Aurifil Challenge - Hand Quilting

The Challenge for November - Hand Quilting
I have a confession, I've never actually attempted had quilting before, in fact I'm know for my aversion to any sort of hand stitching! So when the Aurifil challenge for hand quilting came along I figured I should really give it a go. Not wanting to get over ambitious I decided to start small with a pouch. You might recognise the pouch as my Rainbow Star Purse from my book 'Modern Rainbow Patchwork Quilts'. 
I made up the pouch front using lots of low volume scraps and some left over HSTs from writing my book. It's basically the same layout and design as the book version but I left a Low volume square in the middle so that I could add some stitching. 

Once the front was made I used my Hera marker to outline the star points, about ¼" away to give me a guide. I did attempt to eyeball it, but I think perhaps a bit more practice might be needed before I get that good. After asking advice from quilting friends I bought a pack of Clover Gold Eye Embroidery needles, which came in a variety of sizes (no 3-9) so that I could see what worked for me. I think I ended up using the no 9, which felt comfortable enough for a small project. 

I got together a rainbow of Aurifil 12wt so that I could use a different colour for each of the points and set about quilting. I must say it took a while to get it, and my stitch lengths are anything but consistent, however I really like the rustic handmade feel it gave the pouch.  I was going to put a plain backing to the pouch but I enjoyed the quilting so much I quilted some lines on the back too. 

I can't promise I'm a convert and the idea of a big quilt still seems overwhelming, but I definitely enjoyed the experience. I'm now adding some hand quilting lines to my 'Gifting Time' Xmas quilt and I've treated myself to some more 12wt thread. 

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Thread used:
I used 50wt in white for the construction and patchwork. 
For hand quilting I used:
Red - 2277 (12 wt)
Orange -  2225 (12 wt)
Yellow - 2135 (12 wt)
Green - 1147 (12 wt)
Aqua - 5005 (12 wt)
Blue - 2730 (12 wt)
Purple - 2520 (12 wt)
Pink - 2479 (12 wt)