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#1
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Help!! Hand Quilting
Hello, On a recent girls day out I purchased a very cute pre-printed fabric panel. (Bird In Hand by Moda). It is wall hanging size and I thought it would be just perfect to practice some hand quilting. I basted the top, the batting (warm & natural) and the backing together. I placed the area to be quilted in a hoop and began "quilting" with some hand quilting thread and a quilting needle. What am I doing wrong??? The piece does NOT looked quilted AT ALL. The whole thing looks "flat" with some stitching on it, not what I expected at all. Do I have the tension too tight in the hoop?? I am trying to be careful to pick up all three layers in my stitch, so I can't figure out why it does not look more quilted?? Thanks for any help you might offer. |
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#2
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Handquilting often looks much different from machine quilting. For me
anyways. I like the look of machine quilting. It adds the puffiness. The stitches are close together. The few things that I have hand quilted I almost wanted to go back and stitch again in the spare spots to add more to it. Make the picture stand out more. So it's possibly the way I do it. I'm curious to hear what others have to say. Joanna -- Remove Quilt to reply |
#4
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Perhaps you are comparing the the "quilts" you see in department stores -
where they are all puffy? These are commercially done and let me tell you - the first time you wash it, the "puff" disappears. When I first started quilting, oooh aways back now (VBG) I too was after the puffy look. Now, with more experience and knowledge, I way prefer the flat look. Oh and I still think that "less is more". Some quilts to me just look waaaaaaaaaaaaay too quilted for their own good. But each to their own, and each quilt tells you what it needs. -- Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under) http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html On 7/18/04 16:11, in article , "P8nPal" wrote: Hello, On a recent girls day out I purchased a very cute pre-printed fabric panel. (Bird In Hand by Moda). It is wall hanging size and I thought it would be just perfect to practice some hand quilting. I basted the top, the batting (warm & natural) and the backing together. I placed the area to be quilted in a hoop and began "quilting" with some hand quilting thread and a quilting needle. What am I doing wrong??? The piece does NOT looked quilted AT ALL. The whole thing looks "flat" with some stitching on it, not what I expected at all. Do I have the tension too tight in the hoop?? I am trying to be careful to pick up all three layers in my stitch, so I can't figure out why it does not look more quilted?? Thanks for any help you might offer. |
#5
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What am I doing wrong??? The piece does NOT looked quilted AT ALL. The
whole thing looks "flat" with some stitching on it, not what I expected at all. A few things come to mind: I always thought Warm and Natural was a good batting for machine quilting, as it is harder to hand "needle" and has a flatter appearance that other battings. I love Hobbs Poly Down for hand quilting. It is low loft polyester, feels like a soft cotton cloud, and hand quilts beautifully. Are the preprinted fabrics "busy" with a lot of visual texture in them? Hand quilting does not show up well on busy prints, and looks more prominent on fabrics that "read" as solids. What is the fabric content of your panel? If you hand quilt on 100% cotton, the stitrches sink very nicely into the sandwich. If you hand quilt on cotton-poly blends, your stitches tend to just lay acrross the top of the quilt. Are you quilting along the straight grain of the fabric, parallel to the selvedge? This is more difficult to do that cross grain or bias, and the stitches tend to disappear between the threads. Hope some of this sheds light on your problem. Kathy http://community.webshots.com/user/katquilts53 Repeat after me......."Spray Starch is my Friend!" |
#6
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The tension might be too tight in the hoop, but that won't matter too much
to the finished appearance. Take it out of the hoop and have a look. When the piece is completely finished and bound, toss it in the washing machine and tumble dry. The batting will shrink a bit and provide the crinkly look of an old-fashioned quilt. The closer you quilt it, the more crinkly texture it will acquire! Most of my quilting ends up 3/4 -1" apart. and closer than that for machine stippling. Roberta in D "P8nPal" wrote in message ... Hello, On a recent girls day out I purchased a very cute pre-printed fabric panel. (Bird In Hand by Moda). It is wall hanging size and I thought it would be just perfect to practice some hand quilting. I basted the top, the batting (warm & natural) and the backing together. I placed the area to be quilted in a hoop and began "quilting" with some hand quilting thread and a quilting needle. What am I doing wrong??? The piece does NOT looked quilted AT ALL. The whole thing looks "flat" with some stitching on it, not what I expected at all. Do I have the tension too tight in the hoop?? I am trying to be careful to pick up all three layers in my stitch, so I can't figure out why it does not look more quilted?? Thanks for any help you might offer. |
#7
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I have only done a few hand quilted projects and can tell you how my quilts
turned out. I use cotton fiber batting because I think it is easier to use plus it lays nicely. After washing, I get some puffiness, but it will never look like store bought quilts with poly batting. If you want PUFF then tie your quilt for best results. I personally love the look of hand quilting and either tie or hand quilt. "P8nPal" wrote in message ... Hello, On a recent girls day out I purchased a very cute pre-printed fabric panel. (Bird In Hand by Moda). It is wall hanging size and I thought it would be just perfect to practice some hand quilting. I basted the top, the batting (warm & natural) and the backing together. I placed the area to be quilted in a hoop and began "quilting" with some hand quilting thread and a quilting needle. What am I doing wrong??? The piece does NOT looked quilted AT ALL. The whole thing looks "flat" with some stitching on it, not what I expected at all. Do I have the tension too tight in the hoop?? I am trying to be careful to pick up all three layers in my stitch, so I can't figure out why it does not look more quilted?? Thanks for any help you might offer. |
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