Hand quilting stich size
 

I am hand quilting my second quilt ever and am completely in awe when I see how tiny the stitches of someone who knows what they are doing actually are! My stitches are HUGE and I have no idea how anyone makes them as tiny as they do. Any suggestions on making smaller stitches? I turn the needle up as soon as it goes through the sandwich and still get big ol stitches and even more so where a seam is! I am loving quilting and doing it by hand regardless of the size just hope to learn how to tiny them up :)

what size and kind of needle are you using....and the thread

Im using Roxanne #11 hand quilting needles and coats and clark hand quilting thread. Batting is warm and white on this one but stitches were big with poly batting too... I probably should have practices with straight stitches first but Im using a continuous heart pattern. Which products do you prefer?

The batting makes a difference too. I find W&N the worst for handquilting, very difficult to needle. I prefer poly or a cotton poly blend and my next HQ project will be wool, I understand that is a dream to HQ.

Also, there is nothing wrong with big stitches as long as they are all even. I love the look of big stitch handquilting, especially when done with a heavier weight thread.

Are you using a lap hoop a frame or nothing? If using a lap hoop don't have it too tight in the hoop. should be loose.

Good to know I choose a difficult batting :) I never considered wool but will give it a try next time around. Of course this one is driving me crazy because it is a black and white quilt, black backing and white thread so every stitch is screaming "look at me!!" lol

I tried to use a lap hoop and had terrible luck so I dont use anything. Of course I found out afterwords that I had the fabric too tight and thats why I couldnt get it right and now Im used to nothing. I was lucky enough to just inherit an amazing quilting rack from my husbands 97 year old grandmother. This rack hangs from the ceiling and my husband has so many memories of his dear grandmother always having a quilt she was working on hanging from the ceiling. I hope to get it up and learn to use it soon!

Another factor, in the size of stitches, is HOW you make them. It's easier to make small stitches, if you insert the needle straight down into the quilt, all the way through the layers. Then come straight up, from the back/bottom. This is a bit more tedious but will result in smaller, more controlled stitches. If you've ever done counted cross stitch, the technique is much the same.

That said, there's nothing wrong with larger stitches! :)

Ditto to what everyone else suggested. Also, it's easier to make smaller stitches if you go on the bias instead of on grain - there's more flex in the top that way.

I get my smallest stitches with polyester batting. I'm using wool right now, and I like that it has more "puff" than thin polyester, but I don't think it's that much easier to quilt.

Using a quilt frame is a whole different experience because you can't turn the quilt around like you can with a hoop. I use a frame, but I taught myself to quilt in different directions in order to use it.

Janet