Earlier this week, I was in the mood to do some machine sewing. So I pulled out some charm squares that I have had for a few years. I pulled the lighter shades out and made some nine patches to practice a new way for me anyway of making nine patches. Barb did a tutorial over at her
blog. It looked like something I could do. So I started trimming and stitching.
They went pretty well, but I decided to use my new walking foot and I must say I don't think I used the same line on the foot to keep my seam allowances accurate. Lesson learned, back to using my 1/4 inch foot from now on. But, I do love my new walking foot for machine quilting. I took a class on Craftsy to give me some confidence and some ideas and off I went. Now those of you that follow my blog know I am all about hand quilting. But, as I get older I know my hands will not last forever, and I have a couple of tops that really have too many seams to hand quilt or the fabric is so busy it is not worth putting all that effort into them. So here are today's first effort:
 |
| I haven't added the binding yet |
 |
| Look at the quilting not the piecing, please |
 |
| and it was fun to do |
Well, it's pretty basic not sure I will ever get brave enough to do free motion as previous experiences were quite scary. But it is progress!
sounds like the same reason I am beginning to do some simple machine quilting in some of my quilts the last several years - I love the hand work, but I know my hands will not keep up with it.
ReplyDeleteSo far hand quilting doesn't seem to bother my hands. But my hands do bother me if I do EPP or hand piecing very long. I think it is the pinching motion that bothers me.
DeleteLooks great Carla! That is the reason I abandoned hand quilting - sore hands - and persisted with learning on my machine. I'm still not entirely happy with the look of machine quilting though...might be time to try some better, less painful, hand quilting techniques.
ReplyDeleteI went from rocking the needle to using a spoon when I first started to quilt because I didn't want to aggravate my hands. The pinching action of hand piecing or holding EPP bothers mine. I do agree the machine quilting is just not the same, but I did enjoy doing what I did today.
DeleteI do like your machine quilting. The stitching design compliments the square nicely. I also prefer hand quilting, but my next quilt will be paper pieced. Too many seams to hand quilt.
ReplyDeleteCarla, I'm left handed, so I hold with my right hand. The pain got so bad in my right thumb, I went to an orthopedist. Turned out I had a torn ligament, so I had surgery to replace it. Now, I can pinch that fabric with the best of them! :)
ReplyDeleteYour machine quilting is really great. Just relax and enjoy the process.