Hand quilting in a hoop
 

A friend of mine has a quilt top her grandma made in the 20s or 30s. We discussed ways that this could be quilted. She likes to hand sew but not machine sew. Can you hand quilt a king size quilt a little at a time in a big hoop? I thought I would help her baste the layers together by machine with thread that comes out in the wash.

What is the easiest batting to use for hand quilting? Could we put the batting in using three pieces to make it less bulky as she quilts? Best thread?

Any suggestions on how to quilt this quilt? I thought just echoing the hexes as the piecing is the star of this quilt.
Thanks. She's interested to hear what the board says.
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Wow, what a treasure! I love that she stuck to a limited color palette with this. I can't answer your question about hand-quilting a king size quilt, but I think wool is definitely the easiest batting to hand quilt through.

I've tried to big stitch quilt some sample blocks with both Warm and Natural and Quilter's Dream Select cotton and of the two, the QD was definitely easier because it doesn't have a scrim, but still not as easy as the wool. The needle glides through the wool like butter! :)

Now having said that, I do think that you would get the most "authentic" 30's look with a cotton batting.

And I would agree with you about echoing the hexes.

Check out Mary Huey"s blog. "quilting through rose colored trifocals". She showed a GFG quilt yesterday that she did with big stitch, quilting around each "round of hexies". Looks very nice. Your quilt top is beautiful.

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*** Yes, it can be done on a hoop.
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*** I did one King on a hoop, but it was tiring to hold it up.
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I agree with what Sheryl said.

I am a lap quilter and have done a king size chevron quilt. I used my small grace frame to drape it over to take some of the weight from my lap. You can also drape it over a chair or a table.

I think doing it in thirds would be hard.

Note that if you are wanting warmth from the finished quilt, wool is much better than cotton.

I think echo quilting is traditional with hexies.

I'm working on a twin size Irish Chain right now, and I drape it over a table while I work on it. I tried sitting in my recliner with it but I just didn't like having all of that in my lap.

Also, I tried using a Q snap frame but didn't like that either, so I quilt "hoopless".

Sit near a table and prop the far edge of the hoop on the edge of the table. Takes a lot of the weight off you. I did it this way for many years before I got a floor frame.

Oh how beautiful and how lucky is your friend!!!!

I quilt in a hoop when i travel. I take the large hoop and "hang" it on the back of the desk chair in the hotel rooms. That will support the weight of the quilt. I would start in the middle of the quilt and work my way out - yes, it's a long way, but that's the best way I have found.

I would roll/fold up the quilt on the one side I wasn't working on to control all the extra fabric.

I hand baste my quilts before quilting. Yes, it takes some time, but i just take the radio plan on taking a few hours to do it.

I finished a Grandmother's Flower Garden that my aunt pieced by adding a border to it. That allowed me to square off the quilt. I was pleased to find some coordinating fabric. Of course, my aunt's quilt was more scrappy in nature which made it easier to add fabrics.

Good luck and enjoy finishing it so that it can be enjoyed.

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on the batting i agree w sherry. i have hand quilted kingsize on down to miniatures. i use a hoop. because of my back i cannot sit at a frame, cannot even sit in a chair for very long ..sewing now is a pain, literally, since i don't have room to set up the table hubby built me where i can stand to sew. but for hand quilting in a hoop i recline in my recliner, hoop up on my knees and rest of quilt spread out on my legs. not so heavy or unmanageable that way. to change position of quilt in the hoop, i take the quilt to spare bedroom, lay out on bed & reposition. i have always hand basted for hand quilting ..it does take time ..but it works much better for me than the safety pins which i tried for machine quilting.

I also hand quilt king size in a hoop just hanging out in my lap in my comfy chair. I have migrated to thread basting quilts that large vs pin basting to help reduce the weight. I've only used W&N for hand quilting. I don't find it particularly difficult but perhaps that's just because I don't know any better. LOL. If your friend is planning to have this an an heirloom piece, she may want to check into silk batting as well. It feels abolutely luscious. I've also just used a single piece of batting and not had issues with bulk.

Just wondering about hand basting, how far apart are the basting lines - or does basting echo design/blocks ??

