I'm sorry they treat you like that...it's not really smart on their part. My LQS likes to tease me, but I also understand that while they might like me a lot, at the rate I make quilts I don't keep their business afloat.

That's one reason I really like my floor frame - all I need is a fan and an open window during summer, unless it's 95 and humid.

My feeling is I do this to relax, so anything I can do to eliminate stress from quilting is a good thing. I may have quilts I want to finish, but I'll take my time and try to enjoy it.

It's strange, but if I ever retire I plan to do more machine quilting!

never counted the hours either, but does take months for a queen sized quilt...lol i am a slow quilter and i do it on my lap and always stitch in the ditch...lol

Who looks at the clock when handquilting? It is a relaxing mecanisim. when I sit, I pick up my hoop. When I have to get up, I set it down. Sometimes I just set in in front of my chair while I'm gone cause I know I'll be right back to pick it up again. But, if I work steady on it I can finish a regular size in a week. Two at the most. If I have other things to do, it takes longer.

i did a large lap in 8 days but i put in about 6 hours a day

I recently finished one that took me 14 months. I was working full time and only worked on it for an hour or so in the evenings. I worked on it more on the weekends but it has a lot of quilting in it. Hand quilting is relaxing to do in the evenings.

Question? Is it better to press the seams open if you are going to hand quilt? Is there a time that pressing them open is O.K.

Some quilters press seams open, so long as the block is machine pieced. For a hand pieced block, the seams are pressed to the side to keep the batting from leaking through. It's supposed to be stronger, too.

I am working on an applique top, where I machine pieced the background. Because I'm going to hand quilt it I pressed the seams open. I'm hoping it works out okay.

Janet

I learned that marking as you go works much better, too, by trial & error. I marked a whole quilt & as I worked on it the lines started disappearing. I found I can actually use the bottom of my lap quilt hoop (flat wood) as a 'table' to mark the blocks as I work on them. Works great!

Trina

Well, I must admit that I hand sew the top and the backing (for my wholecloths) and I press the seams open. It is easier to quilt through and the seams don't stand out so much. I have never had any problems with the batting leaking through. The seam line is crossed so many times with the hand quilting that I am not afraid the seam won't be strong enough.