Originally Posted by
quiltingcandy
I took a beginners hand quilting class even though I had been hand quilting for years. And one of the things she did was provide each student with a quilt sandwich of 15 in square - some of it had a design lines and most of it did not. She told us to just sew without the lines so she could view what level she was teaching where to focus - but she also said that almost everyone needs a warm up period, so before you quilt your sandwich - take a few minutes to warm up on this scrap sandwich. That was 15 years ago but I still do it because I don't hand quilt that often and a bit of a warm up helps get the rhythm. Also there is a great book out there for hand quilting. "That Perfect Stitch" by D. MacEleroy. It is well worth the money.
When I taught quilting I did just that, gave each student a practice sandwich.I told them to date each one they filled and it was lovely to see their smiles as they saw the improvements.I still use a practice piece to warm up as I now have bad arthritis.Also don't beat yourself up with tiny stitches at first,even stitches are more important.It's great to know so many still like to hand quilt.