I agree with Sheryl that wool is best -- I love, love, love Hobb's Heirloom washable wool.

I would maybe rethink using water soluble thread to baste such a large quilt. Any moisture or humidity will cause the thread to break down & the stitches to come undone (plus, that much water soluble thread is rather expensive); in addition to incidental/accidental exposure to moisture, for those of us who mark our quilts, it means we can't "erase" any lines until the entire quilt is quilted or we'll lose our basting stitches. It's really not difficult to snip threads as you quilt. Once you load a section into your hoop, you can snip all those threads to give you a good working area.

I agree with the single piece of batting for hand quilting. If that's too difficult to accurately baste on your DSM (I know I can't do something that big on my little Bernina with its 5.5" throat), many LA's will thread baste a quilt for a nominal charge. My local LA charge $30-40 and some, if you call ahead to book an appointment, will even baste the quilt while you wait. If you can baste it on your DSM, that's great. I just get frustrated with all the time it takes to prep the sandwich with pins & then try to wrestle it through my machine; so, I either just hand baste it if it's a smaller piece, or take it to the LA if it's larger. :cool:

As for the quilting, it's a lovely flimsy. I agree that echo quilting would look nice (be sure to do some inside the flowers, not just around the outside). Or if you like straight lines, you could quilt them with straight lines to form an asterix that continues through the white. Maybe print off a few copies of the photo you took on your printer & play around with different designs to see what you might like.

When I hand baste, I baste about a hand width's apart, using a Z- pattern. This does a pretty good job of keep things from shifting as I quilt.

Look up Sharon Schamber basting on you-tube. I don't use the boards, but would take a quilt that large to somewhere - church hall, library, some large meeting room/classroom.

I haven't used a wool batting yet, but have heard positive things. Someday soon I'll use it. Because of quilting thru the seams, I would suggest Quilters Dream Request - the thinnest batting. When I quilted my aunt's quilt, I quilted around each individual hexagon.

Your friend is a lucky lady....what a beautiful GFG from her Granny.

When I hand baste, like 117becca, I do about a hand-width apart but do not go in a z pattern. I just go in straight lines in both directions on the quilt making a grid. I use a high contrast thread if available and take large stitches. It goes pretty quickly.

What a beautiful flimsy. Love the colors. When I hand quilt it all depends on my mood. Helped my neighbor handbaste her quilts and we used her table like Sharon Schamber but no boards. Just clamped the sandwich to her table with cutting mats underneath so we didn't mar her table. It went pretty quickly. That day she was basting 4 quilts of different sizes; twin to king. She has leaves for her table so we could spread more of the quilts on it. We used large alligator clamps to hold in place.

I've done small projects in a hoop. Never tried a large one. Always afraid to mess it up.

What a treasure. I know you will be so happy that you hand quilted it. Your friends grandmother would be very proud of her that she is choosing to hand quilt this beauty.
I hand quilt king size all the time in a hoop. Wool batting would be your best bet. It will quilt beautifully

On most of my hand quilted quilts, I have used wool batting, glue basting and hoopless quilting. I don't know any better and never really learned anything else.

I hand baste my quilts and after they are basted, I use a PVC frame, or a hoop, depending on the quilt...not the same quilt on both. ......
On the hoop: I sit in a lounge chair, partially raise the footrest and prop my feet on that with my knees bent to hold hoop and quilt in position......a big quilt can be moved to one side to avoid the weight and heat of the quilt. I did a queen-size plus this way and really enjoyed the process. This process seems to keep my back happier, I can be in room with my hubby while we watch tv. Works for me and I hope it helps someone else.....happy quilting however, whenever and wherever!!!

I'm new to this forum. I haven't done it in awhile but I used to do spoon basting for large quilts. Tape the back of the quilt to the floor (has to be one that pins either won't bother or you don't care), next put on the batting then the top. From the top use your needle to go through the 3 layers and holding a spoon where you want the needle to come out you push the needle into the spoon and the needle pops back up to the top of the quilt. I start basting in the middle of the quilt and go outward. When I was taught this I was told it was an old traditional method of basting. I then use a hoop to hand quilt but one that is freestanding so no problem with the weight of the quilt. I've done queen size quilts this way. I still have a spoon in my notions box.:)

Cheers (and I'm happy I found this forum). Susan

I'm on my 3rd year of hand quilting a Dresden type king sized quilt! I used (and always use!) Dream Orient batting. Its my thing to do during watching football. I spread it on a table and don't use a hoop. No need to hurry!

