Sunday, September 21, 2008

A rubber glove, a Weimaraner and a plan...

That's what helped me today to work on Sue's Japanese quilt...

A rubber glove you say? A rubber glove with the fingertips chopped off!
Alternative quilting glove

As I struggled with the quilt today, I remembered seeing a quilter's glove in the quilt shop some time ago and thinking at the time - what is the point. Today I discovered the point! With the huge bulk of the quilt rolled up to stay on the extension table there is no hand-hold and when I placed my hand flat on the quilt I had no grip. Off to the computer to google an alternative. I came up with this site with lots of helpful quilting suggestions, including the rubber glove idea. The finger tips are chopped off (as suggested by the hint) because the fingers are too long and bulky making it hard to thread needles etc, and it encourages you to use the palm of your hand rather than finger tips, preventing cramps.

On the other hand I had my lycra "Handeze" glove to help stop the cramping and carpal tunnel syndrome that I get in my right hand.
Handeeze glove

The Weimaraner?... well she supervises. She's been sick this week so I was keeping her close to monitor her. Today she seems much better (thank goodness) and avoided a harrowing and expensive trip to the vet.

The supervisor



And the plan?... this is my plan...
Quilting Plan for Sue's Japanese Quilt

It won't make much sense to you, suffice to say that I've mapped out the squares of the quilt and the direction it goes into the machine and I'm shadding the blocks as I go. This way I know where I'm up to and I can work out which direction I should stitch so that I don't end up quilting myself into a corner. It's working really well this way because I know exactly where I am all the time.

3 comments:

Kathleen said...

Looking great and we are scarily alike...had my right carpal tunnel done 22 years ago and it was my neck mostly so apart from the thumb it did not really fix it...oh and the veins busting in my hands all the time mostly stopped too.

So it is obvious why you have a love / hate relationship with quilting ...painfully obvious and understandable if you love the finished result.

I do not machine quilt these days, mostly hand stitch with perle thread or tie my quilts so it is quicker too but the end result is nothing like yours .... your quilting looks great Sophie.

Nora and James McDowell said...

I had my right hand done 26 years ago and my left done 17. For me the surgery was a roaring success, but while I waited I wore a wrist brace that tipped the wrist back a bit and that did give a lot of relief especially at night.

Sewing Empire said...

hi all, i am new tos ewing please recommend the best sewing machine under 200