I don't sew much outside of quilts and I'm not sewing with a lot of diverse fabrics like someone who makes garments, so my thoughts on needles are solely focused on sewing with primarily quilting cottons. But that being said, I have tried them all, and over the years learned a few things about needles, because I like to nerd out on these things.
You can really fall down a rabbit hole looking at the Schmetz Needle Guide thinking about all the options for choosing a needle. Like a lot of things in quilting, there are a lot of right ways to choose a needle and a lot of it comes down to personal preference (not to mention how fussy your machine is!).
- Piecing: I prefer an 80/12 Microtex (for use with 50 wt. cotton thread) while my operations assistant, Chelsea, prefers a 70/10 Microtex. They have a slim, acute point which helps with precision piecing.
- Machine Quilting: I prefer a 90/14 Microtex here for the same reason, it has a very acute point for nice accurate stitches. There are multiple schools of thought on if you need a bigger needle for quilting because you're going through more layers. I lean towards 90/14 as a general rule (unless I was planning on using some enormous thread that would need a larger eye to pass through and usually when I do that, since I like to hand quilt, I would just hand quilt it then). Chelsea often machine quilts with a 50wt thread and uses a 70/10 Microtex because the weight of the thread is matched to her needle size.
- Metallic Thread: When I quilt with metallic thread, I use a topstitch or metallic needle, size 80 or 90. Both of these types of needles have a slightly rounded point and the metallic needle has an elongated eye, which is supposed to help the thread pass through without fraying. Keep in mind not all metallic threads are created equal (I only use Schmetz needles) so results may vary. Also a little tip for metallic threads - use a thread conditioner and loosen that top tension!
- Changing my needle: You're supposed to change your needle every 6-8 hours of sewing. Since quilting is mostly not actually sitting at your sewing machine (cutting, ironing, need a snack, move the cat off the fabric pile, seam ripping, etc.) it can be hard to gauge when you've hit that mark (unless you have a really fancy computerized sewing machine, which I do not). I don't change mine nearly often enough. If the machine starts to act weird, sound clackity, skip stitches, then that's usually my trigger to change my needle. Or when I stop to wind bobbins, i'll clean out the machine and change the needle too. One last note-I found no difference with the more expensive Chrome needles when I tried them in terms of longevity, so I just buy the "normal" ones.
