The May Try Something New Every Month theme was “hand sewing” and I really struggled to think of something I hadn’t tried before. I decided on hand quilting. I have tons of quilt tops finished, but I also knew that I didn’t have the time to hand quilt a larger quilt so I decided to make a rainbow star mini quilt specifically for this.

I watched this video on hand quilting basics by Wendi Gratz. I seriously love that woman, her videos are always the first place I search when I’m trying to learn a new crafting skill, she explains it all so well. I went out and got a 17″ Q-snap frame and I used Aurifil Cotton Mako 28 weight thread.

It took me a bit to get the hang of it, I was determined to do it the proper way and load multiple stitches onto the needle at the same time. I guess I’ve technically done hand quilting before on the Flower Pow Mug Rug but I basically just did embroidery and I don’t really think it counts. I started out with the fabric stretched too tightly on the frame, but once I got the tension corrected, it went much better. It took a bit to get used to the rhythm of it, but I was really surprised that it wasn’t nearly as time consuming of a process as I expected.

I’m not entirely sure if I’m done or if I want to add more quilting in the solid gray fabric. Once I officially declare it finished I will bind it and hang it on my wall.

If you want to read more about TSNEM or see the full list of themes, check out this post. And make sure to join the TSNEM Facebook Group

Check out my past TSNEM projects –

January – Free Motion Quilting
Febraury – 3D Doodler
March – Watercolor Tinted Embroidery
April – Rock Candy