# Does anybody hand quilt anymore?



## Fryegirl (Sep 16, 2006)

I know that I'm somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to quilting but I've noticed that, these days, everyone seems to machine quilt their projects.
When I started quilting a few decades ago, machine quilted pieces were pooh-poohed and, in fact, not even allowed in shows or quilt store displays. Stitching was judged as a major factor in construction.

I remember going to a major quilting convention in the late 80's and a judge told a group that "If I wanted a machine quilted bed cover, I'd just order one from Sears. The actual 'quilting' is what makes the work special. Besides, how can anyone call themselves a quilter if they don't actually do the quilting?".

I still quilt by hand and I tend to quilt very heavily, so a bed quilt will take me a long, long time to complete. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one still doing this. Anyone else out there?


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## JediMom (Jul 3, 2007)

My mother still hand-quilts, and when I start on the table runner I am going to make (I must start out small!!), I intend to hand-quilt it.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

I haven't done much quilting, but when I do it, it's the hand stitching that I enjoy. The piecing ... that feels (to me) like a necessary evil to get to the good part of hand sewing it. 

I made a lap quilt for my sister with trefoils hand stitched in every square (we both love Celtic knotwork, and it's the symbol of St Patrick, someone she really thinks is cool). It was easy, beautiful, and enjoyable to do. 

It's almost like there are two 'kinds' of quilting expertise ... the piecing (which I clearly haven't got) and the hand sewing. Both are appealing, but in different ways.


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## sancraft (Jun 7, 2002)

I hand quilt, but have recently decided that the ones that I don't have much of an attachment to, I'll machine quilt. The ones I want to pass on, will be hand quilted.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

I have a "fan quilt" that I started 10 or more years ago. It's all hand done, but it's not even 1/2 finished. My fingers get sore when I work on it. Then I put it away and forget about it for a long time. Every now and then I get it out and work on it. IF I ever get it finished I'll love it, but any future quilts will be done by machine. I guess quilting is not my thing.


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## farmerpat (Jan 1, 2008)

I do! The first top I ever did I bought at a quilting store for $3.00. I brought it home and couldn't wait to start, so I bought the batting and the backing, and put it in the frame, only to discover it was TOO BIG for the frame! (It turned out to be a KING SIZE made in the 1930's postage stamp trip around the world.) It took me quilting, every spare moment, 3 and a half years to finish! I was hooked! I hand quilted many many baby quilts, but since I'm getting older, and the old arthritis flares up ALOT, I don't hand quilt as much as I used to. I really miss doing it, though, and may do a wall hanging or something small again. I wish I could do a big quilt again, but I'm afraid it would just take me too long, with the pain and stiffness.


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## homefire2007 (Sep 21, 2007)

I have hand quilted for years.....I don't finish very many quilts! The projects I'm working on now will be machine quilted. Time plays a big factor, there are too many quilts I want to make before I go! I still tease my mother...my oldest son is seventeen and she is still working on his baby quilt


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

I love to handquilt. My grandmother actually taught me and I have a couple of quilts that we quilted on together. BUT I just don't have time right now and I don't have the space to set up my hand quilting frame. Someday, though, I plan on having enough room to get back to hand quilting.


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## stirfamily (Jun 18, 2002)

I do, I do! :bouncy: That's the only way I quilt. I love it. I try to spend about 2 hours a day at my frame. That's not always possible. Sometimes a quilt will sit for weeks before I can get back to it. 
Karen in Indiana


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## Fryegirl (Sep 16, 2006)

To those of you who quilt at a frame: Do you ever use large embroidery hoops or Q-snap frames? I like to quilt in the evening while watching a miovie with DH (multitasking, baby!).

I have a hoop-frame, 39" in diameter that also turns. It's much smaller than a traditional frame but I like the fact that it turns and the 39" gives me a large work space. Still, I use a smaller portable hoop that I can put in my lap most of the time.


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## rb. (Jan 26, 2003)

I plan on hand quilting, but first I must finish the top. I hand piece.  I find it more enjoyable because I have no permanent place for my machines, and it's a pain to pull them out and set them up for only a half hour or so. I can sew a lot in half an hour by hand.


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## slinky (Jan 4, 2007)

I think hand quilting is gorgeous, and my hat is off to those of you who have the patience for it. I just like to finish things the quickest way to do that is for me to just machine it.

