elizajo

After spending countless hours wrestling with machine quilting two quilts in December, I vowed that I would once again try hand quilting at least one of the children's quilts I plan to make in coming months. I ordered two new kinds of thimbles, 4 packages of needles, and several threads. While I am between projects I decided to try different methods with the materials I have on hand. I watched many video tutorials online demonstrating as many methods as I could find. I decided to try hoopless quilting first, because my previous attempts with hand quilting using hoops or frames never felt comfortable for me.

I am still waiting for the Thimble Lady's old style thimble to arrive from Australia, but I sat down with my practice sandwich and tried various combos of needles and the ten thimbles I have. I found that I can make the best stitches with a size 10, either a John James Straw or Betweens. Thinner needles bend or break quickly. Maybe I can work up to them.

I needed to watch several teachers demo hoopless quilting before something clicked with me. I need to fold the fabric at the beginning and end of each stitch so that the needle enters the fabric at the top and bottom at a 90 degree angle. Only one teacher specifically said that, but after watching the videos again, the others did it, too. They just didn't say it.

Of course, I found that it felt more natural for me to thimble with my index finger instead of the third finger, and I really don't have a thimble that is sized for that finger. Hope my Thimble Lady thimble fits! For now, I load my stitches without a thimble, and put the thimble on to push the needle through. With the straw needle I need a grabber to pull the needle through.

All of this to say, sometimes you have to try many different tools and methods to find what works for you.