Quilting

[Mother Goose]

I need something to do with my hands when I'm watching telly so have decided to give quilting a go. I tried knitting but have so much trouble casting on and getting my tension right... anyway, I don't own a sewing machine and the only time I have ever used one was in home ec (year 9) and my pillow case ended up crooked S, I thought I'd give quilting a go and sew the squares together by hand... am I crazy? Can this be done? And once I've completed my "top" what do I do with it?

Also, can anyone recommend a good website or book for beginners? I saw "Quilting for Dummies" today but didn't get it... thought I'd consult good ol' BB first!

TIA

MG

[Pandora]

yes, you absolutely dont need a machine to sew patchwork squares/pieces together, nor to quilt it for that matter. (I use one cos I cant hand sew, but many people do not)
grab a copy of patchwork and quilting, or stitching and craft. Once you have 'pieced' the top, you need a backing piece. Then you get the stuffing (which for the life of me I dont remember the name of) and you pin and baste the thing together. Depending on what the filling of your quilt is, is how closelt together you will need the stitches to be when you actually quilt it.

mmm you can get kits where you get all the fabric for the top and backing, and a pattern with instructions. These do not normally include the inside bits though.

[~Saram~]

Oh therer are lots of good books and mags out there, not sure about specific hand piecing but if you pop down to your local quilting store and ask the ladies behind the desk, they may even have a class where you can learn some techniques and tips. Something else you can incorparate into your quilts is applique and embroidery which is great to do by hand sitting in front of the tv.

Have fun and enjoy quilting!

[jgal]

I am a machine piecer and quilter but you can do both by hand. Actually my blog (Joystitch Knits and Bits) shows a couple of quilts I am working on using hand stitched applique, the chick one is using the needleturn applique method and the Nah's ark one (which I am about to start) uses applique that is ironed onto the backing piece using fusible webbing and then hand stitched down using button hole stitch. I have used this technique on a few of my previous quilts too (like the couple of dolls quilts and the sailing boat on a baby quilt that you can see a few posts back or in teh flickr link at the side). I generally do the hand applique then stitch the squares together by machine but you could do the whole thing by hand - it's just much faster by machine. Then to hand quilt, you sandwich the quilt using your pieced top, pieced or plain backing and then a layer of batting in between. You baste them together using basting pins (sharp saefty pins) or tacking stitch by hand. For handquilting you need a tiny needle (called a quilting between) and a hoop and thimble (or else you'll put holes in your fingers as I painfully discovered once!). You need a special hand quilting thread which is normally thicker than standard cotton, and waxed, although some people use DMC threads as they prefer the sheen. Hoop the work area you are quilting and make it nice and tight like a drum, then you weave the thread in and out using a rocking motion with your thimble on, trying to get a) even stitches and b) same size stitches on both the frnt and back of teh quilt. If you only catch a few threads on the back, the thread can cut through the fabric so don't worry about stitch size as much as you worry about a) and b). Start with bigger stitches and as you improve you can use smaller stitches on your next quilt.