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Quote:

Originally Posted by Geri B (Post 7448410)

NJ Quilter..... Your description of how you hand quilt...sounds like what I have heard referred to as stab stitch. I prefer the rocking movement of the running stitch...but each gives the same look at the end......I don't hand quilt as often as I would like to.....but I do remember being told that every three or four needlefuls of a long line of stitches,do a back stitch to sort of secure the line in case of breakage down the road....anyone else hear that word of wisdom?

I do not back stitch while hand quilting - only during hand piecing. I use a typical running stitch when quilting but I rock the fabric vs the needle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOTTYMO (Post 7448148)

When i have done in the past I did back stitches on a quilt for my dad which I now own. Some of the seams are coming undone and I have to repair ( easy project), but I want to hand stitch a new quilt for me.

Am I correct in thinking that you want to hand sew the patchwork, that you are satisfied with your stitching in sewing the sandwich together? I would check with my library for any videos or books on quilts sewn by hand.

I just googled "hand sewing quilt" and looked at two blogs. Pat Sloan says she hand stitched her first 10 quilts. She has a tutorial in which she uses auriful 28 wgt. for piecing, good pictures.

Another site is Quilting Adventures.com for "Hand Piecing - Back to Basics". This quilter prefers 50 wgt. thread.

I can think of three reasons the hand pieced seams might be failing. First, the thread. A poor quality thread may not hold up. Second, knots that are not secure. Third, hanging the quilt when washing so that the heavy weight of the wet quilt pulls on the seams.