Big Stitch Quilting – First Attempt!

Well, I grabbed a ball of pearl cotton #8 and a needle and sat down to watch the Indians game (a sad loss to the Tigers – boo hoo!) wanting to try my hand at “big stitch quilting”.  I had a hand quilting practice piece in my lap hoop already – so I decided to just stitch over the outer lines of the star design drawn on my fabric. 

The good news – I love it!  

I may not have mentioned it – but I’ve been struggling to teach myself how to hand quilt for the past few months off and on.  And each time I end up totally frustrated.  My inability to hand quilt really gets to me because I have done various forms of needlework since I was in 2nd. grade … counted cross stitch, chicken scratch and candlewicking were things I learned in grade school from my Mom.  I did various projects for myself, and as gifts, all the way through middle school and high school.  Of course this earned me quite a reputation at school (and not a good one). 

When I was in college I learned some advanced needlepoint techniques from books and my mother-in-law (very accomplished with the needle), and tried my hand at hardanger too.  I’ll have to post some pictures of those projects at some point.  (why haven’t I done that before?)  Anyway, after trying every combination of thimble, needle and thread – I had all but given up.  BTW, the quilt stores love me – since I keep buying every thimble manufactured on the planet!

Anyway, I really do like this “big stitch quilting”.  I think my first attempt was fairly successful!   It will NOT have me putting up any For Sale signs on my HQ-16 or my Aurora, but for some projects, I think this style of quilting could be quite stunning!