I'm making a Grandmother's Flower Garden piecing by hand and I sure hope my seams hold!

So would you recommend using single thread or doubling it? I'm DYING to hand-piece something ever since I got Jinny Beyer's handquilting book. Been carrying the thing around with me everywhere, it's SUCH an awesome book!

If I remember correctly, Jinny recommends a single strand of thread, and that's what my teacher recommended, as well.

ditto

I would say yes as hand pieced antique quilts are still holding together :-)

I have some quilts my great grandmother made, all hand stitched and hand quilted and they're in great shape. I've laundered them carefully and have used a couple of them some. The back stitching is important and super little stitches.

I use a single strand of cotton thread, and sometimes poly-cotton if that's what I have on hand. I don't double it.

Janet

I would say yes, but depending on how your hand stitching it.

I pieced a couple of quilts by hand. I think I used single strand on one, double on another. I back stitched every stitch. Still holding up.
For hand quilting I use a single strand.
I do mostly machine piecing and machine quilting. That said, you cannot beat hand work for portability.

Well all I can answer to this is to go by my quiits. I have a quilt of my mothers,hand pieced and handquilted, made in the thirties or fourties,used on the beds,kids played with and on it. washed many times,only now wearing out. The earliest one I made and still have access to is one I made my DGD when she was less than a year old and she has used it constantly since then and is still using it.She is 20 this year.