Friday, June 09, 2006

Meandering Away

I finally got rid of an I-don't-like-you piece of fabric by cutting it in half, sticking some batting in between and practice free-motioning. The good news is that I haven't lost my ability, cuz I have NO idea when was the last time I free-motioned. :)

I'm a weirdo - I started quilting this piece on the outside, working my way in. I don't usually do it this way. Must have been feeling lazy. I couldn't come up with any brilliant quilting patterns, so I fell back onto good ol' meandering. It made me yawn some, and I did end up taking a nap. :D

I was afraid a better design was gonna pop into my mind, but thank goodness that hasn't happened yet. I also love using the open-toe darning foot. It drives me nuts trying to crane my head to the right angle over closed-toe foots to see exactly where the needle is going to land.

I'm using my Aurifil thread, 50WT. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out - I was imagining lots of breakages, but I have never broken thread or needle in any of my free-motioning. So I think I'll go ahead and order more 50WT thread - I don't care how showy it might not be, thinner thread can be easier to hide mistakes. :)

Funny, the past few days my husband was feeling blah. He couldn't exactly describe it, just "blah". Now today it's my turn. Well, I have a pretty good idea where it stems from - I woke up in the middle of the night with a HORRIBLE leg cramp in my left calf. Didn't sleep too well after that. Then when I got up, I went for a walk, hoping to stretch my muscles around. It helped - I went from feeling pained to just sore. But by the afternoon I was popping some Tylenol. The nap helped too, it felt less tense afterwards. I just want the tension to go away!

My right leg was also getting cranky earlier this week doing double duty at my machine, as a knee lift and pressing the pedal. I had the brilliant idea to switch the pedal to my left foot. I used to use my left foot all the time, but then I learned how to drive and got used to using my right one. After last night's cramp, it was back to double duty for my right foot! :P

I'm sure I'll be better in no time at all. I do think I'll keep walking in the mornings to help prevent another cramp attack. Hopefully! :)

Leah

3 comments:

Joyce said...

When you quilt from the outside toward the middle do you end up with a puff in the middle? That happened to me once. I guess if you have pinned enough it wouldn't happen. I am very lazy about pinning but learning the hard way that it is more work if you don't pin enough.

Serena Smith said...

Your freehand quilting looks nice!! I recognize the green dogwood fabric...I have my entire sewing room decorated in green with that fabric as the theme!! I love the color green!! :)

Quilts And Pieces said...

I use the 50wt Aurofil all the time for quilting. I like the way it "hides" in the fabric. You still see the design, but not all the mistakes. Your stippling looks great!