Waiting on my new hoop as we speak! I have every quilting hoop/stand there is I think! I have the expensive Hintenberg, I have the pvc, I have 24" no slip & I have a 12" lap hoop. I just think hand quilting take time to get use to! I absolutely dread it until I get started. Once I get started & comfortable I'm addicted. But I am a hooper, too afraid not to use one for some reason

Ok, So now I have a question about that "rocking stitch". I have tried to get more than 6 stitches per inch, but can't make them smaller. How do you accomplish 8-10 stitches per inch?

I am not that experienced and have not had any classes - I don't use a hoop. I just hold it in my lap. Works fine for me and probably the only way I will ever be able to quilt a large project.

It's mostly practice.

I keep the quilt sandwich fairly loose in my frame. I make sure the needle goes straight down, and when I feel it come through on the bottom, I rock the needle right back up. When it comes through the top, I try to push only long and hard enough to have a stitch-size bit of needle show. When I'm satisfied with that, I rock the needle up, and go back down straight.

I also try to stack the deck for small stitches: it is easier to make small stitches if you quilt along the bias instead of the straight of grain, and if you can avoid crossing seam allowances, so much the better. If your quilt sandwich is thick or stiff (because you have a thicker batting or you're using a particularly heavy fabric in your top or backing), it will be much harder to make small stitches.

All that aside, it's far more important to make the stitches even. They look more attractive, and it's better to have 6 even stitches than 10 sloppy ones.

Janet

I have been hand quilting for over 30 years. Sometimes I use a 24" hoop, sometimes I use a 14" hoop, sometimes I do not use any hoop. Whatever works best for me at that particular time and on that particular quilt.

dcrc966 writes:Ok, So now I have a question about that "rocking stitch". I have tried to get more than 6 stitches per inch, but can't make them smaller. How do you accomplish 8-10 stitches per inch?

"They" say 6-8 consistent stitches is fine. Going over seam allowances is a killer and I find it impossible to rock down thru to the bottom so I cheat and go in the middle.

6 stitches per inch is great for a beginner, stop worrying and just concentrate on keeping them even and not messing it up when you get to a seam allowance. My stitches were that size for a good year or so after I began quilting, and they're only 8-9 per inch now - which I think is quite small enough!

The main thing is that you're comfortable and that the stitches are even. The quilt should be well basted, and then it's a matter of finding a position that's comfortable and getting the tension right for you. Some people like it drum-taut, some people like no frame/hoop at all, and most are somewhere in the middle, so experiment.

I use a hoop with the quilt loose... not tight, in the hoop. I have a thimble on both my top hand and the bottom hand. The thimble on the bottom is pretty smooth, not the kind with the ridge around the edge. The needle goes down through the quilt, and I sort of pop it back up with that bottom thimble. Works for me. A bit hard to describe.

I know a woman who did the same thing. Can you imagine taking a king size quilt to a ball game. Mine would end up on the bleachers being used to sit on or walked on. She seamed to get along fine however. Wonder if it was the same woman? Her last name is Earl. If you think it is the same woman pm me and I will tell you where she is.

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one that does not use a hoop, I have never been able to use one, and I do all my quilts by hand. I have tried useing one but it just dosen't work for me. I spray baste my quilts first so they don't come apart while I'm quilting.