I just really dislike the attitude that some people have that machine quilting isn't "real" quilting. (Not saying that anyone here has said that! But I've heard it from people at quilt shows and such.) My first quilting teacher had won national prizes for her gorgeous art quilts and I remember her telling all of us beginners, "People will give you all kinds of rules about quilting. People will say you have to hand quilt. People will say you have to hand piece. People will say you can't tie. People will say not to use anything but the $15/yard quilting fabrics. I say Phooey! on all of them. The purpose of quilting is to have fun. And you should quilt any way you enjoy it."

I've always thought she was so wise. I think the hand quilting is absolutely gorgeous, but it's not fun for me. We're all different. And that's why I love this forum. There are so many different brands of sewing "fun" on display and so many different styles to look at.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

slinky said:


> I think hand quilting is gorgeous, and my hat is off to those of you who have the patience for it. I just like to finish things the quickest way to do that is for me to just machine it.
> 
> I just really dislike the attitude that some people have that machine quilting isn't "real" quilting. (Not saying that anyone here has said that! But I've heard it from people at quilt shows and such.) My first quilting teacher had won national prizes for her gorgeous art quilts and I remember her telling all of us beginners, "People will give you all kinds of rules about quilting. People will say you have to hand quilt. People will say you have to hand piece. People will say you can't tie. People will say not to use anything but the $15/yard quilting fabrics. I say Phooey! on all of them. The purpose of quilting is to have fun. And you should quilt any way you enjoy it."
> 
> I've always thought she was so wise. I think the hand quilting is absolutely gorgeous, but it's not fun for me. We're all different. And that's why I love this forum. There are so many different brands of sewing "fun" on display and so many different styles to look at.


What she said :goodjob: 
I have been sewing for 40 years and quilting for 15 years. i do everything on a machine. I am a piecer and a machine quilter. Even if I did not have arthritis in my hands, I would machine quilt. I do appreciate hand quilting, but I make far too many pieces to not machine quilt them. I like to finish projects  There is a place for machine and hand quilting.


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## Nan (May 13, 2002)

I do both, but mainly hand quilt. I am working on my son's quilt right now. I want to get it finished before he gets married. (they think next fall) I have the fabric for each of my kids a quilt for wedding gifts. I LOVE to hand quilt! It is very relaxing to me. I have one of those huge tilting floor frames and we have enough room to leave it out all of the time at our soon to be finished new house! It is about 10 feet long and VERY heavy duty! I also have a portable frame that I tote smaller quilts around in that is an oak frame about 2' by 2 1/2' Maybe a bit more narrow. I've never really measured it! LOL I bought it at a garage sale years ago and it even came with a floor stand out of hard wood! I wasn't looking for a smaller one...but since it was only 2.50...who could resist! It was still in it's original box from the 30's! I've done dozens of baby quilts with that!

I'm of the same opinion that quilting is a very individual thing! I have a friend that has pieced dozens of quilts and never quilted any of them. She has them machine quilted! GORGEOUS stuff! I also have another friend that machine quilts them herself. I have several friends that hand quilt all of their quilts but machine piece them. That is where I fit in...mainly hand quilt the ones that I have machine pieced. I don't enjoy hand piecing at all! I have one friend that hand pieces AND quilts all of her's! There isn't a right or wrong way to do it...just however you can do it and enjoy doing it! Like most people said above...some folks, especially if they have young ones still at home, just don't have time to hand quilt much. I don't think hand quilting will ever be extinct, it just comes and goes in popularity.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

I will be hand quilting when I eventually finish the top (also hand sewing) but I don't have a clue how to do it so there may be interesting times ahead LOL

hoggie


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

I use to, but my hands can't do it any more; however, I have never considered it taboo or being not a pure form of quilting. Don't think for a moment that if it was possible to machine quilt hundreds years ago that they wouldn't have done it rather than by hand.  

Machine quilting just makes more sense to many of us. If you love to make quilts, you can get in 10 quilts for every 1 done by hand (or more using a long-arm).

It just always seemed odd to me that the quilting purest had no qualms about actually _buying_ fabric, rotary cutting, machine piecing, using special guides, rulers, and gizmos - all of which was _not_ done by our ancestors; but then snubbed machine quilting. The quilting is actually considered secondary to the block making. :shrug:


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

I agree with Karen. All the fuss about the "pureness" of hand quilting a project that was put together using modern equipment is rather silly IMO.

I don't have the patience to hand quilt and my hands couldn't do it anyway.


