So today I had a chance to pretend I was Aunt Bee sitting on my porch just relaxing and hand quilting and enjoying this beautiful September Sunday afternoon ( with NO HUMIDITY !!!). This is my "Lazy Days of Summer " quilt I blogged about in my last post back in July ( and yes, the summer FLEW by .... but technically it's still summer until Sept. 22nd right ?) 
I'm hand quilting each block separately (i.e. Quilt As You Go) ..... using Big Stitch quilting ( only because my hand stitching automatically qualifies for that technique ...... no bazillion stitches to the inch no matter how hard I try! So thank goodness monster stitches are now "in" !!!)
I found some very good and helpful info on "Big Stitch" (aka "Pick Stitching") quilting using perle cotton #8 embroidery thread from 2 articles. This article Getting to The Point- About Hand Quilting Needles was very helpful with what needles work best. Then I found a tutorial for the general technique of "Pick Stitching " on Mollie Flanders Makerie. And the "Quilt As You Go" technique of hand quilting each block first before joining the blocks I learned WAY back in the first class I took in 1986 ..... it was a class based on the original Queen of Quilt As You Go, Georgia Bonesteel's books and method.
So, one block partially hand quilted .....and a bunch more to go ......but this quilt is for me and I'm not going to stress about it or how long it may take to finish ...... it's my "de - stress quilt" and I'm determined to enjoy the process !!!
Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)
