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Hand Quilting

Hand quilting is great for busy moms. It allows you to take advantage of time when you are not able to sit at your sewing machine. If you are waiting at a game or to pick someone up you can spend that time quilting. Many quilters use the time while sitting with the family after dinner. My mom gets her quilting done because she has it with her and can work on it anywhere. She uses lunch breaks and any other small bits of time she might have.

Hand quilting is easy to learn. It requires few tools, but there are many fun tools available. The only way to get good at hand quilting is to practice. The more you do it, the smaller your stitches and they become more even.

Before you take the first stitch:

Cut about an arms length of thread. You don't want it to be too long or it will tangle and you don't want it too short or you will waste time stopping, threading your needle and starting again when you don't need to.
Thread the needle leaving a 2-3 inch tail. I like the tail to be long enough I hold it securely with my pinky and ring finger.
Tie a knot at the far end of the thread. There are several ways to do this. I just tie an overhand knot and then tie another one over top of the first.
Decide where you want to start quilting. Then an inch or two away from there poke the needle through the top fabric and into the batting but not out the back of the quilt. Tip the needle so the tip comes up right where you want to start quilting. Pull the thread until the knot you tied in step 3 is resting against the quilt. Then with one last tug, pop it into the quilt. It should hide in the batting. If it pops all the way out just try again.

The Stitch

The hand quilting stitch is a running stitch. The goal is to have the stitches even and the spacing between them the same size as the stitches. As you practice hand quilting your stitches will naturally become more even and get shorter.

You must complete steps 1-4 in Before you take the first stitch before this section. If you didn't shame on you and go back and do it.

Poke the needle straight down through the layers of your quilt just far enough that when you rub your finger on the bottom side you can just feel the scratchy tip of the needle.

Tip the needle almost flat against the quilt and push it a tiny bit through the mound that forms.

Once the tip of the needle is sticking out on the top side of the quilt, tip it up almost vertical again and repeat.

When you first start you will probably only be able to get a couple of stitches on your needle before you should pull the thread through. As you get more experienced you will be able to fit a few more stitches on your needle each time. Some experienced quilters may have 5-8 stitches in a needleful.

The most important thing is consistent stitch length. It's more important for your stitches to look good than to fit more on each needleful.

When you finish stitching with a length of thread, secure your stitches by tying a knot in the thread and popping it into the batting like you did at the beginning. Then just trim the thread tail so that the end is hidden in the layers of the quilt. I do this by tugging up just a bit and snipping close to the quilt. When the tension is released the thread tail is in the quilt and not visible.

Frames

There are several types of hand quilting frames. They often take up quite a bit of floor space. There are simple flat frames like women have been using for more than a hundred years. There are also new modern frames with rollers and ratchets and adjustable angles and heights.

Hoops

For portable hand quilting I prefer a hoop. I can take it with me. Hoops come alone or with lap or floor stands. Quilting hoops are often larger than embroidery hoops and need to hold the layers of the quilt securely so you don't get gathers while you are quilting.

Tools

To hand quilt you NEED the following:

Needle (use a "between")
Thread (cotton is best for cotton fabric)
Thimble
Hoop or Frame. (Some people "lap" quilt without a hoop or frame but it's not recommended for beginners)

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