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## MoCrafter (May 19, 2004)

I machine piece, but hand quilt. I do want to learn to machine quilt some day. It would be nice to get a quilt done faster. I have a quilt in my frames and also a baby quilt that I work on while watching tv with dh in the evenings. I use a hoop on that quilt. I love all quilts. To me they are works of art, whether hand quilted or machine quilted. :hobbyhors 

Winona


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

I agree that both hand and machine quilting are authentic forms and neither is "above" the other. Time spent quilting makes a big difference in how many quilts we can complete, and machine quilting is so much faster. I have made a total of about 18 quilts, and I'm still working (5 years later) on a hand quilted one. Besides, quilts that are going to be "loved" and washed/laundered a lot (such as baby quilts) are better machine quilted IMHO - they are usually less delicate - I know I don't worry as much about throwing my machine quilted quilts in the washer.

Having said all that, though, I greatly admire hand quilted quilts and aesthetically, at least to me, there is something about them a machine quilted quilt doesn't quite have.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

I don't have a choice - I don't have a sewing machine LOL

hoggie


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## Nan (May 13, 2002)

Hoggie..I think I would DIE without my sewing machine! I actually CRIED when I lost my old Kenmore a few years ago! I literally used it till the poor thing's "heart" gave out! It was a great machine for over 35 years! I now have a nice Bernina that my DH got me for my birthday over 3 years ago and I love it! It isn't as wonderful as my "first love" Kenmore....but it works well! Don't know why I posted all of that...it is just kinda like the response that I always get when someone finds out that we don't have a TV in our house! LOL!  If you ever visit the US...I can let you sew on any of my collection....I think I am up to about 7 machines now.... :baby04: 10 if you count my 3 sergers! LOL!


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## marcir (Mar 15, 2006)

I machine-piece but hand-quilt, both very relaxing. I know what you mean, Nan, about loving an old machine. I have an old Brother machine bought in the 60's that is still going strong. We have come to learn each other's peculiarities and work around them.
Marci in Nor Cal


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

I'm hand piecing my first Grandmother's Flower Garden. I've affectionately dubed it my Insanity Project and or the Three Year Project. It's pick up work when I'm not home.

And the above is why I machine quilt. I'd like to get some projects done. The sewing machine is lovely for that.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I almost always and totally hand quilt. 
Last summer my DS brought his FIL over with him and I had my rack out. 
He said "I didnt know anyone still did that!"
So, I guess most folks dont.


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## BAmaBubba (May 10, 2007)

I don't quilt now but I grew up hand quilting with my mamaw and still have the quilt she taught me on. My wife loves doing the piecing but she doesn't bother with quilting and has a lady do machine work. Granted, the lady is wonderful, but I always kid my wife and her mother that they "piece" not "quilt" hehe


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## tnokie (Jan 30, 2007)

I do all of my work by hand. Was terribly slow at first but getting faster. I have finished two lap quilts since Christmas and am working on the third. I use a small hoop. My quilts aren't perfect but I like them. They have that "homemade" feel.The only part I don't like is doing the binding. Its hard sewing thru several layers of cloth plus the batting. I have a hard time finding a thimble for my big man hands. Any ideals on what to use or where to find them would be greatly appreciated.(ring size is 13 so the end of finger is pretty good size!


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## BAmaBubba (May 10, 2007)

right with you tnokie. I wear a 12 1/2...thus I don't tend to use a thimble for anything and just get poked when I have to use needles


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## Nan (May 13, 2002)

You may be able to order a tailor's thimble online. I have my grandfather's thimble and it is fairly large(size 11)...I can wear it on my thumb...but don't know if it is large enough for large man hands. My grandpa wasn't a big guy and he was a tailor.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

What about one of those leather thimbles? I know I have seen them in a large size. I think I have a catalog somewhere... maybe I will find it this weekend.
I hate getting a needle through my finger! I have actually buried the eye pretty deep before quilting on denim. 
I have the opposite problem, thimbles are always too wide. So, I took one, smashed it until it fit sorta lopsided, and dented in the end. So, my thimble is custom made!


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

Thank you Nan - if I eve get over there I will pay you a visit 

tnokie - I don't know how it would work out for small needles but have you tried a sailmakers palm. They are usually made for men's hands (I can't get one small enough to fit me LOL) and they have a thumb piece.

If you can't get one and would like to try it out let me know and I'll send you one

hoggie


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## unregistered6474 (Apr 21, 2003)

My grandma still handquilts. She is 91!


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