Hand Quilting

Some people are cut out to quilt by machine. I am not one of them. Oh, I have machine-quilted the occasional baby quilt on my home sewing machine but that involved straight lines of stitches. I do not mind piecing miniature quilts or blocks on my Singer Featherweight machine, a dinosaur that must be pampered, cleaned and oiled regularly if it is to continue to function properly.

For the most part, I enjoy hand quilting, no matter how large the project. The result is that I do not finish many bed size quilts any more but I do like the process of putting in one stitch at a time, trying to make them nice and even, and evenly-spaced. It is relaxing and challenging.

Pat threading the quilting between (needle), always a challenge!

Currently, I am working on one major project that will take (me) forever to accomplish. A white wholecloth quilt, it is a pre-marked pattern called "Welsh Beauty" by the designer, Holice Turnbow, who created the design. When all of the hand-quilted stitches are put in, the blue lines to show their placement will disappear when the quilt is soaked in cold water.

The quilt is a queen size. I am making it for no one in particular, not even my own use. I like the design and the finished project will go to someone down the line, in the future. Some work calls my name even when or if I have no intended recipient in mind.

So I sit in the corner of my den, open the window and listen to the birds. Every now and then I will hear a Cardinal with its distinctive chipping and will arise to look out the window to see the magnificent red bird and his "wife" close by. There is joy to be found in the simple things: in taking one day at a time, one stitch at a time. Life is good!

Patricia Cummings
http://www.quiltersmuse.com