I am trying to learn to hand quilt "again" and was wondering if I have to use a hoop.I have basted the quilt good on my long arm.And if i do use the hoop how loose should the quilt be?

back when.... i used a hoop

I don't do much hand quilting, but when I do I use a hoop.

I use a hoop. Check out this website. Alex Anderson (Simply Quilts) is known for her hand quilting. Some of the programs require a membership but there is a lot of free information also. Click on the Blog tab and scroll through the features until you find Alex's blogs on hand quilting. I think there are about 20 sessions and they are interesting and loaded with great information.

http://www.thequiltshow.com

I always use a round or oval hoop, not attached to a stand. So I can sit back in a comfy chair!!

I use a lap hoop. But it isn't really necessary to use either a frame or a hoop - DH's grandmother doesn't use either, just quilts in her lap. I have found the hoop helps me, though.

I am doing a small piece right now, about 8 X 10 and I am not using a hoop or frame. I have not done anything bigger though. My aunt hand quilts all the quilts she makes and she uses a frame. She loves it.

I use an oval hoop, sit at a table and prop one of the longer sides on the table for some stability. The quilt needs to be a little loose in the hoop so it is easier to quilt. I do a rocking stitch and it took several adjustments to determine how much give I required for the best results.

As mentioned previously, Alex Anderson has tutorials on the many facets of hand quilting.

http://www.thequiltshow.com/
Select: Daily Blog
Category - Tutorials
May 2011
June 2011
Lesson 1 starts on June 28

I am currently hand quilting (by stab stitching) on my Inspira quilt frame.

I use a hoop and I like my quilt to be somewhat tight so the backing doesn't get a pucker in it. I also have one of the PVC frames but haven't tried it out since I got my long arm shortly after that.

i use the morgan hoop just love it when i first learned to hand quilt my quilt teacher didnt use a hoop she rolled as she went along

I'm doing DH's double wedding ring & it's so large I couldn't find anything that was working for me! What I did was spread it out across my big board, had him make me some 'door stopper looking thingys' to have my big board at an angle & it's working the best so far. NO hoops or anything. I would love to be able to sit in a recliner & use a hoop & do a block or two a night but it just isn't possible when it's like a super king size quilt....

Here's the lap hoop I like to use for hand quilting:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/prod...PTOP-HOOP-.htm

It swivels so I can position the hoop any way I want, as often as I want. I keep the quilt very loose in the hoop; at least a fist's width of "give" in the center.

Yes, I do use a hoop, though the first quilt I made was quilted without one. On that first quilt, I tried to use a hoop but it just felt awkward. And it worked out fine. I tried a hoop again on my next quilt and managed to get the hang of it; now I always use one. When the subject came up recently, I tried quilting without one again to see how it felt, and quickly went back to the hoop! lol To me, it's easier to manage what I'm working on and keep it where I want it, if it's in a hoop.

As far as the tension- I used to keep mine pretty tight but now I've loosened it way, way up. (Some people suggest imagining a cat is laying on the middle of it- it sags.)It's much easier to rock the needle up and down, and to get smaller stitches when the tension is looser.

Gads, I don't do that anymore really.

But one year recently at Quilt Camp in the Desert - an almost week long series of different quilting classes held here in Phoenix at the end of January - they had someone teaching hand quilting without a hoop (or frame.) I sat in on the class briefly but holding the needle was too much for me to do for long.

So, now I know of quilters who do a variety of hand quilting: hoop, frame, and neither.

ali

I use a floor frame, which took some getting use to, but now I prefer it to a hoop.

Many hand quilters like a hoop because it's easier to turn the quilt so you sew towards your body. There are also a number of quilters who just baste the sandwich really well, and use no hoop at all.

Janet

I started out quilting with a hoop but, while traveling it was hard to change place while going down the road! I tried quilting without and found it wonderful. That was many years ago and I still hand quilt without hoop or frame....even large quilts.

Now I have another ? I watched Alex Anderson blog on hand quilting she said to start with a Size 7 betweens needle,Went to look aat needles found between 7 and 7 quilting and are two different sizes really confused. Might I have to give up before I even start.

First I use a hoop & quilt toward myself.
Second I discovered with my last quilt that when I got to the edge I could quilt without the hoop but when I went back to the middle I had to have the hoop.
Third When I started I used embroidery needles.I was that dumb. When I changed to quilting betweens I was pleasantly surprised! I use size 10s now but I did order the size 11 Roxanns 'cause I think that I'm ready to start with a smaller needle. Use the smallest needle you can & still have control then when your ready go down. You're so smart to investigate.

I don't like either of them to hand quilt.I prefer to sit it in my lap with no frame or hoop.

