You are truly an artist and many of us are inspired by your work. Hand quilting classes are hard to find as are hand quilters willing to pass on their skills to the novice quilters. Books can only get you so far. I do believe hand quilted quilts should be judged separately from machine quilted quilts - they are just worlds apart in skill and techniques - but both are an artistic expression of quilting.

I cannot hand quilt very much now, due to the onset of Arthritis. I now use my machine much more than I ever did, which means that I can still make quilts, and still enjoy sewing.

I have recently taken up knitting again to help keep my hands supple and moving - bit painful to start with, but I am perservering.

I love your work: I live in County Durham, UK where wholecloth quilting has its home - some of the work of the Durham quilters is exhibited locally and is truly exquisite. As long as there are hand quilters producing such beautiful work as you, then there will be other quilters to appreciate it!

i am a hand quilter yes i like working with my hand it is relaxing though i have to a mitt i do machine to get done fast i love your work

I was referring to hand made quilt tops that a person spends a lot of time making, and then taking the fast route to finish it up. I love a lot of machine quilting when its not just a bunch of big loops to get it over with. I am sure your work is beautiful, and I have commented on the beautiful machine work of others. But just think about taking a beautifully hand worked top and sticking it in a machine to finish it off. That is what I was referring to. I meant no disrespect for your work. Crazy how people turn things around sometimes.

I guess a few machine quilters out there are mad at me. I am sorry. I didn't mean that machine quilting is bad. I meant that when you take an antique quilt top or hand pieced work of are and stick it on a machine and do random loops all over it, it seems to me to ruin it. If you make a machine quilt and do some nice quilt work on it with a machine it comes out beautiful. I certainly think its a wonderful thing that machines are out there to do their work too. I just feel bad to take a hand pieced work and get the quilting over with by setting it in a machine and walking away. Sorry for the artist out there that took me the wrong way. I love the intriquet work that some machine quilters do and the hard work they put into it. You aren't the ones I am referring to.

I love the hand quilted heirloom quilts. And I love the machine quilted art pieces. It seems to me that with so many of us in the work force, that the machine quilting is an art of its own for those will less time to devote to the hand work. doesn't that mean that each is its own category? There is much beauty in well done art no matter which form it is done in. I hope that hand quilting is not a fading art, but the new advances in machine work is just awesome as well.

You just make a section of the quilt and make a strip that you can easily handle. You put backing and batting, pin or baste it, quilt it and then make another section. Then when you have 2 sections done, you place them face to face and sew a seam connecting the first section to the second. You trim the batting and backing to be flat and then you slip stitch the backing and quilt along the connection. You can make these pieces however they are easy for you to handle. I do almost all my quilts like this now and I can get small quilting stitches and can take it with me when I go someplace. I hope this helps. I don't word things very well.

Your work is absolutely beautiful! I'd like to see some of it in person! Bring it to a show and tell get together at 2 Doods on Sept 18th. PM her for the address and details! She is just west of Beaverton!

I have no frame. I tried that but it got in my way. I just baste well, or pin well and hold it on my lap. I use a long needle and put several small stitches at a time and pull it through. You can bunch up the piece in your hand to get good stitch length this way. As long as the pins or basting is close enough together. I can go really fast because of this technique. I don't know if anyone else does this but it works well for me. I have some small needle nose pliers that help pull the needle through the tough areas. Cotton batting is harder to sew through but I use it anyway because I want all cotton. Try a small piece and see how it goes for you. You may fall in love with it too. Good luck.

Stunning handwork!!!! I wish I had the patience to do it, but I just don't. Being ADHD I have a hard enough time concentrating on what I do now. I can't imagine trying to sit still long enough to do an entire quilt by hand. Keep up the great work. I don't think it's a lost art.