Wednesday, February 03, 2010

First crayon

Do any of you remember the first time you were handed a crayon and given a piece of paper to draw on?
I recaptured that momentous occasion yesterday. Marks appeared. “I made them! I can make more marks.” What a revelation. Children do this around 16 months old (before that, they just put the crayon in their mouth).

My epiphany was turning on the sewing machine and pulling a fabric sandwich around on the bed as the needle went up and down. I could make wavy lines. I could even make circles with stitches. Quite a thrill.

Diane Gaudynski advises beginning free-motion quilters to “Quilt your signature” in her book Guide to Machine Quilting. So I tried that next.

Whoops! The signature looked pretty terrible AND I spelled my name wrong. But, I did it.

The next several hours were spent getting the tension adjusted and practicing lines and curves and shapes all over my little sample practice piece. I ran out of room and had to make another practice sandwich. My stuff looks pretty bad. Free-motion quilting is hard work. I have to do a lot more practicing before I try quilting on a “real” quilt. Now, for the first time, I really admire machine quilting.

I’ll have to hand-quilt the little project I have waiting in the wings because I won’t have the skill needed to machine quilt it until I have months of practice with my free-motion foot.

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7 Comments:

Blogger Meggie said...

I keep promising myself I will try! My attempts to date, have been... well, less than successful!

3:10 PM  
Blogger Deborah said...

Well, it looks like you were at least having fun!

3:13 PM  
Blogger JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Well, except for the spelling (which is understandable under the cirmcumstances) I think you did great. Like they say - practice, practice, practice. I've not attempted it - and probably won't - but I'm proud of you for your determination and effort. Keep up the good work.

3:35 PM  
Blogger Del said...

Good on you! But don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't have perfect penmanship the first day you tried that either! I kept dragging my feet and ripping out until I finally told myself to lighten up! And now I just do it - I'm not trying to win prizes. The more you do it the more skill you gain. JUST DO IT! I believe in you. Del

9:36 PM  
Blogger Norma Schlager said...

Practice, practice, practice and before long you won't even have to think about it. I LOVE to machine quilt but I've been at it a long time.

12:40 PM  
Blogger Tanya said...

That's so funny that you spelled your name wrong! That's what happens when you concentrate too hard! I have a piece of practice sandwich with my name on it somewhere too. Looks just like yours!

2:03 AM  
Blogger Bev C said...

Just go with the flow,you have done a great job by just getting in and having a go. Have fun. Happy days.
Bev.

5:41 PM  

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