How do you keep from poking holes in your fingers?

Of course this depends of the size of the quilt and how intricate the quilting patterns are. In general I need about 3 to 4 months to finish a quilt with 75"x75". I quilt 6 to 8 hours per day.

Oh my. I hope I can learn that...with the help of these photos, ....Are you available for a long distance class? If not how about a video? Love this. Debi

When I push down the needle through the fabric for doing the stitch my finger underneath the quilt doesn't have to feel the needle's tip because the needle goes down quite deep. My finger underneath the quilt stays besides the needle and doesn't touch it until it has gone through the layers.

Unfortunately I don't have a camera to do a video...but maybe the pictures will help to try it?

I could not get my stitches that small and even if a gun were held to my head. Your stitching is exquisite.

Thanks for the tutorial. I'm glad to hear that you can successfully hand quilt without a thimble a stitch at a time. I attempted hand quilting using a thimble one time but couldn't get the rocking motion down comfortably. I just finished my first hand-pieced bed sized quilt top and am nervous to attempt the hand quilting. A local long-arm quilter said she never machine quilts hand-pieced quilt tops so I'm on my own for the quilting.

what do you charge in general? i tried it i don't think i can get my stiches that small you are really good how long have you been quilting? jodie

I started quilting in 1989 and specialized in hand quilting and wholecloths around 1994/1995.

Give it try again and find your own way of hand quilting! It's a lot of fun and you will be proud about your hand made quilt.