I always use my thumb nail when I quilt away from me and the thimble for other directions.Yes, I have gotten a hole in my thumb nail many times. Just have to remember to use a different spot on the nail.

:) Feline, that is exactly what I thought after reading Happy Treadler's post! You speak right from my heart...

I think I have read amost every book about hand quilting available and there are as many ways doing this craft as hand quilters in our world! Try out what works best for you. You don't have to use a thimble if you can't get along with it. You don't have to put several stitches on your needle when you feel better doing single stitches. You don't have to quilt in every direction when it works better for you to keep just one. The result counts. Enjoy hand quilting and find your personal way to do it!

Just one more thought:

a very famous English hand quilter, Lilian Hedley, also quilts without thimbles and she does a marvellous work. You can visit her homepage here:

http://lilian-hedley-quilter.com/index.htm

You see we are in good company! :)

Yay!! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I'm going to try to post a picture of my 'nail quilting technique' for those who think we are a bit nuts and can't figure out what we're talking about. ha ha

I always use a band aid!

Took two quick pics this morning for those who couldn't wrap their mind around 'fingernail quilting'. I did use a thimble on my pointy finger to quilt towards me, and I'm getting better at that. Really not as awkward-feeling as using one on my middle finger. My point of really trying to use this is so I can quilt longer without wearing a hole in my nail. Quilting with my thumb nail is SO much more natural feeling to me, and it's what I prefer to do. Sorry if the pics aren't so good. It's really hard to do with one hand, but my new lap top quilt hoop makes it a LOT easier than it would be with a regular hoop. :) I still LOVE this hoop, and I hope to get the 14" one some day.

I'm so glad to read that I am not the only one to use my nail for quilting. I use that method so I can tell the length of stitch.

(my stitches are not show-quality, but they are fairly even...)