Your stitches are well done. You were brave to use a dark thread because the flaws are more apparent with a high contrast. Then again there aren't any apparent flaws in your work. You made a good choice to begin your hand quilting on a small project. Hand quilting is relaxing and can be addicting. Great project.

Those stitches look great. Why would you stitch in the ditch? The entire point of hand-quilting is to show off your handiwork. Keep going - you are doing a wonderful job.

Nice first try! Have you considered big stitch with heavier thread. Most of mine are quilted that way now.

Your stitches are great.

That looks very good for a first attempt...wait...what am I saying??? That looks pretty good, period!!! I hope you enjoyed it...to me, THAT is the real test!! Love your little quilt!!

I agree with everyone else - your stitching is fabulous. Basting is important, no doubt. But I don't think I'd be brave enough to try spray basting for hand quilting. I think that might cause quite a bit of drag on both the needle and the thread. I usually pin about a hand-width apart in all directions and that seems to work well. If I'm doing a large (king/queen) quilt, I've migrated to thread basting to help keep down the weight. But still do that about a hand-width apart as well.

Good luck and enjoy.

For the first time, that's looking good.

I would be HAPPY if mine looked like yours!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with everyone who said that it looks great, especially for a first attempt. I'd like to add that sewing through batiks is harder than with "normal" quilting cotton. I think that you were quilting almost ¼ inch from the ditch, so that there was quilting on all 4 sides of each diamond? I imagine that you found some sides easier than others? That was because you were not quite a full ¼ inch from each side, so that sometimes you were going through one layer and other times you were going through 3 layers. If you were definitely "in the ditch," you'd always have sewn through only one layer, but the definition of all four sides of the diamonds would not have occurred. In sum, you were going through dense fabric, sometimes in three layers, so you should really pat yourself on the back for having done a very good job.

Looks good to me too!