Easy. Efficient. Cheap.

I guess it really does boil down to simplicity. In my sewing space, I have a drawer filled with Aurifil thread in around two dozen colors for quilt piecing. That’s around one spool for each color of the rainbow, plenty of white and black. I have several bobbins already wound of Aurifil in the drawer next to my machine so it’s easy and fast to grab a matching bobbin and start piecing.

For Isacord, I have a much, much bigger collection – well over 300 spools in all different colors and shades. Why so much more thread? Because I use Isacord for all types of machine quilting, applique and machine embroidery. This thread is truly triple duty!

I know what you’re wondering – why don’t I use Isacord for quilt piecing too? The reason is simple – it’s too slippery for chain piecing. When I stitch straight across and clip the thread tails short, the slippery thread likes to pull free and unravel.

This is why I tie off and bury my thread tails. Every single line of quilting. Every single time. Click Here to find a tutorial and the tools I use for quickly securing thread tails.

What I Use for Longarm Quilting

When I originally wrote this post, I had only ever quilted on a home machine set in a table. Now I have a lot more machines to play with and quilting frames too!

For my longarm quilting machines, I still use Isacord thread. It handles the higher speed of my longarms just fine and I still rarely experience thread breaks.

Quilting needles, however, are a little different. I had bad luck quilting with such a small needle size on my longarms. Too many thread breaks! These days I use a Size 18 needle, and a specific longarm machine style, and this works great!

I still wind my bobbins from the same spool of Isacord thread. I match the same thread and color and this still works just as good as it did for home machine quilting. If it’s not broke – don’t fix it!

Weird Needles for Weird Threads

There are a few situations I’ve found that do warrant a needle change, but most involve playing with weird threads and weird fabrics.

The most common is metallic threads. Whether it’s for applique or free motion quilting, unless you’re couching the metallic thread on top (meaning it’s not going through the needle), you really should use a Metallic Needle.

I’ve never experienced anything that makes me scream at my sewing machine more often and with more exuberance than metallic thread. While I love them, I truly do, I have a strong suspicion that metallic threads hate my guts.

And that is probably due to my use-only-one-type-of-needle thing. Once I’ve broken thread about 10 times and am seething with anger, I finally go dig up my pack of metallic needles and – Viola! – stitching magic is back in action.

I’ve also linked up some Vanish Extra thread above and you might be wondering why. This is my favorite water soluble thread for doing special techniques like trapunto. Yes, there are times I actually want my stitches to wash out completely – and this is the thread I use for that!

Common Sense Approach to Quilting Needles and Thread

Obviously I have a pretty economical mindset when it comes to these materials. I’ve invested a significant amount of money into Aurifil and Isacord threads. If I was to change thread brands at this point, it would require more storage, more space, buying lots of colors, testing the thread, and getting used to using it.

My honest opinion is that no one – not me, not your mom, or your next quilting teacher can tell you what needles will work the best for your machine in all situations. Only you can find what works for you by trying out a few different types and sizes and see what works.

Once you find the Goldilocks size, buy it in bulk! Same goes for thread. It’s so nice having a drawer full of threads that I know will definitely work for me, in lots of colors so I can grab a spool and start a new project without having to stop and shop for the right color first.

What do you think about quilting needles and threads? What do you use in your machines? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Let’s go quilt!

Leah Day