Hand Quilting

My next step was to hide my knot and begin quiting. I stuck my needle in-between the top and the backing (so it went into the batting but not so it poked out of the back) of my quilt and pulled it out at the point that I wanted to start my quilting stitch.


With a little tug the knot disappeared and I finally got to start quilting!
Note: if you see your thread end poking out after you’ve hid he knot just nip it off.

I decided to mostly quilt in the ditch. “Stitching in the ditch” means to quilt in your pieced seams. Since it’s pretty impossible to get exactly in the seam ditch you usually quilt right next to it, on the lower side (the side without the seam allowance behind it). For the quilting lines where I wasn’t doing this I used a Hera Marker to guide me.

Keep in mind that you quilt towards yourself.
I put my thimble on my right index finger (many people use their middle finger instead) and put my left index finger under the quilt, touching the backing fabric. I inserted my needle perpendicularly into the fabric and, using only my thimbled index finger I pushed it thru until it pricked (but not in a painful way) my under finger.

Next comes the tricky part.  Using only my right index finger I  rocked my needle backwards and pushed it forward while my right thumb pushed the front fabric down against my under finger. This motion allowed the needle to poke through and make a small stitch.


Then pulled my needle through and my first stitch was done. As I got more comfortable with making my stitches even and small I put more stitches on the needle at a time to go a little faster.


Once I was almost out of thread I tied my magic quilters knot again.


And hid the knot in the same way I did earlier and nipped the thread end so it disappeared.


Here is my front all quilted. Now I was ready to pull out my  green basting thread.


The pulling out of the basting is pretty self explanatory and fun. I just grabbed one end and pulled.



Here is the front after the basting was pulled.

 

And here is a close up of the back

Comments

[bandit a la mode]

such beautiful stitching, you must be quite proud of your project :) lovely

[nicole]

Wonderful. Did you use a frame to hold your quilt or a large hoop? It looks like a hoop, but I have never used one when quilting. Are they different that regular embroidery hoops?

[purl bee]

Hi Nicole-

You can use either a frame or a hoop. They work in the same way. A quilting hoop is thicker and larger than an embroidery hoop and you don't pull the fabric as taut as you do with embroidery.

Here is a more recent story which goes into more detail:
http://www.purlbee.com/windowpane-wholecloth-quilt/

And here is a link to our selection of quilting hoops:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/16-sewing-patchwork-notions-tools?filters[]=914

Thank you!

Molly

[shweta]

Looks very pretty... have a question for u.. what kind of batting did u use for hand quilting??

[purl bee]

Hi Sweta-

We use 100% cotton batting in the thinnest loft for hand quilting. It is available here: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/1810-Quilters-Dream-Natural-Request-Dream-Thinnest-Loft

Also, we have a more recent story about hand quilting which you might find more helpful. It can be found here: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/1810-Quilters-Dream-Natural-Request-Dream-Thinnest-Loft

Thank you for writing in!

Molly