How to Hand Quilt: Top 10 tools list

Hand quilting is an art form that dates back many years if not many hundreds of years. 

The act of hand quilting is portable, relaxing and quiet, very different than using a sewing machine.

Having the right tools is important.

Above are a few of my favorite tools.  None are all that expensive, and most are not that hard to find. 
Starting at the lower left corner and moving clockwise...

1)   Thread heaven:  lower left, in blue
I run my thread over this stuff before I start to quilt.  It does a good job of minimizing the amount of knots that you get in your thread.

2)  Clover size 10 between needles:  middle left
I generally like strong needles that are short and don't bend easily.  These by Clover work well

3)  Raised Edge Thimble by Colonial needle:  upper left

Having a thimble that fits the middle finger of your dominant hand is key.  This one is big, speedy, and needles don't slip off the big cup part on top.  It's the only one I use.


4)  Finger Cot:  upper, second from left

I use one of these on the index finger of my dominant hand.  It helps you pull the needle out without putting extra stress on your wrists, fingers, etc.  A must in my opinion.  It's good to keep things as ergonomic as possible.


5)  Clover Chaco Marker:  upper middle

This is handy marking tool for fabrics when you have a plastic template to guide your quilting design.  This marker comes in various colors so you can get a blue one when you are using white fabric, etc.


6)  Magnetic Needle Keeper by Kelmscott Designs:  upper right, in green
(I found mine at The Workroom in Toronto)

You basically use this as a two part magnet to attach it magnetically to your quilt.  When you need to put your needle down for a quick break, you can just drop it on this magnet and it stays there.  Genius.
7)  Clover petite needle threader:  middle right in white

For around $3, you can avoid scissors completely and have a needle threader at your side. Not sure you can find any tool better than that.

8)  YLI Quilting Thread:   lower right in blue
I have heard this thread is no longer being made, but you can still find it around if you live in the U.S.  It comes in 1000yd / spool increments and is my favorite.  I'm actually not sure what I'll do when I run out...hm....
9)  Water soluble pen:  middle right in light blue

There are lots of these by various companies out there.  I have tried them all and they work more or less the same.  Be sure not to iron your quilt while this blue marker is on there or it could become permanent.

10a)  Clover Hera Marker:  bottom middle, in white

You can use this to mark quilt lines in your quilt by pressing down and making a crease in the fabric.  Cotton has a memory to it so for the most part, the lines will stay there until you wash the quilt.  That said, you will want to test this out based on your climate, and your quilt fabric.  I would not mark an entire quilt this way in advance without really testing that it will stay over several weeks first.


10b)  Marketing Roulette:  middle left, wood and metal

Instead of a hera marker, if you're looking for really thin quilting lines that last a very long time, and fit well into extremely thin quilt line templates (read, Japanese ones), this tool will do an awesome job.  You can also just place a ruler down on your quilt and run this along it to get a thin but lasting quilting line.  I got mine from the lovely Maria, owner of Pinwheels (awesome quilt shop).

Ok, so more soon, hopefully on the quilting stitch itself, fabrics to use and not use, and thoughts on basting, binding, and other fun aspects of the hand quilting process.  

Hope you find some of this helpful!  

Hexagon Progress: hand piecing

You've seen this quilt before, but it was a layout photo with pieces put next to each other, not sewn together.

The latest photo is a view of how the pieces look like sewn together.  Still using Oakshott fabrics.  I am not sure if their hand-made fabrics will continue to be available.  It looks like they may be cutting over to a machine-made process to create their colourshott fabrics.

The quilt is still quite small, but it's the start of something interesting.  

I'm having fun taking the project around with me - working on it mostly during soccer games, piano lessons, and tennis practice.

Some of the parents look at me like I'm a little crazy for sewing on the go, and others of them come over and ask me what I'm making.

Without a lot of time to do creative work in the evenings a take-along project is probably the only thing to get any of my attention these days.  



If you have a solution to finding more time in the day I'd love to hear it.  I'm probably not the only one on planet Earth that would embrace a 25 hour day.

English Paper Piecing & Oakshott Cotton Fabrics

I have yet to find a good way to reduce my list of creative projects so I say, "Go fly a kite," to the list and embark on something small, portable, and too fun to resist.

