Still learning
 

I am still learning quilting techniques. Made a dog quilt for our old Chihuahua. The problem I had always had with the previous bindings were no issues on this. pretty excited about that.

Hubby has been working on his quilt as he has time. While he is using the sewing machine, I am thinking of practicing hand quilting on some left over batting and fabric from my previous adventures. That way I can do some quilting while he does.

I dabbled a bit the other day. My stitches are not consistent and I can not for the life of me get the rocking motion going with a thimble on my fingers. I have tried all of them. I am thinking I am truly going to have to pay someone to help me with this. Dreading it as that means lessons and a cab fare.

I do understand the concept and I am sure it is a bad attitude on my part ( impatience on learning the technique. if you understand the technique and can get the needle straight down then flat and working 3 stitches on needle I should be able to do it) Yeah, most likely my issue is myself. I am not going to give up just yet though. I also have to stop worrying about how many stitches per inch I am doing and just relax and work on consistency/ evenly spaced stitches.

I think it would be fun to do. Maybe not every quilt. But a baby size would be a great place to start. A lot of the you tube videos are not up close enough for me to get the full view. I would love to do the quilt top on the machine but the quilting by hand for at least 1 quilt in my lifetime.

How many hand quilter are here and do you have any beginner tips that you are willing to share? What was your biggest struggle when you started out and how did you over come it?

Don't feel too bad about not getting the rocking motion thing. I've also tried different times over the years, and still am not able to do it well. I keep going back to it from time to time. When I do hand-quilt, I use a sort of stabbing, up and down motion, as you might do for certain embroidery stitches. I work at keeping my stitches consistent, and that's it.

I do a lot of machine quilting, but sometimes it's nice to sit in a nice comfy chair and do some hand work.

I'm always looking at videos. I have a practice piece about 24x24". in a hoop. I like the rockin' the needle and am still self teaching through the videos. there are great quilts with "big stitch" where the stitches are 1/4" to larger. videos on that also.

Thank you for the responses. Glad I am not the only one who struggles. I should have also mentioned. I do get ( if you only count the top stitches) 6 stitches per inch. I think I am just going to put the top of my quilt together ( baby size) and just give it a go. I figure by the end of the quilt I should be even better. But the rest of this week, I am going to go back and draw a design on a scrap and just practice every day. So next week I can work on getting the top of my baby quilt together.

What a wonderful journey this is. Learning to quilt and learning about myself is even better. I so find it relaxing. I loved cross stitching So, I can not see why I can't do some hand quilting.

You people have livened up my hope.

Do your quilting in whatever way is comfortable for you. I have been hand-quilting since 1972 and I STILL can't get that rocking motion with more than one stitch at a time. But you know, I really don't care because it doesn't matter. I still hand quilt all my quilts, and I'm happy with them. And yes, practice does improve the quilting so....just do it.

I've never been able to do the "rocking" method but am very happy with my one-at-a-time stab stitch. Just make sure your needle goes straight up and straight down and enjoy!

I googled "hand quilting, stab stitch" and found many sites.

I can't quilt or sew with a thimble. When I handquilted I used my fingernail to push the needle. Eventually I would drill a hole in my nail. I did finally find a thimble that I could use but then I could not start a new set of stitches with it on because I use my index finger and my thumb to manipulate the needle so I would slide the thimble on and off as I worked. But as soon as my fingernail grew out enough I was back to only using the thimble to push the fully loaded needle through. I did learn the rocking motion.

We used to have an active member here from Germany (borntohandquilt). that did amazing hand quilting doing only stitch at a time. She also did not use a thimble. Unfortunately she has not participated on the board for a very long time. Here is a link to just one of her posts where she described how she quilted with lots of pictures:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...g-t142087.html


and here is a link to one of her completed quilts.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...g-t206709.html

So the purpose of this response is to assure you there is no right or wrong way to hand quilt. We all do what is most comfortable and works best for us.

