Hi friends,
Coming home from QuiltCon really inspired me to try out hand quilting - something I have been scared to do, but in awe of forever. So many quilts in the show had the most amazing hand work - the texture - the imperfectness, I was definitely hooked.
I came home searching for thread and a needle that would work - determined to start right away. I asked my friends at the Aurifil booth at the show what they recommended for hand quilting and they said 12wt would be perfect. I knew I had some of this weight at home - because I received some in some sample packs a couple of years ago and had no idea what to do with it besides maybe embroidery. I found a fun orange red shade and a needle that had a large enough hole to thread and went to work - blindly - wanting to just get a feel for it before I made a commitment to buying proper needles.
I shared what I was working on with you all on Instagram last week - and you had SO much great advice for needles - thread - and how to videos that would give me some advice on how to go about this properly.
The pillow top consists of 1” wide to 2” wide strips of left over solids. I try and keep my scrap bin separated into two bins - solids and prints, to make it easy for quick little projects like this.
I started in the middle where the seams of both halves match up. Knotted my thread and started about an inch from where I wanted my first stitch to show popping my knot through to hide it and then started sewing at the beginning of the seam. Looking back at this now I am happy with my stitches but might mark my lines with a hera marker next time to make my lines a bit straighter. My friend Nydia recommended something called Tiger tape to me - will add a link below - this is skinny tape with lines marking where you should stitch. You can remove it and place it on your next section. I feel like this might be a good addition to my hand quilting stash to help get my rhythm figured out.
I also heard from many of you that drawing a couple of lines on your thumb or finger that lies next to your work helps as a guide for stitching as well! Genius! I wonder how many people out there have actually had this tattooed on their fingers!
Many of you also recommended hand quilting videos / tips from Suzy Quilts and Sarah Fielke.
Suzy has an awesome series on how to hand quilt - that includes videos, tips and even how to choose a needle. This will be my next step - finding out which needle I enjoy using.
Sarah Fielke has a great video on hand quilting techniques for beginners.
Before I dive into quilting an actual quilt I am going to educate myself - will make the process and end result so much better.
Until then, here are some images of my first hand quilted project! I love the texture - I love how imperfect it is - and how I have a fun reminder of the beginning of my hand quilting journey.
Hope you can get past your sewing fears this week and try something new! I was so afraid to try this method thinking I wouldn’t enjoy it but I was so wrong, it’s now one of my favorite things!
If you are interested in some of my favorite tools for hand sewing - check out the link below for my Amazon favorites! This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Thanks for stopping by friends, have a great week!
Nicole