I hand quilted a quilt with stars and it turned out really nice but it was a double size. It took about 2 years because I got tired and stopped and then started again. I hand quilted 1/4 inch inside each of the star pieces. It really doesn't matter if the stitching isn't perfect. When you look at the whole quilt you'll never notice each stitch. Just don't know if I would consider doing that size quilt by hand but if you do it will be beautiful. If you have it done by a long arm quilter it will have the same pattern all over and each star won't stand out on its own.

If you want it bigger I would add 2 borders to it. I have lap quilted a king size quilt. Pin it very close. Keep smoothing the under side with your fingers as you go. Start in the middle. Good luck. Vi

Terrimb- you go for it friend. Love the quilt. You can do the binding yourself so hang in there my friend. I do all of my own quilting on my domestic machine a Bernina 930- not much fancy stuff on it, but all of my quilts are done entirely by me. I just finished (hand sewing binding yesterday) on a queen size foldy stuff pattern the pineapple block made entirely on one of my FW's a 1937, and quilted on my Bernina 930. This quilt is a Christmas gift for DD and I am entering it along with two others in our County Fair tomorrow. All 3 done entirely by me, a Black and White queen size Challenge quilt for DS for Christmas, and a turquoise and white chevron king size for a friend.
I think it is great you are making this one on your grandmother's machine. Check out Sharon Schamber's tutorial on You Tube (Binding the Angel part 1) on how she binds her quilts, great video, I've used her method a lot. It is really easy to do the binding, but I dislike any hand sewing, so I always dread doing the binding on any quilt. Take your time and keep reminding yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to. Good luck. Terri, if you prefer not to try a mitered corner on your binding just yet, you can always put a binding on just like you do a border on a quilt, same method of measuring and sewing it on, you are just using a smaller strip of fabric. Just a thought.

A sister's love is shown in this quilt. You did a great job and she will treasure it for many future birthdays.

LOVE this quilt, you have done a wonderful job, the colors are great together . If you can't quilt it find a quilter in your area. I can't hand quilt have tremors that say no to hand sewing ,also becomes a challenge some times to even machine quilt. Enjoyed see this one thanks for sharing.

Nice quilt.

Beautiful quilt , If you wanted to hand quilt it I would consider using the large quilting stitches, I do not remember what this is called maybe country or primitive quilting i'm not sure,but I have done this several times and love the way they turn out . The large quilting stitches go really fast and you do not have to be worried about even stitches. I think this quilt would look great with the large hand stitching. I also have seen an old fashioned stitch for quilting , it may have been called chicken or turkey tracks they were little V's, I think I seen the tutorial on this board.

It is wonderful and yes you REALLY like punishment. ha

For crying out loud! The nature of free enterprise economics is that we hire people to do jobs that we either can't do for ourselves or that we don't want to do for ourselves. You will pay the long armer, thus giving her/him a job and you will have "done it yourself" because it was your money that got the job done.
Do you do your own oil changes/plumbing/roofing? Probably not! Go hire someone to quilt your quilt and think how much you are doing for yourself, your sister and the free enterprise economy! froggyintexas

I personally think that the quilt is beautiful, nice contrast and I like the frame around the star block. I know a lot of people are not fans of SID, you could do that around the stars and blocks, then hand quilt around the Carpenter's square. I am pretty much a self-taught machine quilter, except for one class. Early in my quilting days I had made a king size quilt - 110"x110", with pieced basket blocks set on point. There were 4 basket blocks in the center, then I put plain blue squares around it, which I quilted in a feathered wreath, but the remaining blocks were SID. I did this all on my Kenmore sewing machine, as there was no one to tell me that it couldn't be done. I still have that quilt although it has been replaced with another quilt. If you don't feel that you want to do all the quilting yourself, it is still a quilt made by you for your sister and her hubby, and even if you send it out to be quilted, it will still be your quilt.