So glad to see that I'm not the only one who does the "stab" thing LOL

Thank you so much. Feline Fantastic, thank you for sharing that post. WOW!!. I guess it doesn't really matter how it is done as long as it gets done and you enjoy yourself. Phew, pressure is now off and I am going to just sit back and enjoy the process :)

I learned to hand quilt with a group of experienced hand quilter's around a quilting frame-bee style. At first I was very slow, often took out more stitches than I put in it seemed. The group was very supportive and encouraging and eventually I got the rocking motion. I must confess that I can't use a thimble and use my fingernail. I have drilled holes in my nail, but found that super glue fixed that. Patience and persistence will pay off. I found that consistency of stitches was the part that came last. Just like any other skill, it must be developed with practice and the most defeating thing is to give up.

dottiemae, first thing I want to say is when I hand quilt I don't wear a thimble, never have, and I have been hand quilting for almost 30 years now. Add the fact that I'm left handed ...... well that brings another set of difficulties ...... lol But the best tips I can give you is just take your time, practice, and don't worry about the rocking motion (I still have problems). The consistency of your stitches will get better the more you quilt. So just relax and enjoy your slow stitching.

Jinny Breyer has some good tutorials on her website for hand quilting. She uses a spoon.

I hand quilt with the rocking motion. One thing I learned early on is that it is important that the quilt NOT be drum tight in the hoop. You want to be able to move it about a fist-size up or down in the middle. This slackness allows you to manipulate the fabric, not just the needle. The second thing that really helped me was finding the right thimble. For me, the thimble MUST have a pronounced raised ridge around the top to hold the needle while I am rocking. If you look closely, most thimbles are made for hand sewing, and they have a rounded top. The rounded top works fine for hand sewing, but it lets the needle slip when you are quilting. Also, most sewing thimbles have pretty shallow dimples. It helps to have a thimble with deep dimples, both on the sides and inside the ridged top. Those deep dimples hold the needle better. I will attach some photos that show the type of thimble that work for my rocking stitch. The second website also lists the brands of each thimble:
http://sentimentalstitches.net/instr...hand-quilting/
http://academyofquilting.com/class-s.../?classesID=50

The above doesn't work if you have long fingernails but if, like me, you are used to short nails it will be fine! It is also important that the thimble fit your finger. If a thimble is a little too big, you can place a small amount of children's clay inside to help it stay in place. Once you determine which finger works best for the thimble (with the shape of my hand, the middle finger works best for me), you still might want to get two sizes of the same thimble since fingers can swell a little in heat.

I will say that one of the best award winning quilters in my old city owned a quilt shop, and she quilted with the "stab" method. That is, she stabbed the needle down from the top, grabbed the needle underneath to pull the thread through, then sent the needle straight up with the underneath hand. She said she could never get the hang of rocking. I simply don't have that kind of dedication. My rocking stitches are not as perfect as her stab stitches, but I would not have the patience to make two hand motions for every single stitch!

You are right not to worry about stitches per inch. It is better to have consistent, evenly spaced, straight stitches.

I don't do a lot of hand quilting and I stuggle with the rocking needle too. I use the stab down and up, a single stitch at a time method when I do hand quilt. Haha, it works for me.

Practice is your best friend.

peace

To learn how to hand quilt, I met up with the quilting group that meets up at the local senior center. They are amazing women who are very willing to help someone new!

I was told not to worry about the size of stitches to start, but to work on consistency, and that I would get better as I went. When I first started, I thought there was no way I could quilt on short, thin needles, but when I used one, I was surprised at how much smaller I was able to get my stitches.

After they taught me to lap quilt, I found a video on using an "Aunt Becky". I work in a dirty environment, so I try to keep needle pricks to a minimum. Several of the women had one but could not get the hang of it, and we think I picked it up fast because it was all new to me, I didn't have years-long quilting motion habits. The methods in these videos works well for me-- (only allowed to include one video per post, second video in next post)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHEDYeIWz4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeKrAHJKAwU&t=585s

Prism99 has given you great advice. For me, I don't think I use a 'rocking' motion with my hand but rather 'rock' the fabric. It really doesn't matter. Consistency with your stitches is what you are after. I've also seen it recommended to have a scrap quilt piece available to do a few stitches to get your rhythm going before jumping into your actual quilt each time you start up again.

As to thimbles. I highly recommend the Thimblelady thimbles. They are open-ended at the top so nail length is not a factor. They have wonderfully deep dimples to hold the needles. You push with the pad of your finger vs the top/tip of your finger. Their sizing is wonderful. Go to the Thimblelady website and read their directions for sizing. So as you're not spending a bundle, I would also suggest trying their plastic version before getting either their stainless steel or sterling version. I think the plastic one is @ $15?? I would also suggest taking a look at some of her videos as well. She reinforces what Prism99 had to say with respect to the looseness of the quilt in your hoop. I've used her needles as well but not as fond of them as I am of Roxanne needles.

