Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Unashamedly, by hand

We've been workin' away on that half-finished quilt we resurrected for therapy. We stitched the rows together, and added the borders. We did that part twice, because, of course, we weren't paying attention as to which were the outside edges (as opposed to the edges that meet in the centre of the quilt).

We haven't hand quilted in a while. We usually use those old Q-Snap frames. You know, the white pastic tubes with the covers that snap tightly in place. You remember. Those old frames that used to say, right on the packaging, "Guaranteed for Life"?????  Remember???? Well, it seems they were guaranteed for the life of the plastic, 'cuz they sure weren't guaranteed for a normal, human lifetime.....or even an abnormal human, such as us. The parts that snap over the quilt to hold it in place are all cracked and useless.

We ended up with a fairly flimsy-looking wooden frame that measures about 15 inches across. It has a good, strong, and functional screw and wing-nut join though and it seems to hold our quilt nice and taut. We think it's going to be fine. And it only cost us seven bucks!!

The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry (you should read it!)


We do have the lumber and hardware for a floor frame, but there's something much nicer about holding the quilt on your lap to quilt.

We have our quilt in its frame. We have our good Ott light. And, we have the CBC radio to listen to while we quilt. It feels good.




6 comments:

  1. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome! I love to hoop & stitch, and yes yes CBC : ) Wish I could sit & stitch and sip a cup with you. ; )

    How delightful
    : )

    Monika
    snowing in Saskatoon

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  2. my lapsize Q-snap still is quite fine, and I have had it since about 1990. Is that old? I also have a really good wooden oval lap frame but I find it so heavy. And I woulda had a large floor Q-snap frame except my sister glued all the connections to keep it sturdy which meant there was no way I could bring it home from her place to mine unless I rented a moving truck - but I believe she planned it that way. (she doesn't like me) Anyway! I think when you were choosing those fabrics you must have sneaked into my sewing room and picked out some of MINE! How'd you do that??

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  3. Hi Cheryl...I found your blog on the Sew Sisters FB page. I used my square Q-snap once...well, maybe twice but it didn't agree with my body dynamics. Apparenly I do some sort of crazy contortion while hand quilting that involves me basically curling up under a cozy blankie, knees up supporting the frame. The corner was always in my way so I reverted back to my trusty round hoop. I should pull that out...I now want to curl up on the couch and hand quilt! As an aside...your illustrations are stunning!!!! I'll look for you on Craftsy. You can find me at http://twistfullyyours.blogspot.ca. I quilt, spin, and wish I could draw. lol

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  4. I too enjoy the hoop. I did have a quilting frame years ago but preferred to lap quilt. I only know how to hand-quilt and I rather like it that way:) ~ Paula

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  5. Just from the glimpse you've given us of the quilt, I can see it's going to be beautiful. The only quilt I've ever hand quilted was the very first one that I did years and years ago for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. But I am doing hand quilting on the bird panels I'm embellishing and I really do like it.

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  6. I have a floor frame you could have, but how do I get it to you? I don't suppose you happen to know of someone who lives out here and will be visiting your house sometime this year? ;-)

    PS Love the sweaters. The combination of quilted and knit looks adorable.

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