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Tip of The Week  

Hand Quilting  Part II
 
Now that you have all of the tools you need – quilting thread, thimble, quilt hoop or frame, and – most importantly – the quilt – you are ready to begin.

Thread your needle with a strand of thread about 20-24 inches long. Usually it works best to thread the needle just as the thread comes off of the spool. Tie a small knot in the end of the strand – just a single thread (not a double thread as you would use to sew a button). 
 

 
 
Having trouble threading your needle? Try one of these methods:
  • cut the thread at a slight angle to make the edge a point
  • get the eye of the needle wet
  • thread several needles at a time and knot the ends - often you can get    "on a roll" and threading is easy
  • have someone else thread needles for you! I bet grandkids would be good for this task
  • put a piece of white paper behind the eye of the needle to make it more visible; some quilters use something dark behind the eye of the needle - maybe it makes a difference what color thread you are using
  • hold your thread above the needle and point it down - use gravity to help you
  • use beeswax or chap stick on your thread before you thread your needle
  • use a needle threader
  • try threading through the other side of the eye. Some needles have a "right" side and a "wrong" side.
  • spray a bit of hairspray to the tip of your thread
  • pinch your fingers at the very end of the thread as you feed it through the eye. That makes the thread stiff.
 
 
Why You Need To Always Pre-Wash
  1. To remove all the sizing and make the fabric easier to handle.
  2. To make sure that none of your fabric will shrink in your quilt. Sometimes some pieces will shrink while others don't., causing puckers.
  3. The color bleeds out of some fabric, and pre-washing prevents the fabric from bleeding into other fabric in your quilt. It's very sad when the beautiful red bleeds into the nice crisp white.
  4. to remove all the chemicals that people might be sensitive to, espiciall babies.
 
 
Next step is to decide where you will start your quilting stitches. Once you have figured that out, bury your needle about 1” away from where you would like to start. 
  • Feed the needle between the layers of the quilt and bring the point of the needle up where you want to begin quilting. (The goal here is to bury your knot inside the layers of the quilt.)
  • Pull the needle all the way through the quilt top, then give a gentle tug. The knot should slide right through into the center of the quilt. If it doesn’t, just play with it. Sometimes tug on the thread with your fingers while securing the fabric with the needle. If your knot is small enough, it will go through the weave of the fabric.
  • Check the end of the thread past the knot. If it is still sticking up through the quilt tip, you may need to work it into the layers of the quilt. That can be done with your needle. Gently poke your needle through the quilt top, just above the thread. (I know you can’t see this,since it is covered by the fabric, but you can get a sense of where the thread is.) Then slide your needle parallel to the fabric toward the tail end of the thread. This should pull the tail into the layers. If the tail of the thread is extra long, you may wish to trim it slightly.
  • Once you have your knot safely tucked inside your quilt layers, you are ready to begin quilting. 
  • Wearing a thimble on the finger you will use to push the thread into the quilt will save that finger. So, using your “thimbled” finger, push the threaded needle into the layers of the quilt until it comes through to the other side. Use a finger on your other hand under the quilt to feel when the needle has come through.
  • Use the finger underneath the quilt to guide the needle and thread back up through the layers to the top of the quilt. Your thumb on the hand on the top of the quilt can be helpful as well. Poke the needle up through the layers in a line where you quilting pattern is (you could be quilting ‘in the ditch’ or have designed a fabulous decoration for your quilting pattern).
 
Be sure you have enough extra thread on the tail past the knot so your knot will be secure.
 
Beginners may want to make one stitch at a time. With practice, you will be able to make 3-4 stitches before you pull the needle through all layers of the fabric and tighten the thread. The thread needs to be tight, but not so tight that it puckers the quilt.

Continue this “rocking” motion of quilting along your quilting design until your thread is only about 6” long. Now it is time to knot the thread and cut it off. Wrap your thread once completely around the needle.

Then carefully poke the needle into the quilt top (between the layers) just as if you were making the next stitch. (Some folks make this final stitch on the back of their quilt since it will not have the same “tautness” as the other quilting stitches.) Bring the needle up through the Clip at the end of thread, and, if necessary, pull the short end of the thread between the layers of the quilt as you did when you began your quilting stitches.

Thread another needle, and begin again. I generally use a quilting hoop, and when I have a hoop-full of quilting, I move the hoop and begin again. I also usually start in the center of the quilt and work out to the sides. Before you know it, your quilt will be complete.

Hand quilting is something easy to do when watching TV. (Even if you don’t like sports, you can sit and quilt and pretend to watch the game!) It’s also a great activity for long car trips – if someone else is driving – waiting in the doctor’s office, or in the car for your kids, or while your kids are practicing dancing, Little League, or a variety of other things. You get the idea – it’s portable, productive, and fun!
 

 

When you reach the end of a section of hand quilting and have thread left in your needle, you can easily move to a different section without tying a knot.

Just push the needle into the quilt top as if you were going
to take another stitch, then move your needle into the next section between the quilt top and batting and come out in your starting point for the next section to hand quilt.

If the next section is far away, you can do the same thing, it just takes a little more effort. Take the last stitch in the current section, then push your needle inside the quilt layers and come up at a point between where you were and where you
want to be.

Pull the needle and thread out in that new spot. Next, push the needle back into the same hole you just came out, and move the needle and thread closer to where you want to start your
next stitch. Push your needle out in a new spot.

When you pull the needle and thread through, the spot you just left shouldhave no thread showing.

If it does, un-thread the needle and remove the stitch. Re-thread your needle and try again. Sometimes I pull the thread a little bit to open up the hole so I can see exactly where to push the needle in.

Do this in order to span a space of about 2 inches. If it is more than that, I end the first line of hand quilting and start with a new thread and knot in the new location.
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