But i don't seem to be improving. How do you get your stitches so small? Do you draw a line to follow? I've watched the tutorials, but would appreciate any advice. Thanks

Thin batting and keeping the quilt kinda loose in the hoop:)

I wouldn't worry about how small your stitches are; you want to think more about how even they are. The size will come in time. I'd definitely draw a line to follow.

The more you do it, the better it gets. I am learning that I get better if I am consistently doing it. If I let too much time go, I feel like I am starting over. No matter what, handquilting, regardless how your stitches are, is a beautiful thing because it is personal and the time you take is valuable. Happy handquilting time :)

practice on the smallest gingham check fabrid you can find - preferable the 1/8 or 1/16"

practice on the smallest gingham check fabrid you can find - preferable the 1/8 or 1/16"

I have been handquilting for around 15 years and I always draw a line to follow or quilt next to painters tape for long straight lines. Thin batting helps a lot. I do not like to hand quilt with W&N batting. It is good for machine quilting but not hand IMHO. I like the way a nice poly bat needles, like Quilters Dream. I like 80/20 blends to like Hobbs. My next handquilting project will be with wool batting. I understand that is very easy to handquilt but very expensive. Having the sandwich not too tight in the hoop helps. Start with a larger size needle, like a 9 until you get comfortable with a rythm. Some people only take 1 or 2 stitches at a time and some like to load the needle up. Find what works best for you to get them evenly spaced. Once you get spacing down you can try switching to a smaller size needle and that helps for getting them smaller.

Give yourself time. I watch Georgia Bonesteel on tv and am amazed at how easy she makes it look. She has been doing it for decades though.

I was hand quilting in a 16" hoop for the longest, and some times with no hoop at all. This past fathers day, my wife and son gave me a new Grace Z44 hand quilting frame. Quilting on this frame has made a huge difference in the quality of my stitches. The tension is perfect, and it holds it just right to quilt on.

I use to draw a line with a ruler, then hold the ruler next to the line and make my stitches go in or out every 1/16 of an inch. This gave me 8 stitches per inch. I practiced this and once I could do this without the ruler, I could still get 8 stitches per inch, and even moved a little tighter to get about 10 stitches per inch. This is tough though. I found that by not using a thimble, I could get better stitches, though I've not found anybody else that has the same results.

Good Luck.

Steve

Also,

I love using the "Clover" brand "Black Gold" needles. My favorite is the #10 Tweens needle, though I do use the #12 too.

IMHO, these are the best that I have tried, and I have tried many different needles.

Happy Quilting,

Steve

You have just found someone else with the same results
:thumbup:

There are quite a few of us on the board that do not like to use a thimble when quilting. Borntohandquilt does amazing quilting and she does not use a thimble and only takes one stitch at a time.

No thimble here. I need to feel the needle.

I love hand quilting, even though I'm not very good at it. I've tried quilting with a hoop and without a hoop. I can make smaller stitches without the hoop.

All in all, I find hand quilting relaxing, and I can quilt in the family room while my hubby is watching TV. We can be together but still do our own thing.

I am another hand quilter that likes thin batting and no thimble. I also have better results only doing one stitch at a time.

Practice, practice, practice :). You'll find the combination that suits you and you'll be off!

Holly,
take your time and find your own very personal way of hand quilting! There are so many different methods like hand quilters and something that is bad for you can be helpful for somebody else. Try different mtehods, notions and techniques and you will find what is good for you.
Happy quilting!

As the others have said, time is your friend. It's just a matter of finding the right technique for you and you will get better. Loose in the hoop makes a big difference as well as you can move the fabric easier. I use Roxanne #11 or #12's.

This is me too!! I love that I can sit with everyone and be a part of the conversations. I am busily piecing a quilt simply to have one to hand quilt!! I love to have it to do when I am tired of sitting at the sewing machine.

I have only done one piece by handquilting, and I am feel that uniform is more important than size. I have no desire to enter them into shows, and I am SO glad there are no quilt police. :) Just do what makes you happy! Happy quilting!

I started hand quilting panels because I wasn't interested in piecing. After a while I found myself looking at pieced quilts more & more.Soon i decided that I wanted to piece also, yet my first love is still hand piecing! I started just one stitch at a time & used fleece for batting. Eventually I discovered thimbles & wool batting. I use a 12" hoop. I would like to use a larger hoop but my hands are too small. I quilt toward myself & try to make even stitches.
As you can see I learned as I went one stitch at a time! :-)

Thanks so much for all of your advice and encouragement. I got.some quilting needles. I was just using a regular long needle. I may have to try a different batting. I am using the roll out kind in a bag from WalMart. It seems like I get my needle stuck in the batting alot. Thanks again for all your help.

I'm finding that some fabric is harder to quilted then other. I have been hand quilting for yearsssssss and this the first quilt that I'm finding HARD to quilt. So I'm saying don't gave up the next may be easyer.