After a few days with no posting anything on my blog, I’m back, I got busy on my hand quilting, it’s something I really enjoy to do.
I almost finish the hand quilting of the first part of this Paper Piecing Quilt, and I would like to share with you a few points about hand quilting.
Hand Quilting.
Quilting is what makes a few layers of fabric into a real quilt, quilting is made by stitches by hand or by machine to hold together these layers of fabric.
I can picture in old times, when people just had enough to make a living, and living in northern countries where Winter is cold and hard, women had to find a way to stay warmer during those long cold days. One way or another they might had discovered two, three or more layers of fabric sewn together could keep them warmer for longer periods of time. So this was how the first quilt was born, this is a story I tell myself, and from then, quilts had made their place in time and in our lives in many different ways.
I can find quilts from the easiest way to make them, like just simple squares sewn together, and just tied as quilting, but not because their made in a simple way, these quilts have no charm on them.
I believe every quilt is a piece of art
And of course, you can find the most elaborated quilts you could ever thought anyone could make, you will find your favorite and you might find some quilts are not for you or for your home, but these last point don’t make them less beautiful or less worthless.
I also believe every quilt is a unique piece of art, and every quilt will find its own fans.
Working on the quilting, you can go from the easiest way to make it to the most elaborated. You can make it by hand or by machine, you can make it by your own, or you can hire someone who will make it for you.
It doesn’t matter you work on your quilt top with a pattern from a designer or your own pattern, quilting will make your quilt unique.
You need to think about a few things before you start working on your quilt.
- – What kind of batting will you use, thick, thin, cotton, linen, polyester etc
- – What kind of thread will you use, polyester, one color, different color, thick, thin, cotton, etc.
- – Machine quilting
- – Hand quilting.
I only can talk about what I do when I work on a new quilt.
Many years ago, I learned to quilt, yes the old fashion way, hand quilting, and I keep doing it this way, just because I love to do it this way.
I love every part of it, from the beginning I can see how the quilt sandwich begins to change with every stitch I make on it, and I love to spend time working on it, as hand quilting takes longer to get it done. Could be days for a small project, but it can takes even years for just one quilt.
This time as you know, I’m working on my Paper Piecing Quilt, more like a challenge to myself, as Paper Piecing is not my stronger side as a quilter, and so far I can say, I’m doing ok.
I use to work on the hand quilting, as freely as I can, this means, I don’t use a quilt frame, and I don’t use a quilt loop, I know they can make easier the work of quilting if you use them, I just didn’t get used to them, so I keep quilting the way I got used to.
I use to place my quilt on a table, and I work on it a little at the time, I have found I can work on 4 blocks per day, or per morning and maybe another two when I watch some TV in the afternoon. I don’t quilt at nights anymore, I like to work with day light, it’s better for my eyes.
I decided from the beginning to work on this quilt on the hand quilting with a few different color of cotton floss, to add a little of textile texture to this quilt. So I keep changing the cotton floss every 10 minutes, this makes quilting a little slower.
There is only 4 more blocks to quilt and this first part of the quilt will be done.
Isn’t this amazing, I just need to work on 3 more parts to get this quilt finished. So I will keep myself on the positive side of life, every day I work on it, there is less work to thing about to be done.
[bctt tweet=”If you love to make #Quilts you might love to hand quilt” username=”BalanzarioAle”]
I know, quilting might not be easy for you, I would love to know if you like to do hand quilting or machine quilting?
Do you do yourself the quilting for your quilts?
What would you like me to tell you more about hand quilting?
Would you be interested to learn more about hand quilting?
Thanks for stopping by and read my blog. You can get the latest of my work following my Facebook Page!
YQuilting is always a nice adventure!
Alejandra.
You can also visit my Quilt blog in Spanish, same content just in Spanish http://1001quilts.blogspot.ca/