As to needles - they make a difference as well. As I say, I prefer Roxanne needles. I usually use their #10 or #11 needles. I've used their #12's as well but they would be my least favorite of the 3 sizes. Colonial Needle has great prices on those needles and have great service.

Just keep keeping on. Enjoy the process and try not to make yourself crazy. This is supposed to be a fun and relaxing hobby.

I have hand quilted for at least 50 years - off and on. Until about a year ago, I was die hard hand quilter. The most important thing is try for consistency. The length of your stitch, blah, is my notion. I strive for consistency, but sometimes, you are just off. My children, and grandchildren, and now great grandchildren, don' care if I have quilted 12 stitches to the inch or 6 stitches to the inch. The enjoy and appreciate the fact that I have made them a quilt. Now, I am however, enjoying learning to free motion on my machine. So it is what you enjoy. I don't make show quilts, I want my quilts loved and used. You enjoy the process of learning to hand quilt and be happy. Remember, our maker, is the only one that is perfect.

I have a method that works for me, and I find it sort of relaxing. I can only quilt down, not across, or up. Alex Anderson is a left handed quilter I think? and she can use her thumb!! I just quilt for my own pleasure and sometimes I make a quilt that I like to hand quilt. I put no pressure on myself with deadlines, etc. I try to get consistent stitches. Sometimes they are smaller, sometimes, just consistent. It does take practice, but, I don't mind it at all.

I suggest you don't worry about it and just do it, however is most comfortable for you. In that, you will find it a comfortable and comforting process.

not much of a hand quilter or sewer myself--hurts my hands--but Prism's advice is exactly like I was taught by some very good quilters.

Practice is all you can do to get better, but watching others is helpful too. I found that I like the ThimbleLady thimble best, and like someone else said I started w/the plastic one just to make sure. I am not great and I think I know how to do the rocking thing but my stitches aren't very small, so I just aim for consistent (and usually miss lol). I have only hand quilted one quilt, but it was pretty big so I got a lot of practice and the recipient was happy w/it even w/the uneven stitches.

Try not to aim for perfection and just enjoy the process.

I put my quilt on a small table, anchor it with a hunk of stainless steel and do a "running stitch". I use tiny little needles and use the gentle pull against the metal to keep things smooth. It's the way I started in the 70's and it works for me.

I have never loaded a bunch of stitches on the needle with a rocking motion. What works best for me is to put the needle down through the sandwich, back up through the sandwich, and pull the thread through... one stitch at a time.

I wasted alot of time trying to load a bunch of stitches on the needle until a quilt teacher gave me permission to do one at a time... what a revelation!

I did take a class on this and it's simply a matter of practice, practice, practice. I was breaking the teachers needles. I'm much better at it now but have found I like to quilt on my lap, without a hoop and simply do one or two stitches at a time. You just have to work at it till you find your groove. Good luck.

Lots of great suggestions here. The easiest for me personally is hoopless hand quilting. This video is a little long but I'm sure can can fast forward to where she actually talks about the hand quilting part VS the how to quilt in general. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDcLMiR2SAo

I have never been able to rock and get 3 stitches on my needle. I don't use a hoop now and just enjoy the regular stitches I can do, they aren't large stitches, well, I guess they are compared to 12 stitches per inch. Enjoying the process is more important to me.

I can do the rocking motion but I'm slow and awkward and my stitches are not always consistent. I thought I'd love hand quilting....and I did. But I'd never get anything finished, at the rate I do it. So I abandoned it and machine quilt only now.

But I do love some kinds of repetitive handwork, such as crochet; I find it soothing. So maybe I should make a baby quilt or something small that I can hand quilt over time.

I hand quilt everything and finish about 3 bed-size quilts a year. How many do you think you need? Never could understand the rush.

Thank you for the great suggestions. Sleepy Hollow, I did watch that video using Aunt Becky. That looks like it would work slick. Prism you had some fantastic tips. You all did actually. I have bookmarked every site and video you posted.

I realized I do much better when I stitch towards myself. I can't quite get the right thumb to control the fabric on the needle but my left thumb does an pretty good job :). I am in no rush to get this baby quilt done. So, I am going to take it slow and just enjoy it. I love cross stitching and a lot of that is the stitch down then back up ( in a sense) so the motion for that would be quite easy to adjust to. I may try it on some scraps. I am afraid I won't have as much consistency as I do trying the rocking method. But, I just may give that a try. Just to compare the two ways.