When we made the baby quilt recently, I had a lot of the 2" hexagon papers hanging around asking me to let them come out and play again.  The paper templates were from the Paper Pieces company. 

2" size means one of the hex sides is 2 inches in length.  This is a little confusing.  The piece actually measures 3.5" or 4" across depending on if you measure it flat side to flat side, or point to point.


By taking an Oakshott cotton 5" charm pack (fabric created BY HAND, on looms!!), it worked well with the 2" paper size with very little excess fabric to cut off.

I may look at PIQF to see if the Pinwheels booth has another pack or two of these so I can expand the size of the quilt.  In its current state (around 100 pieces), I think the finished size would be too small to even cover your lap.

PIQF is a very nice quilt show, if you are in California in October...you won't want to miss it.

Taupe Baby Quilt: More Photos

By popular demand....I'm adding a few more of my fav in progress photos of the baby quilt. 


Our little group of ladies had a huge blast working on it.


Enjoy!

piecing in progress

quilting in progress

 Blocking in progress

 

label close up

done and all ready for the new bundle of joy

Baby Quilt: Japanese Taupe Fabrics & English Paper Piecing

Oh how I have wanted to share some photos of the secret baby quilt project with you!

This quilt was started by our small quilt group much earlier this year for one of our members, So Sue, to celebrate the arrival of her new baby daughter.

I have photographed this quilt so many many times.  I want to go through some of the favorite photos and share perhaps more of them with you.

We finally gave the quilt to the bouncing baby, and I think she likes it.  Her mommy really does, so that's a good sign.

The majority of the quilt was hand pieced using the English Paper Piecing method, since we were using hexagons.  Small hearts fit well in the border, and those were done with hand applique.

More photos soon.

Spoon : Thread : Scissors (hint - in hand quilting, nobody misses the rock or the paper)

I've been doing a fair bit of hand quilting lately.

Seeing the three layers of the quilt come together and the texture of the stitches turns a plain old quilt top into something quite beautiful.

Not everybody enjoys the basting process, but I use Jeanna Kimball's basting needles (longs in size 4) and an old spoon in order to bounce the basting needle back through to the top of the quilt.

Basting a quilt is relatively quick and having it all set for the quilting part is when the real excitement begins, so I do strangely enjoy the basting part.

I don't always use a blue temporary marker to mark the quilting lines, but sometimes it's useful depending on how dark your fabrics are.  One key is to keep heat (read: your iron!) away from the quilt top after you have marked it to avoid creating permanent marks that won't come out.

YLI's hand quilting thread is probably some of the easiest to use.  I find that it doesn't get knots in it easily and it threads up through a small needle eye without much of a fight.

This hand quilting thread comes in 1000 yd spools, 100% cotton, lots of different colors available too.  You can see it in the photo above in the brown color.

I prefer a raised edge thimble for extra leverage.  

Wide Bow scissors by Merchant and Mills are quickly becoming my go-to scissors.  That's quite a compliment, considering the number of pairs I own.

Oh, and a huge thank you to Jan of Be Mused blog (who you already follow, if you are as lovely as I know you are).  The mystery quilter mentioned in my last post is Yoko Sekita. The super traditional Japanese quilts are so amazing.

Hand Quilted Feathers

In case you are still wondering if I am going to finish hand quilting all the feathers on the baby quilt before my sister's 'baby' turns 1....I am sad to report that I will not be making it in time.

Quilting "feathers" as they are called were made popular by the Amish quilters and if you hand quilt you have probably tried to quilt them.  I think that they take something like 5-10x longer than quilting diagonal lines. 

Don't get me wrong, it's a thrill to quilt them, but they do take time.  You might want to put them in a quilt that doesn't have a deadline.  (note to self!)

Sigh.  This baby will get her quilt eventually.  She'll probably be able to walk on it by the time it's actually done. 

Don't they say that all good things come to those who wait? 

I am close though.  Another week of hard work on it (whenever I find time for that!) will finish it up.  Only the borders are left.

Maybe I'm the only who missed a self-imposed quilting deadline.  Or maybe there is company for me out there. 

Hand Quilting: Feathers

First thing's first.

The winner of the Lego "quilt studio" giveaway is...(drum roll)...AnnVallance of Rupert Girl Blog.  Congrats Ann.  Shoot me an email at "quilt (dot) baby (at) hotmail dot com" and I'll send your amazing and teenie studio out your way.

