ON THE JOYS OF HAND QUILTING
By Molly Schnick, Manager of Purl Patchwork

Joelle taught me to hand quilt about a year and a half ago as we were preparing to open Purl Patchwork. I loved it immediately and I was struck by how free and versatile it was.  I hand quilted a few pieces with straight lines, wavy lines, and geometric shapes, and pretty soon I wanted to do something with a more elaborate pattern. A few months ago our  quilting teacher Cassandra Thoreson showed us an amazing Welsh style quilt that she had designed and quilted. I was blown away by her tiny stitches and beautiful detailed design. On Cassandra's recommendation we started stocking a book called Making Welsh Quilts, I was inspired to start this little piece after looking through it.  As you can see, my small piece is not a traditional pattern, I just made it up as I went along.  To make it I used a water erasable fabric marker to draw the images right on the fabric. After I was done quilting one design, I drew another. The traditional Welsh designs have alot of flowers and leaves in them. Mine has those too but it also has spider webs and dots, among other things.  It’s only semi-symmetrical, it’s a weird amorphous shape, and the back is really puckered, but I can’t help but be proud of it’s folk-arty charm!  (If you feel like giving hand quilting a try let me suggest using a hoop. I used one for all my previous projects but this time I got cocky and didn't. I think some of it’s puckering is due to this.)

We have a great hand quilting class here at Purl Patchwork. It’s definitely something that’s worth learning. It’s soothing in a way that reminds me of knitting and completely transfixing like embroidery or doodling in your notebook.