I love hand quilting. I use a leather thimble. I used to use finger cots but they kept tearing and didn't last long. I went to my local office supply store and purchased a little rubber finger tip used to sort papers. It's much stronger and I've been using for 2 years. If you have trouble with the rocking motion you might have your quilt to tight in the hoop. You need it to be a little loose.

I do both, but prefer hand quilting. I recently sold my LA to my best friend who allows me to still use it as I need to. (Great friend!)
karen

Where did you get your safety pins? I ask because I bought a large box of the supposedly "quilt" ones, at my most hated fabric store, Hancocks (they were on clearance, I only buy their notions on sale),they are bent in the middle. The problem is the point is not smooth and even if I try to take sandpaper to them and smooth , they pull batting thru the fabric. Now I buy the high quality batting and fabric, but these damn pins are not worth a hoot.....should I just go with the regular old safety pins???? Or is the problem the size of the pin?

I have been quilting--self-taught--since the '70's, all by hand. As I get older, the eyes growing weaker, I will be forced to start doing machine quilting. I have tried to practice on a 20" square sandwich that is pin-basted and am having a terrible time! I have a walking-foot on my machine that I have tried. I have also dropped the feed-dogs and used the darning foot (circle thingy with hole in the middle where needle goes up and down. I simply can't get the hang of it. Can you help me with some tips and tricks? Thanks so much!

I bought my big safety pins at Walmart... and they work beautifuly!

I hand quilt...I am slow but I do enjoy it very much...

I am a hand quilter, always have been. I keep thinking I ought to learn to machine quilt, simply for the production boost it would afford me, but I really don't enjoy time spent at my sewing machine. I machine piece for the most part, it's efficient, but I don't really like it.

But I truly LIKE hand quilting. It's relaxing. The repetitive hand movements free the mind to dream, plan, or worry, whichever is appropriate for the day. I go in my room almost every night and spend several hours hand quilting. When something comes up that I cannot, my day does not feel complete.

I hand quilt most of my tops, some I have sent to a machine quilter, I tell myslef that i will do it on my machine but then I chicken out. I but the big old fashioned diaper pins to pin baste . They are the sharpest and dont rust.