teeny, tiny stitches?

I think my reluctance to hand-quilt was due mainly to when I would tell people that I was hand-quilting and it seemed the first thing out of their mouth was, 'Ooh? How many stitches per inch?' Huh? I would then guiltily glance down at my work and see that 3 or 4 was not the answer they were looking for. Wow. This bar of standard seemed ridiculously high and I knew there was no way I was ever going to grasp it or even come close to--what?.....13, 15 or even 16 stitches per inch....so why bother.

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But then I looked closely at quilts from long ago. Just like the one pictured above. My great-great aunt hand-quilted this beauty and *gasp* she's not even close to 15 or 16 stitches per inch....and guess what? It does not detract from the value. In fact, it solidifies that I dearly love her work & her stitches are things of beauty and grace.

(having just finished the feather wreath in the middle of this project, I am just tickled how this cross-hatch is turning out. And I'm not kidding--running your fingertips along these stitches is the coolest feeling...)

In fact at the hand-quilting class that I recently took, many of us uttered the ol' well-how-many-stitches-do-I-need-to-be-stitching? to our instructor, Nadine and she chuckled as she replied:

'It doesn't matter how many stitches you have, as long as they are consistent."

I think I could have just kissed her.

So now I sit, with a smile because I know my stitches will not win any awards for being teeny and/or tiny, but Nadine was right----hand-stitching has been proven to lower one's blood pressure and the rhythmic, simple, stitching is truly stress-relieving & once again I debunk my self-doubt and just enjoy.......