I am wondering, is it possible to quilt large (queen size) quilts in a lap hoop?
I have never hand quilted, but am thinking I would love to try this to give me something to do while *watching* tv with hubby. I feel badly about spending ALL my time with my machines, but usually when I'm doing the tv time, my mind is often quilting :P
Do any of you hand-quilters do it this way?

You can quilt any size in a lap hoop! I have done a king, two full size and am currently working on a not quite queen (86" square). All done in a small lap hoop. I think my hoop is 14", certainly no bigger then 16". I love having my handquilting to sit with during TV time with hubby. Especially during the winter when it is so nice to have a nice warm snuggly quilt draped over my lap.

PS welcome to the board!

I always use a hoop. Baste well first, then start quilting in the middle of the quilt.

Jan in VA

Thank you for the welcome and I'm happy to hear it can be done!
Do you pin your quilts, use basting spray or what?
I almost have a quilt done that I was thinking about trying FMQ on, but just cannot get the hang of it well enough that I want to risk it on my this quilt.
I've been wanting to try hand quilting anyway, so now I'm excited about the possibilities!

I hand quilt all the time in a 14' hoop. I have made about 8 queen size quilts, 1 king size quilt, and about 20 lap size quilts. I pin and baste well. I remove the pins and basting as I go along. When I move the hoop, I try to place the next area flat on my table and I gently slide the bottom of the hoop in place and gently place the top of the hoop in place. I don't know if any of this makes and difference, but this is what I do. I can't sit at a quilting frame, it hurts my back. I also, mound the quilt on my lap so the frame is supported and I don't have to completely hold it. I love quilting and watching TV. Hope this helps.

I also start in the middle and fan out.

Also, I never place my hoop over a pin. I just remove it or pin somewhere else.

I do but I do not do Cal Kings in it. It is a ll you need though. I saw a man do a very large King Hawaiian quilt with a hoop. Gorgeous! He liked sitting on the floor. My current hoop, that I prefer, is made with that plastic, has a little ridge to keep the quilt top snug and has two hoops, one on the bottom and one on top.
This lifts the quilt and makes it easier to work under it. The plastic one is lasting me. I was going through wooden ones.

I take the back down, smooth the batting over it, smooth and spread the top over and hand baste. I also start from the center of the quilt and work my way around and out.

My DH's grandmother quilts, and made us a queen size quilt when we got married. She does hers in her lap without using a hoop except to get started in the very center.

I'm not sure of the specifics, I've never seen her do it, and I'm just now trying my first hand quilted project, so I'm not qualified to give advice on exactly how it is done.

I know she thread bastes her quilts. And she says the same thing as feline fanatic about how nice it is to have a quilt to work on in the winter!

Are the oval hoops easier to work with than round ones for lap?

Just to throw another opinion in the mix -- I don't use a hoop when I hand quilt. I do, however, spray baste the heck out of it :lol: and then start in the middle and work out...

I did a queen size and spray baste it. I will not use a spray for hand quilting again, the needle dose not want to go through the spray. I had to pull hard to get the needle to go thru.

I wish I had paid more attention to my mom's quilting when I was growing up :(
The only time she ever used a frame was when she helped my aunt's do their quilting.
And I know she didn't use a hoop...but she hand pieced and quilted hers. For some reason, I just don't recall exactly how she did it.

thanks for all the help

I recently got back into hand quilting and bought a 14" Barnett lap hoop. I was also tired of spending my time away from the family, and having the hoop has been so much fun. Quilting is now more relaxing and less rushed because hubby's not complaining I'm away from him. He watches TV and I quilt. The perfect compromise! This hoop is nice because it takes the weight of the quilt off my hands, and puts it into the perfect position to just sit and stitch.

I'm planning on doing a queen size once I finished my lap size that I'm working on. I like basting with safety pins (remove them as I go and never put my hoop over them) because I feel it's more secure since the quilt's moved around a lot, but I know several quilters think thread basting's the way to go.

Hope this helps!

