How do you count stitches when handquilting?
#31
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,812
I have learned many things over the years regarding how to this how to that when to this when to that why to this why to that. I still don't know everything, but I do know that I will never try to nor will I ever have a yearning for counting stitches. I know I will never put that on my to-do or gotta do list. It just isn't going to happen. I don't have the patience and kudos to all of you who can do it. Even and consistent is all that matters to me. As my eyes are getting older, the stitches are getting bigger. And that is okay by me.
#32
Originally Posted by quiltsRfun
Originally Posted by Holice
it is the quality of the stitch that judges often look at and not the quantity.
A larger but even stitch, penetrating into the back in an even way (not the same size) might overshadow the fine close stitches that don't have quality on the back.
A larger but even stitch, penetrating into the back in an even way (not the same size) might overshadow the fine close stitches that don't have quality on the back.
kathyd
#33
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: washington
Posts: 1,424
Originally Posted by Jan in VA
Originally Posted by RenaB
Never knew we should count. May I ask under which circumstances you would count?
Jan in VA
#34
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: washington
Posts: 1,424
Originally Posted by Jan in VA
Originally Posted by RenaB
Never knew we should count. May I ask under which circumstances you would count?
Jan in VA
#37
Debbie,
Thanks for the info. I found and bought an old churn dash top made with vintage material and muslin. Thought that would be a good way to practice both hand work and machine!!
Thanks for the info. I found and bought an old churn dash top made with vintage material and muslin. Thought that would be a good way to practice both hand work and machine!!
Originally Posted by applique
I do. No hoop or frame either.
Originally Posted by coachmatthewsvhs
I have a really beginner question.... and by this you'll know I've never done hand quilting..........Do you use a running stitch??
#38
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 282
I only know one lady (in our guild) that says she quilts ten
stitches to the inch. She does beautiful applique and quilting, so I guess she is entitled to the "bragging rights."But, I agree with what most have said, try to get them even. It does come easier and a little better as you
do more of it. However the only thing we should expect is
that each person do the best they can...that's good enough.
stitches to the inch. She does beautiful applique and quilting, so I guess she is entitled to the "bragging rights."But, I agree with what most have said, try to get them even. It does come easier and a little better as you
do more of it. However the only thing we should expect is
that each person do the best they can...that's good enough.
#40
Originally Posted by Old hen
Originally Posted by mimee4
Thank you for asking this question. I always wanted to know, too.
Counting stitches is a legacy from our past when hand work was one of a ladies' "accomplishments" (see Jane Austin, LOL). Girls began their needlework educations early. Sewing a "fine seam" was a standard, and not just among the well-to-do classes. Imagine a garment put together with coarse stitches--the seams would gape and washday would be a disaster. A button hole not carefully worked would sag, tear and not hold a button.
High standards were expected in embroidery and quilting, too, partly aesthetics and partly practicality. Tiny stitches produced a tight, durable seam. Think how, today, we are advised to use very short machine stitches when we want to securely join fabrics. When working with the loose batting of the past, close, fine quilting stitches were the best way to secure a smooth, even, non-shifting filling.
When quilting revived nationally, quilt enthusiasts began looking at old quilts and marveled at the tiny stitches. Oh, they said, ten, twelve, fourteen stitches to the inch! This fine stitching would have been most evident in the quilts likely to survive the years, 'best' quilts, bridal, etc. Everyday quilts were
often long gone and most likely to have been done with longer stitches. The close, fine stitching of the past was a mark of quality and skill.
Quilters who make "Dear Jane" want to emulate a quilt of the past and might also like to emulate the quilting standards of that by-gone era.
Some quilters love 'wonky' and some abhor it.
Some quilters love traditional fine handwork, some enjoy machines. We admire corners that match, seams that lay flat and no one questions those standards nor should the quilter interested in fine stitching be discouraged or disparaged.
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