Hand Quilting Part 4 Final Q&A

Freshly Cut Mini Quilt, Pattern available here.

Today is the last day of our 4 part series on Hand Quilting.  If you missed any of the first parts, you can find them here.  I’ve really enjoyed sharing this series with you and have been so encouraged by how many of you have started trying hand quilting.

I had a number of questions that I received that didn’t fall in to the Supplies or Technique section of this series so I wanted to address them now.

Question: feelnit30 asks: “Does hand quilting hold up to a lot of use and washing or is it better left for decorative quilts?  Thanks!”

and from lueave: “If you have a project that you have only hand quilted do you wash differently from other quilts and how does it hold up after washing.”

Answer:  We only had hand quilted quilts growing up…on all of our beds.  We didn’t have commercially made quilts until later in our lives.  Our quilts were washed and used just as we do with our Pottery Barn and Target quilts these days. =)  They held up beautifully.  Just as with machine quilting, more dense hand quilting will secure your quilt layers together better than sparse quilting so keep that in mind.

Completed Freshly Cut Mini Quilt, pattern available here.

Question: kelseyjoypryor asks: Have you ever used a sashiko machine instead of hand quilting/  If so, which do you prefer?

Answer:  I own the Babylock Sashiko machine and I have used it on small projects.  These pillows were machine quilted using this machine:

Fabrics used: Sunnyside Up fabrics and panel. Machine quilted with Babylock Sashiko machine.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Babylock Sashiko machine, it machine quilts your projects with a hand quilted look.  This is the only stitch this machine does.  Other machines mimic the look of hand quilting but typically run invisible thread in between the stitches rather than totally skipping stitches as the Sashiko machine does.

It’s hard to compare the two (hand quilting vs. sashiko)…the sashiko machine is fussy and prone to thread breakage.  It also has a tendency to feed the top fabric at a different rate than the bottom.  I would not recommend using it on large projects but do use it on small projects like pillows, runners, or table toppers–knowing that I will most likely have to re-thread a number of times due to the thread breaking in the middle of the project.  Even with the thread breakage, it is faster than hand quilting.  So, when I need something done quickly, and know that I’ll have to fuss with the machine a bit, I will use it.

I also used the Sashiko machine on my pillow project in the book “2, 4, 6, 8 Fat Quarter Quilts You’ll Appreciate”:

Pillow in 2-4-6-8 Fat Quarter Quilts You’ll Appreciate, available here.

Question: the_cozy_study asks: “What are the pros of hand quilting versus using a sewing machine?  Just curious!’

Answer:  Aside from the look of the quilt, hand quilted quilts are much cozier and softer than machine quilted quilts.  If you’ve never felt a hand quilted quilt, you would be amazed at how much nicer in feel they are.

I opted to hand quilt my mini neighborhood quilt.

Question: from lueava: “Can you show examples of hand and machine quilting combined (in one project)?”

Answer: You bet!:

And here is a video where I shared about combining machine and hand quilting:

Question: kjetstout asks: “I have a zillion questions about hand quilting!!  Can’t wait for the Q&A.  Mainly though, my husband found a handmade quilt in in his father’s attic which is at least 60 years old and needs to be redone.  How do I begin?  Thanks so much.”

Answer:  This is a question that I don’t know the answer to.  I know around here when quilts are found that are beyond repair, they are sometimes repurposed and the usable parts are turned into pillows or framed rather than trying to repair them.

Pillow combining machine and hand quilting.

Thank you so much for following along on this hand quilting series.  I hope you have enjoyed it and that it has answered some of the questions you may have had.  We will continue with our regular Friday Q&A next week.  So, if you have any questions feel free to leave them for me.  This can be quilt questions, fabric questions or notion questions–or any other quilt related things you may wonder about.

Have a wonderful weekend and see you next week, Corey