Straight Line Machine Quilting Patterns for Beginners
Congratulations! If you are reading this post, then your quilt top is done and you’ve basted it with batting and backing fabric. If you are a beginner and new to quilting, I’ve got 3 simple straight line machine quilting patterns and designs for you to choose from. All of these can be done by you on your home sewing machine.
It doesn’t matter if you are brand new to quilting or have been doing it for years. If you don’t know how to free motion quilt then you are limited to machine quilting patterns on your home machine. So in today’s post, I’m going to show you my top 3 machine quilting patterns that are easy to do, look great and work on any quilt.
Machine Quilting Patterns – Supplies You Will Need
Sewing Machine
You can read my sewing machine journey here, but you can pull off these machine quilting patterns on a Singer Heavy Duty or Juki TL series. The larger the throat, the easier it will be. I have quilted an entire king size quilt on a Singer Heavy Duty machine. It was not fun but it can be done. So don’t worry if this is your first quilt, as long as you are using a Singer HD or similar brand you will be good.
This post is for the home quilter that does not know how to free motion quilt. I’ll be talking about straight line quilting designs you can do on your home sewing machine. My sewing machine is a Juki with a pretty good size throat but your options are more limited if you are using a Singer HD or similar model.
Make sure you have a walking foot or quarter inch foot before you machine quilt. Whichever method you are using based on your machine.
Quilt Sandwich
I’m assuming that you have our entire quilt ready for machine quilting. This means you have all 3 layers of your quilt basted with safety pins or spray basting and it’s as smooth as possible on both sides when done basting. If using safety pins, read your batting package to see how often you need to pin. My preferred method is spray basting. For a larger quilt, I will allow it to sit overnight then inspect it again the next day and really work out any little wrinkles on both sides. Make sure you leave at least 3″ of batting and backing around all sides of the quilt top.
Sewing Space
Then get your sewing space ready. If you are doing a larger quilt, make sure you have a good size table to sit it on while quilting. If you have a really small sewing space like me, a good idea is using your ironing board as a shelf to rest your quilt and push it forward or pull it backwards as you move along. You don’t want drag when machine quilting patterns on your precious quilt. This will distort your quilting and cause puckers too. You can also extend your sewing tables by using extension tables.
Thread Color
Pick a color that will look good with your quilt. You can never go wrong with any shade of white, natural or light grey. These colors all tend to look fantastic on any quilt and are great for beginners. Once you feel really comfortable with your sewing skills, you can go for bolder colors that will pop.
Make sure you check this out!
After you read this post, make sure you also check out How To Learn How To Quilt: Beginner Quilting Guide. It’s jam packed with even more information, links and resources that are so helpful when you’re first learning. It also has a section with free quilt patterns that are great for beginners. So make sure you check this out, seriously don’t forget!
Grab a copy of my Quilt Planning Journal, filled with graph paper and note pages to help you design 4 quilts or sewing projects! You can jot down ideas as I see them, draw mock ups of quilts and write your cutting dimensions and finished quilt size for future reference. Pin in fabric swatches, photos of your finished quilts and enjoy your creative process!
Top 3 Machine Quilting Patterns for Beginners
Square quilt blocks offer a variety of opportunities for creative quilting. Here are some machine quilting patterns that work wonderfully with square designs. Each offer a great way to finish your quilt and an easy way to save money and do it yourself. Here are the free patterns for the quilts used in the photos, you know you want to make one!
Blushing Blocks Quilt, Checkerboard Quilt and Flight Quilt. All of these patterns are for throw quilts that are the perfect size for sewing up and quilting on a home sewing machine.
I don’t have many quilting friends. The ones that do quilt do not own a long arm machine and they certainly don’t sent it out to a long arm quilter. We all do our own quilts from start to finish. Always learning a new skill that we can use in our next quilt. Do I want a longarm machine? YES but I’m not ready for one yet and that’s why I machine quilt. Here are my top 3 machine quilting styles used on most of my quilts.
Straight Line Quilting
You don’t need complex designs to make your quilt gorgeous. Straight line quilting is a simple yet effective way to quilt your squares. Follow your seam lines, it’s that easy.
Sew straight lines a quarter inch from each seam where the quilt blocks connect. Following seam lines for your borders too. The straight stitch is so simple but looks great on a baby quilt, throw quilts or large quilts or quilting projects.
