Watson

Thanks to everyone who has replied. I know hand quilting is an art all on its own and I don't take it lightly!
I think I will look for a more open pattern as many of you have suggested.

Thanks, Watson

feline fanatic

another option is to mix hand quilting and machine quilting. This way you do not have as much hand quilting. I did that in this baby quilt:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ar-t25770.html

Hand quilting is very time consuming. Before I got my longarm, I was a hand quilter for all my larger bed size quilts and anywhere I wanted a motif I was not confident enough to FMQ. On average it took me 2 to 3 years to complete quilting on those large bed size quilts. I could do a baby size quicker but most of those combined hand with machine. I could never have completed them in time for the baby shower otherwise. The pattern you linked to, while cute, would be a huge chore to hand quilt 100%. Even if you started today you would be hard pressed to complete it by September and it has a lot of seams. Additionally with all the piecing your hard work of handquilting wouldn't really show. The piecing would overpower it. It is definitely easier to hand quilt in the areas there aren't any seam allowances to go through and if you have alternating square of no patchwork there is a place for your quilting to show. So I tried to find patterns that had large areas with no piecing so it was easier to quilt and the quilting would show. The exception to that was my Tumbling blocks quilt which was mostly just quilting 1/4" away from the seam and some decorative quilting in the borders. http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...ks-t22344.html

Starts and stops were never an issue for me because I would "travel" between motifs in the sandwich.

joe'smom

Your friend had no idea what she was asking for in practical terms, and you also had no idea what you were agreeing to in practical terms, not knowing anything about hand quilting. Unless you turn out to be one of the rare people who takes to hand quilting naturally, it's going to take time to get your hand quilting up to the quality you'd want displayed on a gift. You might ask your friend what's more important to her -- having the quilt hand-quilted, or getting it while her baby is still a baby. Once she understands that the skill to hand quilt well is not something that normally can be developed in an afternoon, a machine quilted quilt might seem more attractive to her.

RST

I think you should ask your friend to share photos of what she has in mind. Her idea of "hand quilted" may be very different from a quilter's definition.

I agree with the suggestions of mixing some machine quilting for stability with some big stitch handquilting, for design element if you decide to indulge her fancy. Generally speaking, going to the trouble and investing time in hand quilting is not best suited to either a baby item or a wall quilt. Reading your post (obviously we don't know the whole situation or the people involved) but it sounds like she's pretty clueless about quilting in general and has heard that hand quilted equals better or more valuable, so she wants that. You sound very kind and accommodating and willing to try what she wants, but maybe overly so. Unless she is paying you to make this, do what you know and do well. Even if she is paying you, wow. Hand quilt a pot holder first to see what you'd have to charge per hour to make any kind of sense.

GramE

i'm very new at hand quilting & I would say make a couple of small projects to practice on to keep at home. Mug rug, table runner. Took me one big quilt to kinda figure out what I could & couldn't do. What kind of needle I was comfortable with, thimble etc.

i did make my great granddaughter a hand quilted Minky backed quilt but I quilted it with hearts around the borders before I put the Minky on by stitching it in the ditch. I drew the hearts with a template & water erasable pen.

Kitsie

Whatever pattern you do, you can always start with "Stab stitching", (one stitch at a time) rather than trying to "load" multiple stitches onto the needle before pulling through. And by all means use the suggestion of Big Stitching! The ones I have done are much favored by the recipients over the tiny stitch ones. They like to see the pattern!

Look up some videos for help and also check the Tutorials category here on the board! Good luck and enjoy!

Watson

Sounds like I may have to back out gracefully on this....

Although I do love a challenge.

Watson

Bree123

I saw this technique with Jen Kingwell on YouTube that just uses little X'es hand stitched. It is so sweet, perfect for a baby quilt & wouldn't take months or years to learn! It's like a cross between hand quilting & hand tying. Maybe she'd be open to that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abZo5osIlxk

NJ Quilter

I'm sure you could manage the project as long as you come up with a relatively simple pattern for the quilt as well as a fairly open, easy quilting design. once you get into a rhythm the quilting isn't so bad...I actually find it relaxing normally, thus why I suggest something open and simple as to the quilting motif. The less you have to start/stop, the more consistent your stitching and the more relaxing it is.

Genden

I love the pattern you picked out. It does have a lot of seams, but is doable. If it were my quilt to quilt, I would quilt it 1/4 inch from the seams, then you don't have to quilt over seams or through multiple layers.
1. Use silk batting. It needles easily.
2. Use a size 10 Hiroshoma Tulip betweens needle. They are sharp, never bend, and glide through the fabric.
3. Use quilting thread. I like YLI brand.
4. I don't use a hoop, just lap quilt a small baby quilt.

Most important. Make a small quilt sandwich with the same fabric and batting to practice on. You will find out if this is something doable for you. You could also try out big stitch to see how that works for you. I haven't done big stitch, so don't know what kind of needle to use, but it does look nice.