I love how there are so many ways to get the same results. I think quilting as well as any craft has to be enjoyable and there are always many methods to achieving great results. When starting out, it is always practice practice practice. I must remember this. I tell this to everyone I have ever taught to crochet. I need to take my own advice with quilting.

I could only finish one queen size quilt every 3 to 4 years when I handquilted. I once kept track of one of my quilts and quit keeping track after 275 hours of quilting (and it still wasn't done!). I didn't track the amount of time it took me to piece it, baste it or mark it. Not near as long I am sure. I have way too many quilts I want to make in my lifetime so that is why I made the switch from hand to longarm quilting.

One thing I forgot to mention is that your batting selection can make hand quilting much easier, or much harder. Warm and Natural is one of the hardest battings to hand quilt because it is all cotton (cotton creates drag on the needle) and it is needlepunched through scrim (the scrim creates an extra layer the needle has to push through). The easiest battings to hand quilt are wool and silk. Thin polyester is also very easy to hand quilt; puffy polyester not so much. A good starter batting for hand quilting if you don't want to use wool or all-polyester is Hobbs 80/20 batting. There is enough polyester in it to make hand quilting fairly easy compared to most all-cotton battings.

Pick the technique that feels comfortable for you. I think it is better to get the stitches equal in size rather than stitches per inch. As you stitch, you will get batter. I took a Cindy Blackburn class and this is her advise. Good luck.

One more thing, try your thimble on a different finger. I put mine on my index finger instead of my middle finger. And try all different types also. Most of them are inexpensive. I have the Thimblelady thimble now, but I started w/a Clover leather one w/the metal disk, http://www.joann.com/clover-leather-...e/3568417.html. I much prefer pushing w/my finger pad instead of the tip of my finger.

Don't fret over how small your stitches are for now. That will come with practice. My standard is trying to make them consistent size. Too, I didn't learn to use a thimble when I began sewing and still don't like one. I can't tell where the needle really is. I use my thumbnail for pushing away from me but like the Clover leather thimble with the "coin" in it if pushing the needle toward me. I feel I have more control of the needle with it than with other more traditional thimbles.

Thanks for the links, the quilting is gorgeous.
bkay

As you are just started to hand quilt, as you work, lay a ruler down and take a picture but don't look at it. Just mentally put it away. Next year do it again with your most current project and compare to see how much you have improved. As I am quilting, I'm thinking smaller, smaller but when I compare my "ruler" pictures, even I can see the difference.

I fully understand the batting issue. I will be doing either hobbs 80/20 or poly for this baby quilt. I have tried my thimble on every finger except my pinky lol. I will be looking into other types of thimbles down the road. I have been doing some practicing each day and will continue until I am ready to hand quilt this next project. By then, I should have tons of practice and the stitching should be good. I don't plan on whipping the top out in a speedy fashion. Won't even be starting it until next week.

I watched a video from craftsy about perle cotton quilting. She said this little tip that I have not read or heard yet " how far the needle goes through the back is how big the stitches will be". I found this interesting. I am not sure if it pertains to just perle cotton or not . I really don't see how the type of thread would affect this saying. She even mentioned up to 1/4" stitches is fine as you want to work on consistency. in time the stitches will get smaller.So, I did find those interesting. For a beginner like myself, I would be happy if I could get all my stitches 1/4" in length. Haven't tried to yet, but there is always tomorrow. I may even take a moment or two and mark out 1/4" dots and see how close I get.

I learn in a unique way. So, sometimes the visual I have to mark where others can just eye ball it. I know in time I will be eye balling measurements like all you excellent quilters. But I am happy. I really enjoyed my practice time this morning. Even though I bent a needle I am getting better at rocking the needle. 1/2 of my practice stitches were very very close to the same size.

You all have been a great help and very supportive. Thank you and have a great quilting day.

This is the only thimble that ever worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/Clover-6027-P...ywords=thimble

My favorite hand quilting needle is the Hiroshima Tulip between needle. They never bend and are very sharp. They are more expensive, but because of the quality and hand done manufacturing process, they last a long time. I have just passed the halfway point on my current quilt and am still using the same needle. In the beginning, I Could only get these needles on Amazon, but now my local quilt store is carrying them. I have tried every other needle out there and the Hiroshima Tulip is the very best--no comparison. Because the eye is hand done and not stamped, there are no sharp edges, so the thread does not shred or fray. They are also easier to thread. I can't sing the praises of this needle for hand quilting enough.