I highly recommend a subscription to "Machine Quilting Unlimited" Magazine. It is full of so much information - tips, techniques, products and pictures--closeups of quilting from real people on our kinds of machines. It is a magazine for the home quilter to the pro's, but I find it geared to quilters who want to learn more and try different designs. You will not be disappointed in its content. If you can find the Jan/Feb issue - I think sold at book stores- this is a good example of the Magazine. And the Raffle Quilt from my Guild is in it! What a surprise! :~) For me, I have to look at the finished quilt top for awhile (that's my excuse anyway :~). The deadline often dictates what I am able to do quilt-wise. I now also consider the recipient of the quilt, learning the hard way that some people just do not appreciate the labor and time required to stitch custom block designs. I don't think I can read enough or practice enough on Quilting Techniques. But, for me, the thrill is achieving something new and retaining that muscle memory to be able to do it again in 6 months. I don't quilt consistently enough! It's in spurts dictated by time and other factors outside of my control. Here is a link that might be useful: Machine Quilting Unlimited

Not a sewing machine, but some misc blocks for a sewer / quilter. This is something each of you could do one block and send to one person to put together. I know I have seen an antique sewing machine block somewhere - maybe someone has seen it. I'm sorry she and your family has to endure this horrible disease. Making this quilt will help you all. Here is a link that might be useful: Quilter's Blocks

Great first quilt!!! Look on your batting wrapping and it will give suggestions as to how close (or far apart) the quilting should be. The one I am using now suggests 2". I am just learning to machine quilt (about 5 years now lol) and I love anything that doesn't have to be marked. With SITD it is sometimes not easy to stay in the 'ditch', but when the quilt is washed it doesn't show as much. The scrappy Irish Chain I am making for my sister is going to be mostly quilted on the diagonal. You can always mix it up and do different quilting designs. Have Fun! Rosa

Yup, I agree with the above posts. I do everything by hand, and I don't see how the blocks would automatically turn out too big just because you sew by hand. I will say, though, that it is essential for me to have stitch lines drawn onto the pieces. From what I read, people on machines emphasize perfectly accurate cutting so that they can carefully sew a perfect 1/4 inch seam by a guide on the machine. Then, they don't have to mark at all, you see. I have a couple of excellent books, "Quiltmaking by Hand" from Jenny Beyer, and "Mastering Precision Piecing" from Sally Collins. They both include sections on making accurate templates, and they both swear (at length) that templates should include the seam allowance. That way you can pin four or so layers of fabric together and your cutting goes a lot faster. When you're making your template, you use an extra fine Sharpie to make dots at the seam intersections, and later punch them out with a 1/16 inch hole punch. When you get to sewing, you line up your edges (very helpful here if the fabric was starched before cutting) and lay the template again to mark the dots on the top piece facing you. If you need help to sew a straight line (like I always do) you can lightly connect the dots, too. For hand sewing, this way keeps the speed of cutting 3-4 layers at once, and eliminates the effort of drawing stitch lines and dots on every piece, that you then find yourself flipping over a thousand times checking the back stitch line. If you draw the stitch line, and then eyeball the 1/4 inch seam as you cut it, planning to match the stitch lines as you hand sew, you have to draw and cut one piece at a time, and take extreme care as you pin through the dots, and since the seam allowances are uneven, you have to pin lots mores along the stitch lines as you flip back and forth to check alignment. When you make a template, be aware that every time you draw around a shape, your line has added width to the shape. You always use the inside edge of your line as the cutting line, not the middle of your line. It's useful to have a very fine point mechanical pencil that will snug right up to your template, and even so, after you cut there shouldn't be any line left on your piece. If you rotary cut, the same goes for the lines on your ruler. They have width. Always take care that the line obliterates the edge of your fabric, not just butts right up to it, and never showing a couple threads on the other side of the line. It seems trivial, but if you add 1/32 inch to every edge, then that's 1/16 to each piece. If your block has a row with eight pieces to match up to some other part, then the eight piece row will be 1/2 inch (8/16) inch too wide. Hootie hoot ! What a long mixed up rambling of a post! I'm leaving it anyway, since maybe it will help you. The main thing you could do is get either one of those books. They are both thirty bucks, and I enjoy Jenny's the most as a good and comprehensive read--even though I don't do the quilting like she does-- but Sally's is half as thick and straight to the point of accurate piecing, with some really good pictures, but nothing on hand quilting. (Be aware that I love books.)