minibarn

We is it the we quilters always have to look at the back of a quilt. I am a fairly new hand quilter and when I look at the back it makes me want to cry. I can't decided whether to keep going or pick out what's there and send it off to be finished.

I do have a couple of hand quilting questions too. I find that when I push my needle through, then tip it back the needle sometimes pops back through the layers instead of taking the stitch. I try to only push it through until I feel the tip of the needle, but sometimes that just does not seem like enough. Do any of you ever get what looks like a run in the fabric when trying to pop the knot through? What am I doing wrong?

Now for opinions...the quilt I am working on is a Bears Paw, with sashing and setting squares, and a wide border. Can I wait and quilt the borders after I take it out of the frame or should I do it along w/the rest? I am doing just straight line quilting, and wondered if I add some curvy stuff to the border will it look strange? Or I thought about doing a "paw" on the border, just sort of and oval shape w/round "toes"...if that makes sense. Would that look OK w/the straight lines?

Thanks for any help,
Jp

RST

I think we look at the back because often there is some interesting piecing going on. Also, it's fun to see the quilting lines and the sometimes interesting secondary patterns that develop on the back. Don't be too hard on your own work. It does take practice.

re. the runs in fabric - sounds like possibly a dull needle? Or too large a needle for the weave? What size are you using? General rule of thumb is to use the finest needle you can handle. You may also want to experiement witha variety of different brands to find one that suits you. I personally like St. Johns brand -- very fine and sharp.

re. your question about quilting borders -- I prefer to have the tension of hoop or frame, but it does fall into personal preference. When I'm toying with a design idea and not sure if I'll be happy with it, I find it helps to do it on a small scale piece-- maybe some leftover blocks with a border which you can turn into a pillow sham or a table topper. Try out the paw print idea and see if you like it enough to do it many times over on the quilt.

And lastly, definitely post pictures here so we can give it some praise!

Tartan

If a knot doesn't want to pop into the sandwich on the first try, I take the tip of the needle and wiggle it a bit to separate the fibers for the knot to pop through.
When hand quilting, I push the needle with my thimble until it pricks the bottom finger and then immediately rock the needle up. I think we have a video posted in QB tutorials of a excellent hand quilter in action. She does her quilting one stitch at a time.

Prism99

I see you are frame quilting. Try loosening the tension on the quilt. You want quite a bit of "give" in the quilt (for a lap hoop, you want to be able to push the middle part in at least 4", the size of a fist) so you can manipulate the quilt sandwich as well as the needle. I think this would solve the problem of your needle popping out instead of making a stitch. I have not quilted on a frame, but I know a common beginner mistake with hoops is to tension the quilt too tightly (like a drum). Even on my machine quilting frame, I need to leave the quilt fairly loosely tensioned in order to get good stitches.

How are you making the knot? It may be too big. Check out various Youtube videos on how to make a classic quilter's knot. Here is one but, if it doesn't work for you, check out others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g04jPV8tM2E

To bury a knot that doesn't go in immediately, I first try "scratching" the knot area with a fingernail.

Regarding the borders, you could certainly leave those alone for now. After taking the quilt off the frame, I would use a laphoop to hand quilt the borders (basting first). Quilting curving lines in the border of a primarily geometric quilt can add a lot of interest to the quilt, so that would be fine. To quilt the borders in a lap hoop, you would probably want to add a strip of fabric so that the border can be hooped all the way to the edge.

stillclock

sometimes my quilter's knots aren't quite tight enough. if it refuses to go through i have been known to snip it and re-knot it after pulling it. sometimes just moving over a bit helps it pop.

i have nothing to add to the stitch thing. you get a callous eventually.

and i look at the back so i can see the stitching. i'm not looking to judge the stitch length or accuracy, but to get a much better sense of the pattern. so often the genius of handquilting reveals itself in seeing the whole design as a harmonic effort.

and as for motifs? use them! but know that unless you are echo quilting you'll have to look at your back to really see it

enjoy!

aileen

Gannyrosie

Hand quilting takes practice, patience, and time. Be patient, I started HQ when I was 16, but stopped for a long time. Maybe you're trying too hard. Make a little bigger stitch, but concise. I do all mine on a frame, I"ve never quilted in a hoop even though I have two. Since HQ is a long process, I know we tend to want to "get it" the first time, we know however it will not happen. Look at the you tubes, they are extremely helpful. Also, washing puts those threads back in place.

minibarn

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and help. I keep reminding myself to take my time, and w/time I will get better. I have decided the end of the quilt I am starting on will be the end of the quilt because I figure by the time I make it to the other end I should be pretty good at it LOL!!! The quilt it 72x86 so I have a lot of practice ahead of me. I told my daughter I hope to have it done by Spring...does that sound unreasonable if I work at it some almost every day?

I am using a frame (Grace EZ3) and I have the quilt fairly loose, but went ahead and loosened it some more. I am using a size 11 between, can't remember the maker but it has a gold eye and I think I bought them at Hancocks of Paducah. I also use Roxanne size 10's. I like the shorter needles as it does not seem so far between my finger and thumb. I tend to poke my thumb when taking the top stitch so it is usually sore and not my underfinger.

Thanks again, and I was glad to be directed to the tutorial I found it interesting...I'd like to see her in action.

Jp

janedee

I do all handquilting and like you I found that I was skipping a lot of stitches on the back, when I spoke to a fellow quilter she suggested using a longer between needle, which I did, and the difference was amazing, hardly any skipped stitches now might be worth a try. Don't forget to take breaks whilst quilting each day or you could end up feeling pretty sore!!! looking forward to seeing it on here

NJ Quilter

Handquilting can certainly be an exercise in humility! I sometimes look at the backs of my quilts and think to myself 'really?'. You should be very close to done by spring if you work at it consistently. Holidays got in the way of my current project so I'm pushing myself to the max to get it done by the end of the month so it can be gifted on time. Right now my fingers feel like pincushions. I think a curvy quilting pattern on the border would be perfect. Especially if you are doing all straight line quilting on the body of the quilt. And your pattern is very angular as well, so the curvy border quilting will offset both styles beautifully.

hairquilt

Love this post!! I've been HQ 15 years and never thought to try 1 size larger needle! I too have missed stitches on back. Gonna try immediately! I use Piecemakers 10s & hate to throw away because too dull as they never break! LOL