There are many of us who enjoy both methods of quilting. Sitting with a quilt on my lap while I watch tv with my husband makes me feel like I'm not wasting time.

I am from Hawaii and I have to say Hawaiian quilting is 'all hand quilting' with no machine stitching. I am a Hawaiian quilter and continually try to perpetuate the art.

I took shorthand, a typed on a manual typewriter, I hand quilt, machine quilt and love my iPad. A little tradition and a little modern Millie all wrapped up in one. Helps to keep life interesting learning new techniques.

good idea
 

Thats a good idea. I have already started sewing in ditch with current project but next time I will try that. My next quilt is actually going to be a Rag Quilt, and so won't require that at all. I do need to practice on my stitches and I think part of the problem is I am using too big a needle. However I can't not for the life of me thread a smaller needle and when I try those little needle doohicky things, I find I can't get the thread on those ! haha. Part of it is eyesight tho I wear glasses, a big part of it is thick fingers. Yeah, that's what it is! haha

I used to hand quilt and loved everything about it, but then Arthur set in. I can't even pull a needle through a sandwich without a pair of pliers. Sew, if you can't do it one way, you have to adapt. I am grateful for the technology and coming round to admiring the 'handiwork' it helps us produce. Still see handwork and the ability to do handwork as priceless.

I totally agree with you Moonglow. The ones I want to really be important and remembered will be hand quilted. The rest can be FMQ'd by Charisam

Mim

Hand pieced son's wedding quilt
 

I have just joined this site, so have a lot to learn. I have hand quilted everything I've done so far (not a huge amount of projects) and it has taken me several years to complete a quilt - unless it is a smaller project such as a wall hanging or Christmas Tree skirt. I want to learn machine quilting, hoping that it will produce more quilts - faster. I have generally done most quilting projects as we travel; fewer distractions at those times. The problem has always been pressing as I go. I like hand quilting as you can ease the material where you want it to go in matching corners, etc. As soon as I learn how to post photographs I will share photos of some of my projects.

I thought of another analogy: Why draw a picture, when you can use your camera? Drawing and painting will never go away and I don't think hand crafts will either.

I didn't realize anyone still knew shorthand. I took it in high school and don't remember any of it. LOL

I am a hand quilter also and love it as long as my fingers and hands can move around I will keep doing it.

I know there are more ladies going to machine quilting and it looks nice also. I have a room in our basement and I also have a radio and a tv down there to keep me company. One nice thing is I do not have to put anything away when I am done.(great)

eunice

can't afford a longarm so I still hand quilt. besides I still like the look of hand quilting best.

I hand quilt for hire, and I always have a waiting list, and people I do quilt for won't give out my name! One said that she doesn't want me to get too busy to do hers! There will always be hand quilting, it will just get more valuable.

My mother taught me to hand piece and hand quilt. I have machine pieced and quilted several quilts. I also took shorthand in buisiness college, I will never forget how to do that. I am hand piecing a GFG right now and I will also hand quilt this one.

So glad to hear that there are so many hand quilters still out there:thumbup: I have raynuards disease in my hands and have very little feeling in them - I do still embroider by hand and would love to learn to hand quilt. Not sure if I can do it though lol I am going to have to find somewhere to learn. Gosh, I could realy use some relaxation lol. How do you keep the backing and bating together if you dont use a frame??

I would encourage anyone to at least try handquilting - it won't be to everyone's taste, but I love it!

As for keeping the sandwich together - lots of safety pins and/or tacking!

I don't think hand quilting will ever fade away completely. It is soooo relaxing to just sit and peacefully quilt while listening to music or watching tv. It is my way of escaping the fast pace life has taken on these days. Everyone has a special way to slow down and relax. This is mine! You would be surprised how many ideas you come up with when things get quiet and your fingers are busy sewing away. Many future quilts are planned this way. Hand quilting will never go out of style as far as I am concerned!

I do not have a quilting frame and I have hand quilted several quilts. I knew no better and since the only place that was big enough to sandwich my quilts was on my bed, that is how I did it. Laid down the backing, then the batting and then the quilt top. Knelt down at foot of bed and began to pin with safety pins, the layers together, rolling it up as I went after it was pinned. Then I lay it out on the floor as it isall well pinned and put my lap frame in the center, lock it on and begin quilting. When I am ready to move to a new place, I spread it out on floor again, un-pop the frame, place it where I next want to quilt, remove the safety pins and start again. Works for me.

