A Word About Hand Quilting, If You Please ...

Oh you guys I really wanted to finish this for today ... sorry.

But I do have a moment to talk about hand quilting. 

When I made my first quilt in the mid 80s (I was 19), I believed with the strongest of convictions that a quilt was only a REAL quilt if it were ALL pieced AND quilted by hand.  (Feel free to roll your eyes ... I won't be offended.)

The first two quilts I made were English paper-pieced hexagons ... and I didn't know how to hand quilt properly so I STAB STITCH hand quilted them all in the ditch ... I'd say several miles worth of thread.  Remember I never exaggerate.  (I also used polyester batting, backed one with a bed sheet and didn't know about binding ... but I digress.)

I realized if I wanted to make more than five quilts in my lifetime I was gonna have to figure out how to do this quilting thing faster ... enter straight line machine quilting.  Regarding my 19 year old attitude, I'm proud to say I'd matured considerably.

I finally took a hand-quilting course in 2000 after I made a Baltimore Album quilt and felt it really needed to be hand quilted.

As I watched my needle-rocking technique improve dramatically over 16 blocks and was reminded how beautiful PROPER hand quilting looked, I regressed to my 19 year old obnoxious self and proclaimed I would NEVER again finish ANY of my quilts by machine.  EVERRRRRR.

AHEM.  Yeah, RIGHT!  Enter motherhood 6 months later.  I managed to finish 3 baby quilts by hand before obnoxious me finally shut up about hand quilting 11 years ago.

Fast forward to today.  OmG do I ever hate how long it takes to hand quilt.  And omG does it ever wreak havoc on my tendonitis.

But OMG do I ever LOVE the look of it!  I can't help it.  Call me a snob, I don't care.  I will NEVER in a million years feel about machine quilting the same love I feel about hand quilting.  Never.

Don't get me wrong.  I highly respect longarm quilters and the very talented work they do.  And I've seen countless machine, FMQed and long-armed quilts that are nothing short of breathtaking.  I've hired several in the past and will continue to seek out and enjoy long-arm quilting on future quilts.

But I hold a very special place in my heart for tiny dimpled rows of stitches made by hand.

I would have machine-quilted this project too ... in a heartbeat ... because I was anxious to get it done and my wrist was hurting from the several consecutive days of embroidery and applique.  But I really wanted to honor Amy's design and knew the embroidery would look a million - nay, a BAZILLION - times better if I bothered to hand quilt carefully underneath my stitchery.

PS:  Obnoxious 19 year old me is so desperately trying to shout out, "BOO-YAH!  I CALLED IT ... TOLD YOU SO ... IN YOUR FACE!"  but mature me has her in a head lock and is stepping hard on her foot while covering her mouth with a firm hand.

PPS:  Anyone who knew 19 year old me also knows she would've used much more ... er ... colorful language.

PPPS:  Don't worry, mature me outweighs 19 year old me by like ... a LOT ... so I can take her, no problem. 

Plus SHE's never nursed a teething baby. 

Oh yeah, I can SO take her.

My Needles - A Primer

Yesterday I had a few questions about needles so I thought I'd write a post on the subject. 

Brand

There are probably a bazillion needle manufacturers out there ... and I never exaggerate. But my favorite needles are from Jeana Kimball. 

If you know anything about marketing, you would label me as a "brand loyal" sort of person.  Jeana's got needles for all my sewing needs, the quality is really nice, I never have trouble with them, I can find them locally ... and plus I totally love the cute little cases they come in.

Purpose

Basically, I have four "styles" of needles in my sewing arsenal...

(not including the weird curved upholstery and super long soft sculpture needles from a bear-making class I took like 15 years ago)

... each for different uses.  Sharps, Straws, Betweens & Embroidery.  (Keep reading for an explanation of each.)

Size

As with other manufacturers, Jeana's needles are sized according to length.  Don't ask me why, but the bigger the number, the smaller the size.  I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for this nomenclature ... however my curiousity simply never proded me to spend time researching the answer.

Also, it's important to know that a #size of one type does NOT translate to the same size in another type. 

For example, see the difference between a size 11 Straw and a size 11 Betweens?

Does Size Really Matter?

That depends.  ;)  Lemme 'splain. 

