Sunny Edwards Memorial Quilt ~ Hand Quilting

Finally it's time to hand quilt the pieced top from Sunny's clothes, the cotton batting and the backing together into one. Rowan had the idea of using a topography inspired quilting pattern. This is his sketch.

The trick for improving your hand quilting, especially if you are a first timer like Rowan, is to aim for straight and even stitches, and not worry about size. The stitch length will naturally get smaller with practice.

Here is one of our three-hour hand quilting sessions condensed into 1.5 minutes. I set it to a banjo jingle, because our hands quilting look like we're a-strummin' and a-pickin'.

http://youtu.be/xMxOStUHz2g

Below is the same quilting session from a different perspective, condensed into 1 minute. This time the background music was chosen in memory of Sunny, who was a rodeo cowboy and a champion roper. 

Hand quilting is a great time for chatting and sharing stories. I've really enjoyed working with and getting to know Rowan and his grandfather through this process. I love my job!

http://youtu.be/AMGxNzQxSbQ

All that is left now is the binding!