I love hand quilting - just finished 2 baby quilts and a military quilt for my son who is overseas currently - all hand quilted. I am in the process of hand quilting a king size quilt made up of pillowcases embroidered by 4 generations of our family both on my fathers and my mothers side. It will probably take me another year to get done because I work on the other quilts off and on. Love hand quilting, it is quiet time for me away from the high technology of the day.

I love hand quilting. I do most of my medium to small quilts by hand . I am working on a hand quilted stencil from Amish countr y in Ohio right now. I admire people who do piecing by hand too. But, its too slow for me.

I am a hand quilter but developed my own version of 'shorthand' though sometimes i forget my symbols lol....i like hand quilting although it is so slow and i like things to move along quick...i am trying to learn machine quilting but i am so terrible i always go back to hand quilting

I use to hand quilt and then tried FMQ which I love. I have to use a hoop to hand quilt and it seems to be in everyone's way all the time. I never learned to "rock" the needle but it still looked nice when I finished. In fact, the last quilt I did by hand was the one I gave to my sister-in-law.

I am so glad that so many of you are still hand quilting!! As for me, I do not find it relaxing. It strains my neck and shoulders, and it's too time-consuming. There are so many quilt tops I want to piece, I just don't want to take the time to hand-quilt them all!! If I didn't have a longarm machine, I would send them out to be quilted.

I really enjoy hand quilting and I find machine quilting so frustrating. I think that for me hand quilting is the best solution.

I love choosing the quilting stencils.

:)Hello. Am new to this website & relatively new to quilting. I have pieced & hand quilted 5 of the seven quilts that I have made in the 14 months that I've been quilting. I learned to machine quilt (on my sewing machine) just to see if I could. Did not enjoy. Made a kind-sized bedspread for our bed that I hired done on a long arm. T'was way too heavy to hand quilt. I really enjoy hand quilting; tis very therapeutic. It saves my sanity while my sweet husband plays with the remote control of tv.

It doesn't hurt to know how to hand quilt even if you prefer to use the latest technology. I am just finishing up one I hand quilted and I don't think I want to do it again. I am also just learning how to do free motion quilting and loving it. But I am using a 1950's Singer 301A to do it :-)

I was happy to hear that there are some many hand quilters out there. I have tried many times to machine stitch, but it never turns out as nicely as my hand quilting. My largest project was a king size quilt. I find it very relaxing, especially after a day at work. The Linus quilts or quilts for comfort all have to be machine quilted, and I feel I am not putting as much into them. All my quilts are machine washed, many times and my stitching is still intact. I feel I put a lot of love into each quilt I make - no matter who it is for. Thank you for keeping up the tradition!

I've been hand quilting for about 35 years. I love hand embroidery also. My husband seemed to think I need a new sewing machine...so I now have a Bernina 440 QEE. Seems a waste not to use it for what it was intended, so I'm learning. I don't think he realized how much more time I'll spend in the sewing room instead of in the same room with him while doing my handwork :(

I'm relatively new at quilting (3 years, working on my third quilt). My present quilt is 85 x 85 and I find it so big and heavy and sometimes the hand quilting does not go through to the back. I do find it relaxing to hand quilt but it is so time consuming. I have done machine quilting but it is very difficult to get this big quilt into such a small space to machine sew. I'll keep trying but just curious how long does it take you to hand quilt a queen size quilt? Thanks.
Jackie

It really depends on the type of quilting, Jackie -- If I am doing straight lines, it goes very quickly -- I lap quilt so if I have to change directions a lot of times, it goes slowly.

I use both hands to manouever the quilt up and down to rock my needle. I have "difficult" wrists and it eases the stress on them. I've been doing a king size -- straight lines-- and will finish in several months -- I only do it in the evenings while DH watches TV. Right now I am working on a small preprinted WH of fairies for an 11 yo little friend and it is taking over a month, even working afternoons, because of all the twisting and turnings.

I find handwork so relaxing.

Good luck with your projects.

Mim

Juv to see this thread...hand quilting is like your signature, and shows your creativity.