Set your machine to a straight stitch. Find you quilt path. Plan how you are going to quilt before you begin. For quilt blocks, follow the seam lines with your quarter inch foot or walking foot.
Quilt straight lines horizontally and vertically along both sides of the seams. You can also add a diagonal line too if you need more quilting.
Diagonal Quilting
Diagonal quilting is one of my favorites and is the easiest machine quilting pattern or design. You know why? Because you don’t follow seam lines thus you won’t be creating lumps or puckers.
You will make a diagonal stitch from corner to corner, and you will roll up your quilt from corner to corner too.
This quilt design creates a square on the back of the quilt. The more diagonal lines you quilt, the smaller your squares will become on the back side of your quilt.
You will work from quilt corner to quilt corner working your way outside using a straight stitch but it will actually be diagonal stitch on the quilt. In my Checkerboard Quilt, I used this machine quilting pattern in every other row and loved the result. This would look great on an Irish chain quilt, charm square quilt, four patch or nine patch quilt.
Grid Quilting
Grid quilting involves creating a grid pattern over your quilt blocks, adding a structured and clean look. My Flight Quilt uses this method and I’m very pleased with the results. This pattern is perfect when you can’t find a quilt path for your quilt pattern.
Mark a grid pattern over your quilt top using a ruler and heat erasable fabric marking pens, chalk marker (preferred). Some of the fabric markers bleed so I avoid them. You could also try a Clover Hera Marker that makes a crease you can see on the front and back of the fabric without leaving any residue.
Quilt along the marked lines, creating intersecting horizontal and vertical lines. Pro Tip: For best results, quilt all the vertical lines first then flip and in one direction first. Again, this will reduce puckering at the seams.
Grid quilting is very popular right now but it is a lot of work. But it can be the best way to quilt tricky patterns such as my Flight quilt where the flying geese blocks are not pointing in the same direction. This makes it hard to follow seam lines or even do diagonal quilting. The solution was to do a grid machine quilting pattern with a straight line stitch every 1″.
Now you probably should use a chalk pen and ruler to map out your quilt design onto the quilt top. I was lazy and just eye balled it. This gave me wonky lines so mark your quilt top before doing the grid if you want your spacing perfect. If you don’t care, then do what I did and eye ball it.
Machine Quilting Patterns – BEGINNER SUPPLIES
Here are some quilting tools and supplies I recommend. I make a small commission if you purchase through the links, this helps to support this free content. For more info, check out Supplies for Beginners (Best Tools To Start).
Rotary Mat Cutting Mat (Self-Healing Mat)
28 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades
45 mm Rotary Cutter with Sharp Blade (start with this one)
45 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades (start with this one)
60 mm Rotary Cutter Replacement Blades
4.5″ Square Ruler for half square triangles
12.5″ Square Ruler for blocks
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SEW NIKKI FREE RESOURCES
FREE PATTERNS
TUTORIALS
10 Essential Quilting Tips for Beginners
Tutorial – How to Sew a Quilt Together
How to Quilt on a Regular Sewing Machine
How to Machine Quilt with Walking Foot
Beginner Spray Basting Tutorial
How to Make Quilt with Sashing and Cornerstones
How Wide to Cut Quilt Binding & Make Easy Strips
Joining Quilt Binding Ends for Beginners
ABOUT SEW NIKKI
If this is your first time stopping by, welcome! I’m Nikki, a maker obsessed with quilting, crochet, and all things fabric. Here, you’ll find easy-to-follow patterns, helpful tutorials, and plenty of inspiration for your next handmade project. Whether you’re stitching up a cozy quilt, crocheting a vintage-inspired blanket, or diving into upcycled sewing, I’m here to make the process fun and stress-free. Grab your fabric (or yarn), and let’s create something beautiful together!
There you have it, my top 3 machine quilting patterns for your home machine. No matter the size of your quilt, one of these quilting patterns will work. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced quilter, these techniques will enhance your quilting projects and bring your designs to life. Happy quilting!
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Want to learn how to crochet? Check out this post, How to Learn How to Crochet – Guide for Beginners.
Such a great tutorial! I am learning so much from your awesome quilt guides!