I also use the Sharon Shamber's method of basting the quilt and I have 8 foot boards that I use. It takes a bit longer but you have so much control to prevent puckers in the back. I have done several queen sized quilts this way. I then quilt using a plastic 14" square "Quilt 'N Go Lap frame by Dritz(small PVC pieces). I used to quilt "hoop less" and thought that the back was looking good but it ended up having puckers. This new 14" frame is wonderful.
I also agree that WOOL is the way to go....so much easier to quilt through....like butter! Next time I would like to try bamboo batting (not sure on the cost of it). Start in the middle and remove basting as you go.. This quilt will look wonderful when you are finished!!!

My 88 year old Mom hand quilts using a hoop. She positions the quilt so that the opposite edge of where she is quilting rests on a table or something similar to help with the weight.

I agree with Becca's comments, hand basting in a radial fashion from corner to centre, 3" apart on my knees on floor, and used the dining table to take the weight and a circular hoop when hand quilting. I used Mountain Mist wool wadding 30+ years ago on my GFG and SID from the centre of quilt outwards around each hexagon. My hexagons look larger than those in your quilt! Your quilt is beautiful and a treasure. Good luck with quilting whichever way yo[ATTACH=CONFIG]561560[/ATTACH]u choose.

I learned from books 30+ years ago and hand basting should be 3" apart at each corner point then works closer towards the centre in a radiating fashion, like sun rays; hope this helps

I'm sure you'll be pleased to have joined the QB - we need all the help and inspiration from each other that we can get, so "welcome" from me and more happiness and satisfaction ahead.

Here is my Honeycomb hexagon made about 27 years ago, also SID around each hexagon but without any wadding at all; I wanted a summer bedspread/counterpane in olden days! Simply used backing fabric and it was only a double size.[ATTACH=CONFIG]561561[/ATTACH]

I recommend wool batting also. Since winter is coming, it will make cozy evening work hand quilting using a hoop.

Enjoy!

hand quilting in a hoop
 

I apologize for mis-informing you earlier, the Honeycomb hexagon was tied about every 6" with fine crochet thread, not SID. The tie method is easier for smaller hexagons, but as I said earlier, I did not put batting inside because I wanted a summer weight bed cover. Hope this might be a better suggestion than quilting.

you can do it... I like the idea of using wash away thread

I'm a hand quilter - and yes, this can be placed into a frame and quilted a little at a time. Joanne's provided me with a nice quilting frame, made of pvc pipe? I baste my quilts with a brighter color than I quilt with, and once it's all stretched and basted with large stitches, I quilt. Once it's all done, I pull out the brighter basted stitches - wallah! If using a lap quilting frame, the same process can be done.

Don't hesitate to use a hoop. I've hand quilted several king size quilts with a hoop. I use an 80/20 batting.

Thanks for all the help. We live in Southern California so we would be interested in quilting without any batting at all. If we use batting We thought wool would be the lightest. Any comments about wool and no batting. Anyone know of any good videos about how to hand quilt? We aren't going to start this project until February so we have time to research.

See my comment re tie knotting (french knot style) instead of quilting every 6" or so, with backing only and does not need batting of any kind. Woollen batting is good for hand quilting but also very warm. You could even use a layer of flannelette inside instead of batting.

I have not tried wool (living in the desert, wool is a bit too warm), but I use bamboo most of the time. I can be warm or cool depending on the weather, is lightweight and quilts by hand an machine like a dream. I but it by the bolt at about $120, so not that expensive because it is about 100 inches wide. Love it.

YES it can be done I have quilted many in a hoop and on my lap! I ALWAYS start in the center of the quilt and work my way around ! I used a large plastic round hoop !

A "Gramdmother's Flower Garden" pattern. I did one of these , king sized and hand quilted it in an 18" hoop on my lap, echo quilted each hex. Took a while, but works.