I finished this lap quilt. It’s a bit longer than a regular lap quilt. But the design kinda dictated the size.
The quilting got a bit dodgy near the middle block. But it won’t be noticed in use 
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Awesome! 
I see NOTHING! lol except a lovely quilt…love how you did the quilting to match the design!
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I like long lap quilts, long enough for armpit to wrap around toes. We keep the heat down at 68 to 69 in the winter and a long lap quilt is a necessity. This lovely quilt will keep you warm.
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I just read through the last 300 posts in this thread! Nice to see what everyone’s been doing. I’ve not been quilting a lot this year, but today I went to pick up my hexie project from the longarm quilter and it motivated me to get back into this Quiltalong. I have only finished January’s BOM but I have some nice fabrics for it so I will try to finish it this year. I have acquired quite a bit of PTO at work that I need to use this year, so I have requested the last two weeks of December off and also half of the first week when Mr Imma hopes to celebrate his 35th birthday.
I finished this in August: Denim quilt and so far that’s my only finish this year.
Hand quilting this will be this winter’s project:
And I’m also planning to make a table runner for Christmas and maybe some small things here and there.
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Wow that hexie quilt is awesome!
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If I recall from the dead site…your hexie quilt goal was to not use any fabric more than once…I am playing I Spy and so far, I can’t find any two so you must have met your goal!
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If you look really, really closely there are one or two fabrics that are used more than once, but it would probably take me at least 10 minutes to find them again.
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It turned out so pretty…a true collaboration that you pulled together…I just love scrappy quilts like this…feels like a huge hug !
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It really feels like a big hug, and the size will be perfect for a bed quilt. I’ve already started hand quilting but that’s more difficult than I thought i would be. My experience with that until now was pretty limited - I did a few art quilts with no real batting inside and a lap sized blanket 10 years ago. Who would have thought that hand quilting a full-sized blanket would be so much more difficult? This one is hard work!
I have a question for anyone here who has experience with hand quilting larger items. When I’m stitching a small item like embroidery or cross stitch, I work with two hands, one on top of the fabric and one below. I use a hoop for embroidery but not for cross stitch.
When I’m hand quilting using a hoop and having one hand on the back of the fabric (as I see people do in pictures) I just can’t get the stitches to look good. On the front they look good because I see what I’m doing, but on the back they look wonky. I guess it’s because you pull the the thread through the hole and then slightly move off pattern when you push the needle back in because you can’t see what you’re doing. The only way I can get the stitches look good is when I take off the hoop and stitch in one motion, so the needle goes through the fabric and back up through in one motion. It seems to work and it looks nice, but is there something I’m missing?
I have only done hand quilting where you go to the back and to the front each time…like a running stitch…If I poke through and then go back up, yes, it is wonky…but I also use very thin batting…when I watch the Amish woman do it, that is how they do it as well…I did have a large hoop, but I found I like working without it better…
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So I am doing it the “right” way after all?? I just googled pictures of Amish women quilting just to check, and they all seem to have one hand underneath the frame and one on top.
Quilting is not really big here, so I’ve never actually met someone irl who has experience in handquilting and it only just crossed my mind that I could search on youtube. I came across this lady who shows some impressive work! https://youtu.be/uwrD7MUOXtE Her stitches so tiny and beautiful. Now it’s also more clear to me what the other hand is for.
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Your quilt is beautiful! I am so impressed by the amount of time and work you put into this!
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I think you can get double ended needles, so you never need to rotate the needle once you pull it through. The eye is in the middle. I think that might speed things up,
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I had no idea a double pointed needle was even a thing! I think I’ve found a way now to make handquilting work for me, but it would be a great timesaver for embroidery and cross stitch I think. I’ll keep my eyes open for one so I can give it a try.
I’ve decided to use embroidery thread (Durable embroidery / crochet cotton) instead of regular quilting thread. The backing is white and I’d like the stitches to really show up. When I showed my top to some Real Quilters it was already called “non-traditional” and I was asked repeatedly if I was new to quilting and if I had any interest in learning to quilt 
so I suppose using the wrong thread would lead to some serious pearl-clutching.
That’s really one of the reasons I love this place so much. You guys have serious crafting skills, are honest and give good advice, but no one cares about The Rules. There’s only a small quilting “scene” in this part of the country (two quilt shops, one guild and one long-arm quilter) and if you don’t do exactly the same as everyone else people are very shocked.
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I called our local needlework shop to ask about those needles after I watched a few videos. I want them for regular cross stitch as I am so slow, which is why I don’t do a lot…they acted like I was being blasphemous! lol…whatever works…they also do not care for my style of knitting, which is why I don’t go to any of the knitting functions…I just go when I need some yarn right away…our quilt shop also snubs me because I am not conventional…
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I don’t get it! They’re all talking about how people should support their local craft stores, well maybe they would if they would support local crafters. You don’t have to like everyone, or the art they make, but you can still behave yourself in front of paying customers. Imagine the owner of the bakery tut-tutting at my choice of pastry…
We have a general craft store in town which is part of a large chain, they aren’t specialized in fibre crafts but these days I go there first before checking anywhere else. Most of the staff are under 25 and students at the local art school. When it’s quiet they do some of their own art behind the counter but they’re still happy to help someone pick out a paint-by-numbers kit. Such a shame they don’t sell fabric!
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It always makes me grumble when people in any situation don’t want to be progressive. Or are judgemental, on this one, don’t get me wrong - I can be but I try not to let my upbringing biases lead my life. It’s tough!
Things always develop and “traditional” is a style that some don’t want to do
I’m trying to remind my ‘parents’* not to be so judgemental about things and I’m now the little devil / angel on their shoulders.
- I only have my Mum left (including step-parents) so now have extra ‘parents’ in her friends etc
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