I'm sorry, one other thing. Maybe I will get my act together and do one posting. The hoop that you use is important. It must not bend because the quilt will slip in it. My hoop is very rigid, will not bend. I purchased it from my LQS who in turn bought it from F A Edmunds. I have a plastic rectangular hoop and it is OK but I prefer a round wooden one. This rectangular one is good if I am working in straight lines. But if you are going to constantly be turning, a round one is better. I have yet to see a satisfactory hoop at Joanns or Hobby Lobby.

I did some hand quilting in a hoop several years back. I had machine SID on the blocks and that held everything in place. Then I did a pattern inside the blocks. It wasn't difficult. I've never tried doing a queen or kin with a small hoop. Make sure and show us how it turns out..... and Welcome from Michigan as well.

I am just starting to quilt my 4th quilt by hand. All three previous ones (all queen size) were done using a hoop on my lap. Worked wonderfully on all of them. Also allows me to "watch" tv with the family while doing something I love.

That's one of the reasons I started quilting - I can be with my husband and get something done at the same time. There are movies I've "watched" where I've never seen some of the action, LOL.

It's a wonderful, cozy thing to do during the winter. I use a floor frame for most of my quilting, but when it gets cold there are days when I really wish I could quilt in a hoop just to be warm. I have hoops that are 14", 18" and 22" - I used the biggest one on large quilts so I wouldn't have to move the hoop so often. And I thread basted because I hate pinning.

You can quilt any size quilt in a hoop. My only advice for this is to choose a hoop size where you can reach the middle of the hoop when you place the inner side of your elbow at the edge of the hoop. If you have to reach to feel the needle come through it will be very tiring and uncomfortable ti quilt.
That being said, I have quit using a hoop. I thread baste and quilt hoopless in my lap. Much easier for me and much less pain. You hold the needle as if hand piecing and move the quilt on to the needle instead of pushing the needle through the quilt.

I do all my quilts regardless of size in either a round or oval hoop. I pin baste with large safety pins, moving them about so that the wooden hoop rims are not over them and remove them as I finish each section. I start in the middle of the quilt and work outward, basically in a circular manner. I generally place a kitchen chair in front of the chair I'm sitting in with the seat facing away from me and "hang" the quilt (not the frame) from the back of this. This way I can get up and down without disturbing the work in progress and do not have the weight on my lap.

I have 2 oval hoops and put them aside. I keep returning to my 14" round one, so that's it - round for me. I really think it has a lot to do with your design though. When hand quilting I tend to do more curved objects and tend to have to turn the hoop more. I like turning my round one, much easier for me to manipulate. Now if just doing grids, an oval one just may work easier.

I started out using cheap wooden hoops but kept breaking them. I got this last one at Joanns and I think it is fiberglass was about $15.00 I am doing a king size right now. It is about 16 inches.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4kQVyTaALNYJ:www.nosliphoops.com/lap-stands.html+morgan+lap+stand&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl =us&source=www.google.com

What a long link! If it doesn't work search under Morgan Lap Stand. I have something similar and paid about 440 which gave me the laop stand which is really two size hoopps and can be worked from either side. i went from wooden hoops that wore out in no time to a fiber glass and then to the lap stand. I still use the fiber glass hoop that is flat occasionally to take small projects along in my suit case but else I use the stand. You can also use the hoops in a non stand configuration.

I love hand quilting watching TV. I spend winter doing it.
All the advice is good and I will add one more, no, two more.
Thread several needles so you don't have to keep stopping to rethread. Make the length of the thread no longer than 18 inches so it doesn't knot up.
Also if using a hoop don't have the fabric too taut.

When I started quilting I had a 18" hoop and it worked fine for me. Later I changed it to a 16" because this was more comfortable for me. I did all my quilts in it, large and small.
Now I have a Jasmine 18" hoop on a stand and I love it! I always thread baste my quilts.

I hand quilt with a 16" wooden hoop. Works for me!!! Edie

only way i do it.....i have very limited space in my house and i love to watch tv as i quilt...i have a very sturdy plastic hoop that i love.....