If you find yourself trying a new sewing method and aren't sure what size needle to use, I know Jeana sells Sampler Packs - an envelope with one of each size of that type of needle.  The fact that Jeana and other manufacturers actually SELL Sampler Packs should tell you something.  I suggest getting one of these  packs and trying out the different sizes.  Some people really don't care.  But I've found that most stitchers who end up spending a lot of time with a needle in hand will develop size preferences based on everything from the task to the size of their hand to their technique. 

Sharps

This is my basic "go-to" needle for general things like mending, reattaching buttons, that sort of thing.  I'm not really picky about size with these ... whatever I have on hand usually does the job. 

Although you can rest assured that I've used Straw needles to hem pants and Betweens to sew on a button ... most of the time my mending needle is the first one I pull out of my pin cushion!  LOL!  Major bonus for me if it's already threaded with the right color. ;)

At the moment it seems I have a package of size 9 Sharps in my drawer.  

I seem to go through a lot of these.  Not sure why.  I think there's an invisible needle black hole somewhere in my house.  My husband used to find them with his feet ... a lot.  But since becoming a mom I'm better at keeping track of them ... sorta.

Straws

I only use these for applique.  They are thinner and tend to bend - which is a good thing for applique work.    I like size 11.

I've heard more than once they work great for hand-stitching quilt binding.

Betweens

These are designed for hand quilting.  Whereas Straw needles are very thin & therefore bendy, Betweens are thicker and much less flexible because they need to endure a lot of pressure from the thimble and being loaded with multiple, heavy stitches.  And after a lot of use, however, my Betweens will still develop a slight bend. 

Again, size 11 is my preference. 

Embroidery

I used to buy 11s but now I find my poor aging hands are more comfortable with the slightly longer 10s.

I think it's kinda funny that I used 3 of my 4 needle types just for this one project:

Embroidery for the embroidery ...

Straw for the applique ...

and Betweens for the hand quilting ...

(omg, I am SO not winning any ribbons for my hand quilting!  I'm totally rusty.)

I also used 3 different threads ... but I'm not nearly as well versed on threads as I am on needles ... and I only know what I know about needles because I took courses on how to use these the particular ones. 

So don't ask me about syringes or body piercing. 

This blog is called PRETTY by Hand, not TOURNIQUETS R US by Hand or HEY! LOOK AT THIS METAL THING STUCK THROUGH MY LIP WHICH IS A SIGN I EXERCISE VERY POOR JUDGEMENT AND AS AN ADDED BONUS TOTALLY FREAKS MY PARENTS OUT by Hand ...

just in case you needed clarification ...

Small Things Progress Report

I'm working on it ...

Honest! 

But I swear I didn't mean to go THIS crazy overboard with the hand quilting ...

(And boy is my needle rocking ever rusty!)

Yeah, no.

I tried something new ... new as in I've never done it before ... not new as in I'm so brilliant to have just invented quilting with embroidery floss.

Amy quilted around her circle with floss and I love hers.

And Monica did an AMAZING job quilting her Granny Squares with floss.

But I'm only lukewarm about my circle quilting.  And this edging?

Hmmmm, yeah no.

Don't like it.  It's too ... I dunno ... loud?  Too chunky?  I'm not doin' so good with my adjectives today.  It doesn't have the  refined daintiness (better) I'm going for with this project.

And plus I think I pulled my quilting stitches too tight so the circle is all ... hoochy coochy poochy.  (HA!  Take THAT you troublesome English language!!!)  (Just please ignore the "and plus" at the beginning of this paragraph ... I know it's naughty ... but I did it for comedic effect.)

So I unpicked.  All of it.  This pretty little thing is too ... pretty ... to not fix.

Sigh.  No pain, no gain. 

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 51

Holy Moley!  Week 51?!  Really?

#62 Old Windmill

So remember last week when I went all bizzaro with this block?

I felt the same awkwardness about this one too.  But I guess I must be tired and simply don't have the energy to "think" so I just followed the pattern colors and ...

tada!  Love it.  Weirdness and all.

#93 - Swallow

This "white" print is arguably my favorite print/color from the entire "Flower Sugar" collection.  So I was happy to have a chance to use a slightly larger piece of it in this block.

