Studio Journal: Hand work versus machine stitched

It’s the texture you will notice first, caught in the way the light falls across the surface of a hand stitched quilt.

You can listen to this Studio Journal here.

There’s something familiar, comforting even, about the feel of a hand stitched quilt: the way the stitches travel across the cloth, or how it moves as you shake it out over a bed. There’s a fluidity that can’t be replicated in a machine-stitched piece.

Hand quilted texture

When you look at something stitched by hand, start by noticing the thread. This will often be dictated by the design of the piece, or the method of quilting chosen, but each type will bring a different quality to the finished work.

Thicker threads will show more obviously, shifting the colour of the fabric beneath the stitches and sitting proud on the surface of the cloth. A heavier yarn in a contrasting colour will bring movement and rhythm to a quilt, the repeated stitches creating patterns as they are worked across the cloth.

A finer quilting thread will allow for the use of a tiny needle and smaller, less obvious stitches which form the patterns and textures found in traditional quilts through a series of bumps that create a whole.

 Machine quilting offers something different. The quilting will have a uniform feel as the stitches run in continuous, solid lines across the quilt. The ridges formed by a line of machine stitching do provide texture, but it is different; more orderly and less organic.

Celebrating the rhythm of hand work allows for a nuanced approach to the finished piece. Like handwriting, an individual's stitch technique will show variation from continent to continent or family to family, depending on how they are taught, the fabric or thread they have chosen and the tools they use. The rhythms of life can also be seen in the stitch of a maker. One aspect of teaching and talking about quilting is to show my quilts to other quilters and I love to point out how the stitches change across a quilt and mirror what is going on in my life across the weeks (and sometimes months) it takes to complete a quilt. Moments of tension and flow are held as a snapshot of life in a code of dashes that add personality and history to a quilt that is hand made.

I recently conserved an antique quilt top and it was fascinating to look at the stitches that had been used: each block was pieced by hand using a cotton sewing thread, the length of the stitches changing depending on the type of fabric or the individual maker. It was then assembled by machine, the even stitches joining the blocks contrasting the poetry of the hand stitched blocks and the efficiency of the machine pieced whole.

Contrasting texture on a hand quilted quilt

As a quilter, I am drawn to hand work, as much for the simplicity of the tools and techniques that are unchanged for centuries, but also for the connection to makers past. The idea that I can choose to work in silence, listening to the sounds of my home, or the birds outside my window, which find their way into the stitches I create. I could also choose to quilt alongside others in a traditional ‘quilting bee’, seated around a frame, telling stories or singing songs, that make the work of quilting a joyful and uplifting experience.

This group experience is found in maker-communities all over the world and is one thing that cannot be replicated by machine in the same way. Machines make noise (the enemy of quiet, reflective conversation) and are often cumbersome so an individual approach to making is more practical.

These differences between hand  and machine stitched works can become more apparent over time. The way a quilt will settle or drape will reflect the time and the processes that have gone into a piece. 

One of my quilts is called Spell Quilt, and I like to offer the idea that each hand made stitch is a wish, made with intention, and held for posterity, a lasting and meaningful reminder of the magic of the hand made.

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of my Studio Journal, and if you are considering a hand stitched artwork for your home, or would like to talk about a commission, you are very welcome to get in touch here.

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