machine vs hand stitch for quilt

[buddhasbelly]

Total novice Am making a quilt for my daughter's first birthday (decided on inspiration gained from another thread!) and wondered would I be mad to try and hand stitch this? I could borrow a machine for it but wondered if a novice could hand stitch or am I creating a rod for my own back? Thanks for any advice

ooh, I didn't realise you were thinking of hand sewing! I haven't the patience to hand sew anything other than hems though.

If it were me, I'd borrow the machine

Borrow the machine! I'm in the final stages of putting my first quilt top (also a 1st bday one for a friend's DS) together and I would have abandoned it if I had tried to hand-stitch! You can always hand-stitch the binding if you really want to do some hand-sewing :)

How about hand tie-ing it?

Hand quilting is fab but very time consuming, machine quilting can be a pain if you don't have a walking/even feed foot. Google hand tied quilt and see if that takes your fancy.

I've been doing some googling, definitely borrow the machine - it'll be hard work by hand & I imagine frustrating trying to sew straight (or maybe it's just me who is incapable of managing a straight line )

I'm also not convinced mine will cope with quilting now

thanks for the replies

the dd in question whose 1st birthday is coming up in a few months, decided to wake up so couldn't check back to my own thread!

thanks mothershipG have had a look at the hand tie-ing technique and will try and explore that a bit more.

the thing that puts me off using a machine is that I have never used one and would be afraid that I'd make a mess of both the quilt and the machine! perhaps what I need is a 'sewing machine for beginners' thread

not to drag on but me and dd have had quite a tumultuous year so would really like to do something that she could keep for a long time (a bit cash strapped and a good friend hand crafted a wooden blanket box for her christmas so would be lovely to make the first proper blanket to be stored in it!) - thanks again lucysmam for the inspiration!

just an update (although this thread will probably have disappeared into the ether but very grateful for the feedback!)

I've got some of the fabrics and will start cutting squares soon, it's weird how excited I am to do this, will post pics once it's finished (ie in 3 months 3 years later!!!)

oh and ignore the white and blue, that's my duvet cover oops!

I'm using the app on my phone so can't see your pic but good luck with it budd! Did you borrow the machine?

thanks lucy lucy and yes I did borrow the machine! One other thing I probably should think through before the cutting begins is what size of quilt would you recommend me to do? I want it to be something my daughter can keep and use for a long time so want bigger than cot size but not sure how much bigger (especially being a novice would I be better sticking to a single size? Yes I know my planning in this so far has been fantastic!)

lucy for some reason I must have felt the need to type your name twice!

at least you're cracking on with it! I spend ages planning while I actually do iyswim. Right now I'm doing dolly Elsa dresses but planning a Sleeping Beauty dress and Cinderella dress at the same time.

I'd maybe do a little smaller than single quilt sized so it can be used over bed covers as a blanket on cold nights (but making sure squares are full plus space for a border iyswim).

But I know nowt about quilting so would just do my own thing & hope for the best

thanks for the much need and much appreciated advice lucy yes that sounds about right size wise. I've never really done much in the world of hand making things but am low on hobbies at the moment and would definitely love to be able to see the results of my handiwork. You've certainly inspired me to give these types of things ago. But baby steps, first the quilt and then who knows?!

Indeed, wait until you get to book day at school - you'll be whizzing up Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella like a pro

If you need any help feel free to pm me - I make quilts and also baby clothes quilts as part of my small business.

It is so satisfying!!!

Lovely idea Buddha's belly, I'm sure your daughter will treasure it! I'm no expert, but I think I'd go for something that would fit sideways over the bottom of the bed if that makes sense? Off the top of my head, I reckon about 40" x 50" (will measure the cot tomorrow, DS is sleeping well for once!)

I've recommended these fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/sew-get-started-pram-blanket-tutorial.html?m=1
tutorials to a few friends who've said that they found them really helpful

(going to be a total link fail cos I'm rubbish at using my phone...)

Argh, the link worked but auto correct mashed your username, sorry!

Stress, I've bookmarked that for when I do a minecraft quilt for dd1

Oh thank you to all you quilting pros! poppy I'll no doubt pm when i'm stuck (aka a lot!) and thanks McGee the link worked fine and very helpful (I'm better with photos on a step by step guide!) As I've not picked a particular pattern with the colours I've chosen, I may well post picks of the design I come up with for any feedback. Oh this is definitely a hobby I think I could get in to! (She says now with such bright eyed optimism!)

Ha! Lucy one of the comments on the thread link says "what a lovely afternoon project." AFTERNOON? AS IN ONE AFTERNOON?!!!! I've not even made it into the shallow end of the swimming pool yet have I?

I didn't see that one last night - just looked at the tutorial! One afternoon's definitely a bit ambitious

Speaking as someone who's just finishing off her DD'S first birthday quilt in time for her second birthday I would recommend cot size and then as a PP suggested it could go sideways across a single bed later. It is a lot of work, especially if you're new to sewing, and better to finish a small one than give up on a big one. You can always make her another if you love it. I'm doing a kingsize one next but have now got better equipment and know what I'm doing!

Great tips! I've made two and a bit quilts in my life. The first I hand-sewed for a friend's wedding and it nearly drove me demented, had to rope in all family members to work through the night before the wedding to finish it! The second (other best friend's wedding) I involved all the guests in making a square each, then I "only" had to assemble it and I very much went machine all the way. The third is underway, in the sense that I have a huge bag of baby clothes and a small number of cut out squares. Based on what I've learned so far this will be: smaller, simpler, machine-sewn, and critically also be a surprise (aka not really setting a deadline / point of expectation!)

glorious thanks for the advice, yes that seems sensible re size of quilt and pelican surprise aka not setting a deadline = genius!

This will sound like a really daft question but this is genuinely how little I know about quilting. I'm currently using the link posted upthread for the step by step picture guide, can I ask - for all 'standard' quilts (no matter if cot size, single / double bed size etc) are the squares (for a basic pattern) all cut to the same size? or does each basic quilt pattern using different square sizes? I don't think that made much sense sorry!

actually perhaps if I explain why I'm asking it'll make more sense! basically if I cut all my squares just now to the size needed for my quilt, if there were ones left over (maybe from too many squares of a certain pattern) would they still be of size to use for a bigger quilt? I really am a novice...

If you make the squares for the bigger (or for another) quilt the same size, then yes as far as I can see there's no reason you couldn't use them for something bigger.

You're certainly moving fast from thinking about it to cutting! Takes me weeks of planning what I'm doing