I also hand quilt with a hoop but I put my card table up and sit at that. Then the quilt rests on the table. My hoop is 14" and I have only done large quilts with it. I baste it all first. No one has mentioned needles. I use "betweens' size 10. when you first start out just try and keep yoo stitches consistant in size. Eventully as you get more sure of yourself the stitches will become smaller. When i look at my very first quilt I did years ago its a nightmare LOL> Have fun

Lots of good tips on here, I did check out the barnett site and watched the vidieo. I really want one of these!

I quilt without a hoop at all. I either baste with safety pins or have several times basted with dissolving thread. As long as you baste enough, it works fine.

Of course it can be done. I've quilted several King size quilts in mine. I just lay my backing out in the floor face down, put battig on, then put top on face up and pin with those quilting saftey pins. then just place your hoop in the middle of your quilt. Be sure to make sure you don't have any wrinkles in the back and then just stretch as you go. Once you get the hang of it, its a piece of cake. Welcome to the board.

I can't hand quilt unless I use what I call a 'running backstitch' because my wrist and hands hurt too much after a while. The running backstitch does make a continuous line on the back but I figure the quilt police have better things to do. The stitch doesn't require a hoop.

I do agree that having hand work to do while spending time with DH is great - so I actually hand piece my quilts! Then I quilt them on the machine which goes pretty fast. I also do applique while in front of TV (most programs are lousy anyway or DH is watching sports - snzzzzzzzzzz...lol). The Celtic Illusions was hand pieced and machine quilted on my BabyLok - the tabletopper was hand quilted using the running back stitch.

I have tried several hoop types 1. square pvc frame about 13", 2. large round heavy hoop. Both caused me much discomfort when I tried handquilting a queen sized. My solution is a pvc frame that is about 2'x3'. It is small enough that I can just place it in front of my chair in the living room with hubby. This seems to work very well for me. I love hand quilting.

Basting is very important. Check out this video on hand basting. This is great. Try and save the link because I had some trouble finding it. The link was broken, but this site should work.
tp
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ha...-p1/3809738806

LOVE the Barnett hoop. Best investment I've made in a long time. AND, I've discovered even another use for it. Since I've been learning more and more here about different techniques of hand quilting, and learned many people mark their quilts as they go, I've started also to do that. Last night I was on the couch and was moving my hoop to the next block. I realized it needed to be marked, so I looked around for the kid's lap board to have something to write on. THEN I thought, I can flip my hoop over because it has a solid bottom and THAT can be my lap board!! I was so excited because now I don't even need to get up. It's the perfect size because I'm marking the size that I'm quilting. I just take my work out, flip it over, do my marking, flip back over and re-insert into the hoop. Voila! The only problem I could foresee is if you're marking larger areas, but at the same time I think it may still work because you only mark a piece at a time. Just had to share!

Yeah, it's kinda silly that something so simple could get me so excited. ha ha 8-)

If you want to hand quilt and do not want to pin baste or use spray, some machine quilters will stretch the quilt and baste it for you at a nominal cost. The one I just finished was done this way. I use the plastic tubes that have connectors at the corners and remove it each time I put the quilt down for the night so as not to stretch the fabric where the hoop would be.

where did you get your hoop? It doesnt sound like a large hoop like Im using.

Do you find that the spray gets a little difficult to needle? I would love to do that. Basting is hard on my back, too. But I do sit in my rocking chair with my feet on the ottoman....then my little 15 lb dog jumps up onto my legs (we are in Michigan, and it is cold). I then quilt whatever I have on my list of ufo's. I do use the pvc pipe quilt hoop that I got from Joann's a few years ago. I have a Grace 14" lap hoop, and another wooden one, but I prefer the pvc pipe one. Just a matter of taste, I think. But both my little Annie (schitzu) and I are warm these days as I work on the current quilt. Everyone is right about doing any size quilt. I hand quilted a Queen size called Quilted Diamonds by Linda Franz... lots of quilting in those small areas. But I did it, and now all that I have left to do is the scalloped binding, which scares me more than a little!

Speaking of handquilting, does anyone know how to MARK the fan-like design like old timers used to..? I know they used a pencil with a string attached and drew the lines about 1/2 inches apart. How do you do that and still get those parallel lines even?