I'm tellin' ya, fussy cutting really rocks!  That paisley in the middle will look awesome no matter which way I orient the block.

104 blocks down, 7 to go.  (I think I can, I think I can ... )

Wait, What?

(Imagine soft, lilting background music ...)

Ok.  So I was happily stitching away, playing around with floss colors, making a few mistakes, unpicking some stitches, being impressed with my redos, enjoying my work ... and then deciding I needed one more color for the flowers.

This is the color I picked.

(Insert "needle scratching record" sound effect here ...)

Wait, what?!

I KNOW! 

I had to go look in the mirror and ask, "Who ARE you and what have you done with Kristyne?!  SHE would NEVER ... ... ... what's the word ... VANDALIZE ... her pretty pink & ivory & sage green embroidery with ... with ORANNNNNGE!"

Well, apparently she would. 

I don't understand.  It doesn't make sense.  In my mind it's practically sacreligious what I'm doing!

But there's a new muse in town ... she knocked on my door and I invited her in for tea.  (I think she probably would have preferred to simply text me ... if I knew how to do that sort of thing.)

And I'm liking our conversation.

But don't worry, I promise to end my relationship with her if she starts talking about the 70s ...

Of THAT you can be sure ... I think.

It's a mystery to me ...

why not EVERYONE loves to do this sort of thing.

Seriously.

Making stuff - 'specially pretty stuff - is THE.best.therapy.GOING! 

                    *               *               *               *               *

I've had a few questions about the size of my blades and the circle for this project.

I made this template for myself ...

But both Amy and Anne used this nifty tool.

And my circle for the embroidery finished at about 6" so cut it 6 1/2" in diameter.  That said, I'm not using an embroidery hoop so I don't need extra fabric.  If you like using a hoop, I'd suggest cutting a 10" square, tracing the design, stitching and THEN cutting out the 6 1/2" circle.  Make sense?

Happy Camper

My little dresdan blades have gone from these ...

to these ...

to this ... (wheeeeeeeeeee!  Yes, I totally squealed out loud when I pressed this little section together and flipped it over on my ironing board!!!)

(There may have also been clapping and jumping.)

And then this ...

Amy, if you were here right now I'd kiss you on the mouth!  LOL!

Kidding.

Maybe. ;)

And now I'm moving on to the embroidery.

I am one SERIOUSLY happy camper right now!

For the Fun & the Pretty

I've mentioned more than once how much I admire this girl.  I mean, seriously.  As far as I'm concerned, she is commander-in-chief of all things pretty. 

Just sayin'.

So when she posted this free pattern last week I practically knocked my chair over as I jumped up to grab fabric from my stash so I could start making this thing already!!!

I've had these FQs of old "Durham" prints from Lecien since it came out about 5 (?) years ago ... 

Until now I just didn't have the nerve to cut into it because I love them so much.  Sometimes I would pick them up, look at them, inspect them, arrange them on my cutting table, smile at them, study them, admire them, imagine making something with them ... break out into a cold sweat ... and then put them back on the shelf.

But if EVER there was a perfect project for my prized fabric ... am I right or am I right?

I've started on the dresdan blades using a new-to-me method I learned from another lovely lady I admire.

And I've tentatively selected these Cosmo embroidery floss colors ...

Very excited over here! :)

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along Week 50

No color theme ... I think the rest of my blocks will be done all higgledy piggledy.

Block #96 - Tulip

There's a very good reason I haven't made this block sooner ... I just.don't.get.it.  I admit it.  Where, exactly, is the tulip?  I mean, yes the 2 parallelograms in the middle can be interpreted as the blossom, but I don't get the rest of it. 

And the asymmetrical fabric choices in the book?

I don't get it.

I always thought I'd find a way to assign order and balance ... but I'm as surprised as you are that I ended up going all PICASSO with my version too! 

This is not like me at all.  (Although I couldn't stop myself from at least putting green along the bottom for leaves.)

And I'm even more astonished that I like my tulip! 

Block # 84 - Spool

Sigh. 

For such a simple block, it caused me a lot of anxiety. 

Until I noticed this print in my stash (that I've only used for the gingham and a few wreaths) ...

and got the idea to make my spool look like it had eyelet lace wrapped around it.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.