Make your stitches on the back tiny. They don't have to be the same length as on the front and if they are tiny, then they will more likely look more even in size.

My little quilt called for larger stitches to be hand quilted around a circle. Looks fine on top, but some of the stitches on the back of the quilt look slanted and uneven. Any suggestions on how to improve the back side stitches?

Jessimina wrote:
Not sounding stupid at all i asked the same question about the thread but i asked Alex
Jenny in Oz

Jessimina - another tip is to get lots of practice with straight lines. Just quilt a grid or along your sashing.

Don't try to quilt through any appilque pieces, they're way too thick. I once saw a beautiful applique quilt that had been professionally hand quilted with white thread all over and she had outlined all the appliques on top and I thought it was ruined! You should quilt around appliques which helps to make them puff up.

If you quilt upto a really thick intersection, you can "travel" through and skip a few stitches.

You're right to start with something small that you can turn around in your lap. Don't expect to be able to quilt in every direction at first. That takes time.

You might also want to experiment with where you sit. The arms of a chair are sometimes too high making your shoulders scrunch up uncomfortably. It helps to sit at a table or to have something like a pillow on your lap to support the hoop. I usually prop my feet up on an ottoman and that brings the hoop close enough without my needing to lean forward.

Just keep practicing. You'll get more comfortable with time and grow to love it like we do!

I knew there was a reason!!!

Jessimina-Single thread (not double) when hand quiting. Don't use too long of a thread cuz it'll tangle and make you say bad words real loud. Keep at it! Eventually you'll find hand quilting to be very relaxing and satisfying.

Hi Jessima, I've been sewing my entire life (it seems) and had never used a thimble until my first quilting class in 1992. The teacher had us use a spoon underneath the quilt. So I'm sitting on the couch, trying to balance a spoon below, a TINY needle on top, and a thimble!! My husband came home and with clenched teeth I said to him, "I can't believe I paid good money to learn something so frustrating!!" And it stayed frustrating for a few years, just trying to get a method that would work for me and get my stitches the same size. My first stitches were extremely large, but by the time I finished my first quilt, they were getting better. I finally got rid of the spoon and I think I'm doing better without it. The fabric also has something to do with how your stitches come out. Cheaper fabrics don't have the thread count (the number of threads horizontally and vertically) that good quilt shop fabrics have, and the individual threads can have a larger diameter. There are a number of variables when quilting. You just have to work through them.

Quilting thread is glazed and is a bit heavier than regular sewing thread.

Try not to be discouraged. I can tell you that if you persevere, one day it will just 'click', and you'll know you've got it!

It might help to get a good quality muslin and just draw lines with a pencil and practice, practice, practice. That helped me. Also, it's easier to quilt diagonally across the fabric than to quilt horizontally or vertically.

I hope I've helped a little. Don't worry about asking questions. Every quilter here has probably had the same question when they were newbies.

Keep us posted about your progress, Sharon in TN

Thanks for your input. I guess I have to say that my beginner stitches are sporadically even, LOL!!! I've mastered "hide the knot" at least! I struggle with the needle, don't quite have the hang of what each hand should be doing yet. I'm holding it like I'm sewing and I know that's not right but any other way feels very strange. As a result, I can only do about two stitches at a time vs. the "rocking" multiple stitch technique. Being left handed doesn't help. I keep wanting to sew backwards! I'm getting there but... practice, practice, practice I guess.

Jessimina wrote:
You are NOT asking stupid questions! Sounds like all the RIGHT questions to me!

Evenness of stitches means that the stitches are the same size as the spaces. An even stitch should look like - - - - - - - , no matter what size your stitch is. You can have lovely small stitches, but if your spaces are uneven the the stitch will not look neat (kinda like -..-...-.-.-..-....-) . For a beginner work on evenness first, then work toward getting the stitches smaller. As for strand it is single strand usually for quilting, although I have never actually had anyone tell me why. I figure it has to do with how heavy the stitch line would look. Good luck and enjoy!

At the risk of sounding really, really stupid... can someone explain what is meant by "the evenness" of the stitch? Are we talking trying to make sure the stitches are in a straight line? The amount of space between each stitch?? Also, again... this is going to sound stupid... single strand or double? With regular sewing we double the strand but.. how about hand quilting?? I am SUPER new to hand quilting.. can you tell? Thanks all!!

Thanks Judy - that is a useful tip. I've picked up quite a few on here and have started on a wall hanging; the pattern came from a book that I bought years and years ago, called 'Make Room for Quilts' - I think by Barbara Martin - it's a brilliant book!

Hi! It's always easier when quilting "in the ditch" or rather, next to a seam, to quilt in an area with less bulk. I usually quilt a few threads away from the seam in the area without the seam allowance, and when I get to an area where the seam allowance is I meander to the other side without the seam allowance, trying to keep as straight a line as possible. Hope this helps.

Thanks Louise - I'll have a look at that later! x