Thread: Hand quilting

I have been machine piecing quilt tops for about 3 years and then sending them to a long armer to finish. I would like to start hand quilting some of my smaller pieces and am looking for resources, advice, and wisdom from all of you. I started a piece yesterday and think my batting (which I grabbed from my stash) is too thick.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Ditto what she said. I'm having fun practicing.

Originally Posted by ptquilts

Congratulations on learning a new skill! You should start with thin batting, and not too dense. Can you split the batting you have? Are you using a quilting hoop?

There are a lot of hand quilters on here, we will be glad to help you. That being said, hand quilting was the only aspect of quilting I needed an actual lesson for. Sometimes it is hard to learn without watching someone else.

Welcome to the wonderful world of hand quilting! I'm probably in the minority that does not find hand quilting with W&N difficult...probably because I've never used other batting. I use a hoop (mostly - sometimes not) in my lap; use Roxanne quilting 'between' needles - usually size 11 and a Thimblelady thimble. All of those tools are ones I have evolved to over the years as being the most comfortable for me. I also use a rubber fingertip (like used to be used for counting money/paper) to help with pulling the needle through and sometimes even small pliers. Also like Thread Heaven conditioner.

Ask away with your questions and we're all here to help.

The most useful resource for me was Roxanne McElroy's book, 'That Perfect Stitch'. She has the very best photos I've seen to explain the dynamics of the traditional quilting stitch. I started out with that, but could not continue with the traditional stitch because of limitations due to arthritis in my hands. I was thinking I would have to give up on the idea of hand quilting, but then I saw a discussion on this board where someone mentioned Liuxin Newman's book, 'Perfect Hand Quilting without Pain'. The method is similar to the traditional stitch, but Newman's (she's Thimblelady) method eliminates the tension in the fingers and excess movement in the wrist.

I also use Roxanne betweens, Thread Heaven and the little rubber finger. The key thing is not to expect perfection right away, but just keep on stitching. I considered my first hand-quilted quilt a learning quilt, and just kept going, no matter how bad my stitches were.

Originally Posted by joe'smom

The most useful resource for me was Roxanne McElroy's book, 'That Perfect Stitch'. She has the very best photos I've seen to explain the dynamics of the traditional quilting stitch. I started out with that, but could not continue with the traditional stitch because of limitations due to arthritis in my hands. I was thinking I would have to give up on the idea of hand quilting, but then I saw a discussion on this board where someone mentioned Liuxin Newman's book, 'Perfect Hand Quilting without Pain'. The method is similar to the traditional stitch, but Newman's (she's Thimblelady) method eliminates the tension in the fingers and excess movement in the wrist.

I also use Roxanne betweens, Thread Heaven and the little rubber finger. The key thing is not to expect perfection right away, but just keep on stitching. I considered my first hand-quilted quilt a learning quilt, and just kept going, no matter how bad my stitches were.

Thanks so much for the info

I like to hand quilt on my Q Snap floor frame. It is the only time I use polyester batt anymore. The needle slides really well through polyester. Work on getting your hand quilting stitches even before trying to get them small. You can also look into the " big stitch" method done with perle cotton thread.