Quilting baby steps
When I went over to Pamela's on Sunday, I didn't just get help with my sweater steeks. I also got a primer on the quilting stitch. I can tell you already that I don't have a natural knack for it and it's going to be hard.
I don't like it when I can't do something right on the first try. There is an obvious disconnect here between what my brain wants and what my hand can do.
After showing me how to transfer a pattern and do the quilt stitch, Pam sent me home with hoop, thimble, thread, a few needles and three quilting books. What more can a girl ask for?
I already started reading one of the books: That Perfet Stitch. It's really very good. It goes into great detail on everything you need to know to hand quilt, from choosing your fabric, batting, needles, and thimble to the details of hand stitching broken down in all its steps. Oh yeah, why make things easy for myself? I am going to hand quilt, what the heck. It's probably for the same reason that I prefer spindle spinning to spinning on a wheel. I can do it anywhere, anytime. If I learn to hand quilt, I can do it sitting on the sofa. Sofas are good; just ask Kelvin and Piper. Sofas are up there with grilled salmon, roast chicken and catnip toys. Which reminds me… time for some quality time with my sofa now. Ta-ta.
Comments
You don't believe in doing things the "easy way" eh? The qaulity of handstitching on the cover of the book looks like something it would take considerable time to master. It's beautiful. Yours looks fine for a first attempt.
Posted by: Barbp | August 22, 2006 9:17 AM
I love hand quilting. I think it has a much nicer texture than machine quilting and in some ways is easier. I don't do it perfectly and don't follow any of the rules, but I go by the "it's my quilt so I can do what I want" philosophy.
Posted by: Shannon | August 25, 2006 1:23 PM