To hand quilt with Perle or to send to longarmer?
 

Hello, I am nearing the end of an EPP project with one inch pieces. The seams are pressed open. I would like to try hand quilting with a big stitch using Perle (not densely quilted) but I am wondering if this is not the project to start learning on as the majority of stitches would need to go through the seam allowance. I unsure of how much difference that makes for ease of quilting and if using a bigger needle factors into this.
I don't want my first experience to be bad :) What do you think? Or am I even being clear enough to convey my question… long day!

I'm not a hand quilter and can't answer your question with any authority, but there are several videos and tutorials on using perle cotton for hand quilting on the internet. Perhaps one of those will give you an idea of how difficult it would be?

When I took a hand quilting class, the instructor said you should keep a practice piece to make sure you can do what you want and then use the practice to warm up before picking up the quilt, sometimes is takes a few stitches to get your rhythm.

I hand quilt all the time but have not used the pearle cotton or the big stitch. I agree to make up a small practice piece of similar type to what you are currently doing and try it. I've done stitch in the ditch hand quilting and have moved away from that as you don't get to see the quilting. Would probably be different with the pearle/big stitch but might not be the look you are going for on this particular quilt.

My question would be about the scale of the stitches to the scale of the pieces. With pieces that are just 1", and EPP which is usually quite fine, the big stitch quilting may look out of proportion. The stitches are usually about ¼" long with 1/8" spaces between them. It's very informal and might not be what you want for this project. Trying a sample first is a great idea, but try it on the same type of EPP work to be sure.

Thank you all, it never occurred to me to try it on a practice piece, I need to pick a bad block and stitch away, ,any thank your, as always!

My first reaction is....open seams - hand quilting w/perle cotton in those seams....possible breaking piecing thread.....that's just me........