It's no secret that I love hand quilting, and feathers are my favorite.  I like to quilt other patterns, but there is something very appealing about the intricate detail of them and the antique feel they give a quilt. 

They are, however, not the fastest method of quilting, so my blocks are getting finished at a more relaxed pace.  

As long as the baby recipient is still a baby when she gets it, I'll be pleased.  She may have the ability to actually crawl off of it at the rate I'm going (and the rate she's building muscle!), but it will be fun to try and catch a photo of her sitting on it.

In other local news, we have a local non-profit teaching/learning farm called Hidden Villa.  Check out their calendar for a sheep shearing event coming up on 4/14.  My knitting friend and I are going to check it out to see where all that fluffy stuff really starts.  Sounds like good clean (or not so clean?) fun.


Have you seen the video that Pinwheels posted yet on their site?  Maria Tamaoka (owner) posted a really cute BOM instructional clip that is about 9 min long and features inspiration from Yoko Saito.  She talks about Daiwabo fabrics, and it is really cute and informative video. She mentions that you do not need to pre-wash the fabrics. 

Hm...I don't like to work with fabrics unless they are washed first, so I'll probably keep up my usual procedures (cold washer, gentle cycle with a color catcher....no dryer...directly to a hot iron with no steam...air dry overnight...love).

Finished at last! Table top quilt, hand quilted

I cannot even remember how long ago it was when my mom showed me her beautiful antique quilt top, and I said, "Oh, just give it to me so I can quickly quilt it up for you, Mom!" I think she bought it through a quilt dealer.

Well, "quickly"...doesn't exactly describe the rate at which I get things done sometimes, but I will say that finishing this small quilt was extremely enjoyable and I am thrilled with the end result.

The quilt top itself was pieced out of indigo and white fabrics by an unknown maker circa 1890. Whoever she was, I hope that she's looking down on it thinking - awesome - it's finally turned into a quilt after 120+ years.

My mom's kitchen is an amazing place with more light coming in the windows than any other kitchen I have ever been in. I can only dream of having this much beautiful light in my house anywhere, let alone in the kitchen.

She has it decorated mostly in blue and white, so if she puts this quilt on top of the center of her dining room table, I think it will look pretty smart.

I was trying to finish it for Mother's Day, so I guess it's sort of a belated gift, but anyway I think she'll like it.

Using Pigma Pens, I inked the names of her grandchildren on one of the plain white blocks. This will remain there as a permanent part of the quilt, and will not wash out.

I just love the look of inking words on fabric, and think this turned out pretty cool. She is expecting another grandchild VERY soon, so I left a spot to add the baby's name there too.

I used YLI's hand quilting thread in light brown color (to show off the stitches a bit, how flashy of me!) I have been tending to this use lately, and find that it gets fewer knots than other options.

My next post really should discuss the incredible quilted gift she gave me for Mother's Day (it's another WOW), but I'll need to photograph it for you so you can understand how spoiled I am.

Japanese Quilting Blogs - in search of

My mom's antique 1890's indigo and white mini-quilt is getting quilted little by little.

I spent some time with my monthly weekend quilting friends last weekend and progress was certainly made.

Recently I have been trying to look for Japanese quilting blogs out there.

I know there have to be tons (zillions?) of Japanese quilters who work in taupe fabrics, love Yoko Saito, love Chuck Nohara, love Suziko Koseki.

Where oh where do I find links to these sorts of blogs?

I even resorted to translating "Taupe Quilts" into Japanese, copying that into search engines...I must be doing something wrong here. Oh, bother.

Anyhow, my knitting/quilting club is about to come over tonight so off to feverishly scoop some toys up off the floor.

Old School: Hand Quilting

I've been working on hand quilting this very small antique (circa 1890's) quilt top for my mom. It's been a lot of fun and isn't in terrible shape for it's age.

I am not sure if I will actually finish it before her visit here. I am thinking at this point that I won't make it, but we'll see...

This morning we are heading out to do some photography and for a family adventure in San Francisco. It's a bit of a drive for us, but it's worth it.

We're going retro with our photography and shooting film. My son saw my husband loading up a camera and organizing film canisters and asked, "What's film, Daddy?"

Wow, am I really that old? Guess so! Here's to some good old school fun.