Hello! :D I have used all 3 ways to hand quilt. I like to use a quilt frame for a big quilt. I hand baste all three layers and then baste onto a muslin strip I tacked onto each of the supports. I like it to be be pretty tight. I use John James #12 gold needles. Am hoping to get a quilt into the frame after Christmas, perhaps I will be able to take a picture of it and post it on here. My quilting has gone to the sidelines for the past couple of years as I have been doing crocheting, knitting, cross stitch, and also working on putting cross stitch designs onto my puter to send to my Viking Designer SE to stitch out. Life is toooo short.....need about 10 more lifetimes to finish it all.

I have hand quilted for years using a hoop. The quilt in my avatar the GMFG is still on the oval hoop that I use. I like the quilt pretty snug on the hoop to start wtih this way I can be sure there will be no puckering. I have been giving my hands a break here lately as I am using my Grace system right now, just learning something new and giving the Arthritis in my hands a much needed break

I wouldn't let that stop you!

Everyone is different, and what worked for Alex and what worked for me will be entirely different. When I started, I bought a pack with several different size needles. I found the size 9 worked better for me, then worked down to size 11.

Whenever I see a new needle brand, I buy a pack just to try. Right now, my favorite is Richard Hemmings size 11.

Janet

I have both an old-fashioned circular embroidery hoop (but large enough for quilts) and a standing circular quilt hoop. But I find that if I baste my quilts ala Sharon Shambers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwNylePFAA), I don't need a hoop at all.

-- jillaine

I always like to quilt on my 24" hoop. If you stab stitch to quilt then the quilt should be tight, but if - like me - you "rock the needle" then before you tighten the screw on the hoop, punch the centre of the quilt to loosen it. Then you have a bit of "play" to rock the needle.

I have a hoop I use in my lap for smaller quilts or the outside edges of a large quilt. I also have a Hinterburg round floor hoop for when I do larger quilts and quilt close to the center. It supports the outside edges better. After puttung the quilt in the hoop give it a small push in the center to loosen it up somewhat and give it some give.

I JUST HAD TO HAVE THE NICE HOOP ON A SMALL CIRCLE FRAME AND FOUND OUT AFTER ONE QUILT THAT MY BACK COULD NOT STAND THAT. SO I STILL HAVE IT BUT HAVE USED A 10 INCH HOOP SINCE 1989 I HAVE MADE 12 KING SIZE AND 55 LAP OR BABY SIZES AND NOT COUNTING THE ONES FOR CHARITY QUILTS. YES IT CAN BE DONE AND I WORK 40 HOURS OR MORE A WEEK BUT HELPS ME RELAX AND HIDES A LOT OF MY FEELINGS AS I THINK AND QUILT. GG

I do not use either. As long as it is well basted and a corner is held down for tension I can quilt anywhere. Use the running stitch so my left hand is underneath manipulating the fabric. You can easily get nice even small stitches.

If it was a small project I used a hoop and with large quilts I made a frame with 2X4 lumber and c clamps. Told you I was old.

I use an oval hoop on a stand. I also keep mine a little taught so the backing is smooth.

I have a friend who likes to quilt in bed. She sits with the quilt all around her with no hoop.

I don't use a hoop or frame....I feel I have more control without

I don't use a hoop or frame-hand quilt in my lap by rolling and turning as I need to. Never could get used to a hoop even with cross stitch.

No, I find it more comfortable not to use a hoop/stand

I do not use a hoop. If the quilt is basted well, you should not need to. I find it much easier to hand quilt without one.

oval hoop and love it...

I use a hoop...think it's 18" round hoop, I baste them
in first..just like you were going to set at a quilting bee
and quilt. Baste about every 12 inches both ways...big
stitches, just too hold it all in olace. Then start at the
center and quilt out, in case it was not stretched quite as
tight as you thought. The hoop helps everything stay in
place. Mine does not have a sag in the center, but it is
not real, real tight in there either...enough that you can
rock the fabric back and forth on the needle. I do king
size, also, but as you turn the hoop around this way and
that you have to reach down and help that part that hangs
out of the quilt move around or it gets twisted up. It's
just heavy to move...needs a little help. I wouldn't do itany other way.

I am be one of a few or the only one who basted the project well the I don't use either...I seemed to have trouble with the frames or hoops where I can do the mountain and valley (one hand on top and the other underneath), so I find it easier to use nothing.

Both. Crib quilts or smaller in a hoop, stretched fairly tight. Larger quilts on a frame. That is when I hand quilt, which I don't do so much of since I learned to FMQ.

I use neither.
Just take the needle to the fabric. When it is pinned, or spray basted, i then mark it and go.