Hand Quilting

Being the homesteader wannabe that I am, I love quilting, but not with a sewing machine. No ma'am! Quilting by hand is my craft of choice. But, it does make the process slower. I have a couple of reasons for liking hand piecing and quilting. For one thing, I can take it anywhere. I can piece the squares and triangles and rectangles and circles together while Husband is driving as we roll along the road. Also, the the quiet work of working on my quilt in the evenings is very relaxing and rewarding.

There are some things I thought I didn't need to know about hand quilting, but have learned the importance of them.

One thing is, if you want to hand quilt, buy the thinnest batting available if you are a beginner, which I am. I didn't know they made quilt batting as thin as what I bought for the quilt I am now working on. The loft is about 1/4 inch thick.

Also, be sure to get quilting needles. They are also called, "betweens". These little needles are especially strong to handle the pushing through the three layers over and over. They are short and fat as far as needles go. The higher the number size, the tinier the needle. That is, the shorter it is.

Another thing I learned, that I thought I'd never be able to handle is to have a couple of thimbles. You'll need one for the finger you use to push the needle toward you and one for your thumb to push away from you. I don't always wear the thumb one, but I put it on when it's needed, and when it's needed, it's important to have.

When I first started my quilting, I had bought a big oval hoop - about a yard at its widest part - thinking it would be just the thing. What I discovered was that this hoop was 'way too big! For me, it was bulky and uncomfortable. So, I went to the craft store and saw a 12 inch hoop that I thought was for embroidery only. I thought it would be just the thing, but it was with the embroidery things. When out of desparation, I finally asked the sales lady if they had a smaller hoop for quilting than the oval frame, she said this hoop I thought was only for embroidery was also used for quilting. It cost about $20 and was well worth it. It is sturdier than the oval one, too. I'm very happy with it.

I've quilted before, but I'm calling this quilt that I'm working on now, my *1st* quilt because I started it from the cutting out and will finish it to the binding myself. I haven't even pieced a complete quilt OR completely finished a quilt that someone else pieced. My quilt is very simple - only squares. There are 180 squares and I've completed 14 - not very many, not even a tenth.