Just to clear up any confusion- big-stitch quilting is not the same as traditional hand quilting.
Boston- the same thing happened with me. The more practice I got the smaller my stitches became.

I think the stitch count depends on the purpose of the quilt...if it's a show quilt,or for competition....then I do 12 stitches to the inch; if it's a utility quilt...8 will hold the dang thing together as well,and I can get it done more quickly. No one in my family has looked at my quilts and said anything about stitch length.

An example of "medium stitch"/big stitch quilting from my current project. No willy nilly stitches for me! I measured, 4-5 stitches per inch.
I think everyone has different likes/dislikes in the quilting world. That's what makes it interesting! If we all liked the same thing it would get pretty boring... I big stitch because 1. I like it. 2. It's fast. 3. I can't stand wrestling a big quilt on my small DSM. 4. Can't afford long arm service.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]580999[/ATTACH]

Faintly, I love your stitches!!!

me too Faintly. your stitches are lovely. nice and straight too.

It's more important to have your stitches be uniform than what the size is. I happen to like big stitches - the way Sarah Fielke does them. I have seen some that were HUGE and that looked a little sloppy to me. Yours are beautiful and perfect for the scale of the block.

I really like that style! Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking I might give the "big stitch" quilting a try sometime.

Look up Jo Glover's quilt gallery on YouTube sometime....nice pieces.

I do about 6 to the inch. just shoot for consistency in your stitches. 16 to an inch is more than a machine can do.

When counting stitches per inch, do you count what shows on both sides? Surely do since thinking 16! I find my stitches change depending on how tired I am or what fabrics/batting are in the work. Practice over the years helps, too. I keep trying for uniformity rather than length.