Hand or machine quilt--Advice needed greatly!
 

I am finally finished with my wool on cotton Caswell quilt top after about working on it for about 1 1/2 years. I have been going back and forth on how to finish it--hand quilt it or give it to a long arm quilter. Some people have told me that if I hand quilt it, it will be difficult (won't be able to hold the quilt snugly in an hoop because of the wool objects, it will be heavy, the quilting will make the wool objects pop out too much). I'm really torn; part of me wants to hand quilt it because it is a special quilt to me and the other part of me just wants it to look nice. I know this is the best place to get expert guidance and advice. Thank you!

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JMHO, I would hand quilt.

Beautiful. Will the hoop leave a mark on the wool. I think it deserves hand quilting if it does’t.

What a beauty! For me, I'd need to have it machine quilted. :)

I think it deserves to be hand quilted. It really is beautiful.

It’s lovely. I think you could go either way and get nice results. If you have it long armed choose someone who you have a good raport with so you can talk about what you’d like the finished quilt to look like.


If you enjoy hand quilting and want to quilt it, go for it, it’s your quilt.

Also, what’s wrong with the quilting making the wool objects pop out? They’re the focal point of your quilt. If you want them to pop let them. If you want them to be flattened, then it might be easier for a longarmer to do that than trying to hand needle through the applique, top, batting and batting. I’m not a hand quilter, so maybe this question is off base, but could you put it on a frame to hand quilt it instead of in a hoop?

Rob

As many of us have found, we prefer to hand quilt without a hoop and I think it deserves it! Even if you use a stab-stitch and it takes another 1 1/2 years!

Wow! I am at a loss here. I hand quilt anything larger than placemats, but This would be a project. It is gorgeous, and you have already put in a lot of work. Maybe talk to a longarmer and get her input, then think about it some more, if you do not have a dead line. I know that is not a real answer, but I am on the fence.

Would you plan to stitch around the applique? Wouldn't that be tremendously costly if done by a long-armer?

I once quilted a beaded and embroidered quilt in a hoop. I think you would be able to get the hoop snug enough. As for those other issues, if you've hand quilted before you will know how to deal with the heaviness, and I think machine quilting would make the wool pop more than hand quilting would. I vote for hand quilting -- if you want to, that is.

I only machine quilt, so that is what I would do. I quilt all my quilts.

It is gorgeous.