I love Boo kitty.

I also do it on my Lap . I use a small table that can be
adjusted in height to suport the weight , also makes it easier to turn . I spray baste the layers.I tried a round hoop once , that was enough hurts my back !!!. Keeping one hand under to make sure I am going all the way through and smooth as I go. I've made many King size this way and prefer it.

I found this link too.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-71084-1.htm

I have hand quilted 3 bed size quilts using a lap hoop (one was a king, the other two were small queen size). I am on my 4th which is about 86" square. The first 3 were all pin basted with safety pins and I removed the pins as I went along. The current one I basted with needle and thread. I am removing the basting stitches as I progress and to keep them out of the way of my quilting. Many here do not use a hoop at all but I feel more comfortable with one. I love the mobility of a lap hoop and can turn the quilt any which way so am always quilting in the direction that feels most comfortable to me. My hoop looks just like Up North's round hoop.

OK, I now see I'm in a room full of enablers!! ha ha.

I had bought this very large floor frame for hand quilting years ago, but since I've moved I've been quilting everything on my treadle sewing machines (which is a lot of fun, btw). The frame is WAY too big to set up & tear down all the time, but I'm really liking the Barnett lap frames (http://www.laptophoops.com/). I'm seriously re-visiting my love of hand-quilting, although I have a very bad habit of quilting with my nail without a thimble (just could never get used to any I found) and thus make a hole if I quilt too much (like there's such a thing!).

My big 40th birthday is in like 3 weeks, and geez I just may need to buy myself a little something. ;) I so greatly appreciate all the input on this list. So many people don't understand why I enjoy doing things the 'old fashioned way', and I hear a lot of "if you can do it on a machine, why hand-quilt?". I just find it nice to be in the family room WITH the family instead of alone in the sewing room.

Thanks again, and sorry for rambling. I'm getting absolutely nothing done today! ;)

Trina

p.s. Is there a place to go on this list to search a topic? I'm having trouble finding a search engine.

I'm in the process of hand-quilting a king size quilt in my lap and use the round hoop just like Up North posted(only mine is 18"). I have one in every round size available. Enjoy it!

Check out Jean Brown's site. She does all of her quilting on a 14" lap hoop. Here is a link to her website:

http://www.jeansimpressions.com/

....scroll down a little to see her YouTube video of how she does it.

I love your Boo Kitty and he/she looks as if she is wanting to do the quilting herself :mrgreen:

There is a search button up top.

Hi Trina, BTW, welcome to the board! Both me and Born to hand quilt do just like you, no thimble push with fingernail. I do not consider it a bad habit at all! I also quilt with my index finger and thumb not the middle finger like many do and is supposed to be the correct way. I too end up drilling a hole in my fingernail! I have finally somewhat trained myself to use a thimble so holes in my nails would not bring my handquilting to a grinding halt. They are very fancy thimbles and sized to your finger like rings. They have an opening in the back for your fingernail so feel much more natural then a normal thimble. They were crazy expensive but so worth it because now it takes me a lot longer to drill the hole. I found them at a quilt show and they are made by a woman in the midwest. The closest commercial one I can find is a Roxanne thimble and the price is about the same.

http://www.colonialneedle.com/files/...le_handout.pdf

Do you know the name of the woman who made your thimble? I have a couple of Roxannes, but I'm always looking for new thimbles. And at which quilt show did you find them - we're in the same neck of the woods!