Quilting

Oh goody you QUILT. I've been looking for someone! I have a quilt my grandma made back in the 60's/70's that a puppy tore up and I'm going to repair. I get to sew the squares all back together and make new ones to replace the old faded ones. I haven't really sewn much other than childhood handsewing fun so it's a bit of a big project! I want to have people make quilted squares and mail them to me to help assemble what's gone. Figured I can't remake it the way it was, so i'll make it something new as a combined heirloom.

Ooh, that would be fun! Then you'd have an heirloom and a friend-loom in one quilt!

I forgot to mention that I do all my quilting by hand. The only time I use the machine is to finish the edges. Hawaiian quilting is traditionally just two pieces of fabric: the background and the applique'. The quilting is very organic and is called "echo quilting", because you echo the outline of the applique' rather than make a grid or some such.

I haven't quilted in an age, an age. Hawaiian quilting is fantastic; I've seen some real doozies. I like the look of the Baltimore style, too, but I have to say my heart belongs to scrap quilts. Not crazy quilts: quilts made up of dozens, hundreds of fabrics. Love them.

Is hand-quilting still common then? I feel bad for not using a machine but I want to hand-sew! Do you know a good appliqué stitch?

Can you link me some examples of Hawaiian quilting? It sounds really neat!

I agree with Irk, I want to see some nice examples!

I don't quilt, though I've considered doing it. It sounds like fun. Except I hear you have to send it out to someone to get the actual quilt part done. It doesn't sound like that's what you guys do.

Send it out? Good heavens, who have you been talking to? You can do it by hand or machine. I do it by machine, but I do it heirloom-style. Haven't quilted in so long. When I get back to sewing, it's gonna have to be clothes, though.

I think you mean sewing the quilt-top and batting to the bottom, Clare. You don't need a quilting frame for it, but it does help. I have a friend whose other friend's family props it all up tight on the backs of chairs and then goes from there. Home solutions! Remember, the pioneers did this, so it shouldn't be that hard for us.

I REALLY want to do a patchwork skirt, but I need to look up stitching so that I have needlework that doesn't fall apart from heavy use.

Someone whose family members make a lot of quilts, and apparently send them all out for...

Yes, that. And no one said anything about a frame! I just got the impression that it's REALLY REALLY hard to do yourself.

You do have a point about the pioneers.

It's hard to keep everything from getting all crooked. I can see sending it out to be finished professionally, but I'd like to try it myself at least once. Besides, I'm going for the homey look, not something like an art quilt.

...uh, that and I can't afford the luxury. nn;

Clare, quilting the layers (that's the actual quilting part, the rest is piecing) is considered by some to be where the real art lies. And Irk, art quilts are always quilted by hand, that I've seen.

Myself, I don't like hand quilting. I like to do it by machine. The finished top would just sit in a box otherwise. Harriet Hargrave's books on heirloom machine quilting (how to use a machine to attain heirloom quality) are especially good. If you're looking at tackling quilting without a frame, take a look at the work of Georgia Bonesteel, who popularized the lap quilting method (quilting a square at a time, then assembling the whole shebang). Lap quilting can be done anywhere; it's portable.

Yes! So I was right when I wrote "the quilt part"! I like the idea of lap quilting. Like I need any more crafts...

There are some good images of Hawaiian quilts here

I don't have any of my own to show; I've almost finished the one for my Gramma. I made my own quilting frame, since I couldn't afford one big enough for what I wanted to do. I got some lumber, hardware, and old jeans and went to town.