:) i love your quilt, did you do the fancy stitches by hand as well. it is very pretty.

Big Stitch, small stitch, mine vary from front to back. Can not get an even flow of it. But then with it being my first sampler quilt i am not really worried at what it looks like, i just know that i did it and proud of what it looks like. It is mine and no-ones getting it. LOL. especially my children, unless i leave it in my will. :)

Yes, the "fancy" stitches in between the lace bocks are Crows Feet. (You can search old posts for insturctions). I used knit crochen thread for both the big stitch and crows feet.

I prefer handquilting and use a "big stitch" technique that resembles Japanese Sashiko. The thread is slightly thicker, the needle a bit larger (which helps me to hang onto the needle) and I use thread colors other than just white/ecru to add another dimension to the design of the quilt. These stitches are NOT toe-catchers; they are about 1/8" long. The look is quite attractive and I've had commission requests for the work and been in shows, so somebody must be loving it!

I've used #8 perle cotton - in the little balls, 10 wt. crochet thread, and, (my favorite) Premium Sulky Cotton 12 wt. thread which comes in lovely colors on a regular spool. The needle I use is a Richard Hemming Large Eye Between in size 3 or 5.

I knot the thread, wax the length of it with beeswax, make a tight knot, I insert the needle about an inch away from where I want the first stitch to start, and while giving a quick tug to the thread I run my opposite thumb nail over the knot and "pop" it into the fabric.

I quilt in a 16" hoop in my lap. I have never considered the stitch I do to be a "utility stitch," though it is perfect for those quilts made of Civil War reproduction fabrics. Quilts of that era were often done in a hurry to send with departing soldiers or done when there was a shortage of thread and goods, so the stitches were often larger.
I use a wool batt from Hobbs or Dream Cotton.
Wish I had close-up photos of a couple of mine to show you !
Jan in VA

Thank you for taking the time to write this marvelous information. Books that I have found that mention the Big Stitch have very limited instructions.

I wonder where I could find that particular needle.

I'm using red perle cotton from a small skein; I guess it is Number 5.

In South Mississippi, we don't need a wool batt. It's supposed to be 97 today.

One more thing -- how do you end your line of stitching? Just like regular hand quilting?

I like to use embroidery floss on scrap quilts, I like alot of color!
Sink your knot about an inch away from where you're going to start stiching.

Great information! I love doing big stitch, but reserve it for manly quilts. Just seems more appropriate, man-big, stitches-big? It's early and I still need more coffee apparently.

I would not consider a stitch about 1/8" long a larger quilting stitch. That is downright tiny and is giving you 8 to 9 stitches per inch which is what I usually get with my "fine" hand quilting done with 30 wt thread and #11 between.

Does it look bigger because you are using heavier thread?

I like this idea - the Big Stitch! And the slide show tutorial is the bomb! You can take the time to study each picture before moving on! After finishing tying a quilt with perle cotton and loving the result, this looks almost like "the next step". Thanks for the posting!

I've done a couple of quilts using the big stitch and was very happy with the results. I didn't know all of the information on this website then; I was a beginning quilter. I found my stitches got very nice and even as I went and was happy to finish a project in a short time. I love the fact that the stitching does look a little like sashiko even though I didn't use the correct thread for that. With the prices of long arm quilting getting so high, I may go back to doing this for a few of my upcoming quilts. Thanks for starting this thread.

You wrote: "Thank you for taking the time to write this marvelous information. Books that I have found that mention the Big Stitch have very limited instructions.
I wonder where I could find that particular needle.
I'm using red perle cotton from a small skein; I guess it is Number 5.
In South Mississippi, we don't need a wool batt. It's supposed to be 97 today.
One more thing -- how do you end your line of stitching? Just like regular hand quilting?"


I agree about the heat! It's hot here in VA, today, too.
But a wool batting is very light weight, not all that hot to use -- I actually prefer my wool batted quilt to my heavier cotton ones in the early fall or late spring -- and it's like quilting throug butter! So helpful with these larger threads.

I end the line of stitching just as I do any handquilting, bu making a knot about 1/4" from the end of the line of stitches and burying it in the fabric just like when I started.

The needles don't have to be Richard Hemmings, just any sharp needle with a large enough eye to thread with these larger weight threads we use for Big Stitch. Glover makes Sashiko needles that are perfect, but also hard to find.

By the way, I use a thread cut about 20-24" long. I've found that the end through the needle often twists/frays making loss of too much thread if I cut a piece as long as Lorraine's site quoted above.

Jan in VA