Quilting Backwards

Want to fill a large area of your quilt quickly and with minimum handling?

Teach yourself to quilt . . . BACKWARDS!

Quilting backwards is not difficult, and it can be very rewarding. Let me tell you how to do this simple speed quilting technique.

First decide what kind of fill you wish to produce. Those consisting of parallel lines are probably the easiest, but there will no doubt be other quilting patterns for which quilting backwards would work well.

Then determine how important it is for you to be accurate in your stitching; that is to say, how precisely parallel must your quilting lines be? If your quilting lines must be precisely sewn, you will have to establish a way to control your quilt to produce neatly parallel lines.

There are a variety of sewing guides available that you can use to good advantage. Use the edge of your presser foot, or attach a proper quilting guide to help you control the width of the quilting lines and keep them precisely equidistant. If your sewing machine permits a setting for reverse sewing which releases both your hands to control the material, achieving precisely parallel lines will be far easier for you to do.

My machine does not have this feature. I have to press and hold the reverse button all the time I’m sewing backwards. Next time I purchase a sewing machine, I shall keep this important feature high on my list of “must-haves.”

However, if you are willing and able to be more flexible about the kind of lines you can use to quilt backwards, you can achieve a more interesting surface with a minimum of effort. Simply move your quilt backwards and forwards as you shift between forward and reverse stitching, keeping lines roughly parallel.

Do not break your stitching at the ends of each line. You may sew slightly towards the next adjacent line as you approach each end so you can immediately return at a reasonable width, leaving a sharp point at the end of each line without lifting your foot off the pedal.

This method ensures the fastest possible quilting. Use the point turn only in areas, like the outermost edge of the quilt, where the point turns will not show after the work has been completed. You could fill smaller areas, allowing the point turns to become part of the quilting design.

Alternatively, you may stop your stitching at the end of a line, lift the presser foot and shift the quilt slightly to begin the next line, lower the presser foot and carry on stitching. This method presumes that your lines of stitching will be as far apart as the length of one stitch.

Ending in this manner means that you will not backtack or otherwise secure the thread ends as you simply carry on quilting in a continuous manner. The stop and shift technique works best when your backwards and forwards quilting lines begin and end where another quilting intersects them, as shown below.

Any cautions? Yes – do not pull too hard on the work, in either direction. Pulling on the work can bend the needle so it strikes the faceplate or the shuttle case. This can result in a broken needle at best and a seriously damaged machine at worst. Rather, allow your feed dogs and walking foot to control the speed at which the materials move into the stitching area. Use your hands only to control the direction of the stitching, not its speed!

Happy quilting – backwards!

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