Let’s talk hand quilting

As a follow up to my last post, let’s talk hand quilting. It has been interesting to see the evolution of hand quilting standards over the last few years. Talking to my mum (and one of my greatest inspirations when it comes to quilting) when she was learning the aim was to get your stitches as small as possible, aiming for 1/8 of an inch. When doing this you don’t want any areas not quilted that are bigger then about your fist. This gives some lovely texture and holds the layers together. This is what I had learnt from my mum.

Some of my mums beautiful work. This was a quilt I got for my 18th birthday.

Now to talk about current trends in hand quilting and I will have to say that I am not disappointed. The views around quilting seem to have shifted to one that you want to enhance your artwork. Enter big stitch quilting. In this technique you use larger stitches to hold the layers together. No more aiming for the smallest possible stitches. This technique also uses different threads and acts to help embellish the quilt top. Whilst I am very new to big stitch quilting, I will say that what I have done is quicker.

My current big stitch WIP. Once I finish the quilting I will remove the basting stitches.

One more way to hold the layers together is to tie or sew buttons onto the top. This is the way I quilted my first ever quilt. Although It has long been lost as I have moved during my adult years, it was an easy way for an eager 9 year old to learn about different techniques of working on quilts. I remember tying little pieces of embroidery floss onto my quilt after passing it through the layers.

Final thoughts? My final thoughts on all this is that no matter what technique you choose, love the quilt you end up with. There is no right or wrong, there are no quilt police. If it gives you the outcome you want, embrace it and make it yours.