Quilts and Sore Fingers

Hello All

First thing in the morning, after breakfast of course I got straight on with my hand quilting.

I found the different needles that I used all quilting needles but from different companies had a different effect. I decided for a change of scenery in stitching so I sat in my Parker Knowle chair which made me feel like an old biddy but dead comfy, propped my heavy quilt on an old tapestry stand to take the weight and hold it while quilting away. This was nice as the sun was shining and though my living room a somewhat messy stitcher's studio, it didn't matter I felt really at peace there and happy quilting away. I'm not an experienced hand quilter so of course I am practising. Some shapes in the background of the quilt when I turned it over I was quite pleased with and other shapes, it was gasp..... oh no now I can do better for the next shape (hee-hee). To me it doesn't matter, its going on my bed not an exhibition and I suppose many quilts later and a million hand quilted stitches later my technique will improve and that my fingers will get stronger and tougher to it all. I have battled with several thimbles and found them all difficult to work with. I have two leather thimbles and a metal one but eek its so clumsy and difficult working with them. I suppose the more I practise working with these I maybe will adapt to these eventually.

Ive done about two blocks hand quilting on my huge king size quilt and I'm getting to love the texture of that hand stitched quilt feel and how it looks. There's a homely handmade feel about it all which I absolutely love. Though the wadding is thin and recommended by my teacher at the patchwork shop this is looking great also, not heavy and bulky like the old wadding used to be in the 1980s.

Everyone has a patchwork memory be it their grandma quilting or a visit to some old friends house seeing the gorgeous handmade quilt somewhere. My first patchwork memory I think was about 1980 time. My mum took me to an Industrial working museum in Sheffield called the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet. There were craft stalls and people working on things the old fashioned way. Men working at the old grinding wheel sharpening and buffering tools. Some maids and a cook in Victorian clothes working in a kitchen making bread and home-made scones just a few feet away from a lit kitchen fire. On wall stall right at the very back not far from the railway line was a woman quilting away with hexagons. My mum was telling me all about it and that I should have a go when I get home. I remember my mum buying me some hexagon shapes to play around with. At that time I maybe of got bored with it or something else took my interest which at the time was dreaming and playing around with horsey toys. That memory is special though and helped me to have a special feel for patchwork many years later. Now patchwork fever and quilting just blooms all around me and addictive. (laughs). Now I just cannot get enough of it and thankfully there's no hubby or man here cos he'd just get sick to death of this quilting fever. lol.

There's only me in my family that quilt everyone else keeps saying they have not the time nor the patience to hand quilt and work with material which is ashame, but there you go they don't know what they are missing do they.

Well I don't have any quilting pictures but I will include some artwork that I did and scanned onto my computer.

Happy Quilting

Nutbudx