beautiful quilting

Wow!! It would take me years to quilt half of that

No, it's more the forefinger of my right hand.

Beautiful work. I also have a floor stand round frame. And I also have the long floor model. Both have quilts on them right now.
There is no way I can quilt without a thimble.
And don't you hate it when you get a hole in one of your fingers while quilting. I'll guarantee you will hit that same hole time after time.
I do envy you for being able to quilt without a thimble.

Thank you so much for posting this! You are an amazing hand quilter and I am so happy to hear that you only do one stitch at a time. I took a class to learn this and HAD to wear a thimble and HAD to try to get a minimum of 4 to 6 stitches on my needle by doing the rocking motion. Your posting has made my day! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will now go back and finish my project knowing that one of the best hand quilters I have seen does one stitch at a time.

Yes, I hate it when I have a hole in my finger - but fortunately I don't have one! :) I think the callouses are strong enough after years of quilting and it's also a matter of holding or guiding the needle.

I know my method looks a little strange to some quilters or too boring because I only do single stitches or it seems to be too slow. But I like it that way and for me the result counts. It's not so important how you reach it.

Thank you for sharing your technique. I will bookmark this. I have never ever liked using a thimble. It just doesn't feel right on my finger. Your quilting looks beautiful. You say one stitch at a time eh? Like doing an embroidery stitch?

Yes, you could compare that. I don't do stab stitching as you see on the pictures, the needle is not pulled out on the back, it stays on the top of the quilt.

This sounds like a perfect day to me.

You do such beautiful work. Thank you for showing us, no thimble? Amazing detail and so straight.

Your stitches are impeccable

Oh, you sound so much like me. I can set and see some of my flowers. And watch the hummers all day. I can't keep them full. The feeders are empty once again. I've got 8 hanging.

Or I'll go out and set on the porch and work on small items. And watch my big flower garden that goes all the way across almost the whole front of the house.

But sad, it's time to start cutting down. So many things have done bloomed and now gone.

I can't wait until fall gets here. I love seeing the colors. They are so inspirational in doing quilts for fall.

Very pretty work, seems your fingers would get awfully sore.

Wow standing ovation from a fellow hand quilter.

My goodness, it must take a long time to do a whole quilt. Your work is gorgeous!

Your work is stunning.

Your quilting is soo stunning!
I am going to move to Flensburg in about three weeks, hopefully I can take a class with you sometime!!

There's nothing wrong with that. Keep on sewing.

Thank you. Your stitching is exquisite.

Wow! Your work is amazing.

Your quilting is amazing, nut it must take forever one stitch at a time?

you do such beautiful work!! I hand quilt also,but cannot compare with your work.I do not even come close!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for sharing this tute. It is a pleasure to see, up close and personal, someone else's beautiful work. I quilt as you do, without a thimble, except I depress the fabric in front of the needle on the uplift with the very edge of my thumb nail.

Your work is truly lovely as is your setting. :-)

Jan in VA

Love your technique. My Godmother is from your area in Germany. I'm going to see her on Wednesday and tell that someone on this board is from Schelswig-Holstein. She won't believe...lol...she always says nobody is from there except her! My brother lives in Hamburg.

I will be taking a hand quilting claas in two weeks so I eagerly read every word and saw borntoquilt topics - I am in total awe, such beautiful hand work and legacy to continue and be a part of. Thank you to all who have posted, questions and comments. I feel I have much more respect for this craft beyond just curiosity.

This is great! Sometimes the world seems to be very, very small...I lived in Hamburg several years and my husband is born and raised there. Schleswig-Holstein is sometimes called "the land between the seas (North Sea and Baltic Sea)" and I am really happy here in the country side.

I love, love, love seeing your work. I made a small (36" square) wholecloth once and loved it, seeing your work is making me want to try another one! I'm currently handquilting a log cabin, I think a wholecloth after this would be a welcome relief from all these seams! :)

I handquilt the way I was taught to- from one side to another, loading several stitches at a time. I always thought that one stitch at a time would make it harder to keep them even. Now I want to give it a try! A question- why do you aim towards yourself, instead of from one side to another?

Your handquilting is fantastic.
I would like to try your method someday...

That is how my way of quilting developed over the years. I don't bend my wrist joint so much when I quilt towards my body and like this it's most comfortable for me.

how long does it take you to do a quilt ?

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.