Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

I'd try to offer some green tips but... they are rife in the papers today anyway! Better tips than I could give!


I went to my first quilt club meeting yesterday. I joined to meet some people I could ask questions of if I get stuck and I was hoping to keep my motivation up for the quilt I'm making with my Mom-in-Law.

Furry Husband is laughing at me again...

The club meets at 10am, 2pm and 6:30pm every third Tuesday. I took a late lunch and hit the 2pm meeting. There were maybe 7 women there? All of them were 60+ and all have been quilting a long time. They all have sewing machines. The woman leading the meeting used all sorts of technical sewing terms, I sat smiling and nodding like I knew exactly what she was saying. Mmm mmm, (nodding wisely) selvages. Oh right, everyone knows to cut along the long side! Yes, yes, of course you would press to that side.
I had and still have no clue.

Everyone looks at me like "oh you poor thing" when I tell them I'm hand piecing a quilt with my Mom-in-Law. I know it would go faster with a sewing machine but I'm sorta liking the slower pace and the back to another time feeling of hand piecing.


I don't know nuthin' bout no sewing machines! They sorta scare me. They look complicated with the bobbins and the thread going through and over and under on top. People talk about adjusting tension and different needle gauges and thread types. That isn't even touching sewing machine models and/or stitch options or other sewing machine magical fanciness.


Besides our house is like 900 square feet with 2 adults, 6 cats and 3 dogs.... where exactly would I put a sewing machine anyway? I did meet some lovely ladies and best of all, they served COOKIES after the meeting! Anyone serving free food has my undying loyalty forever and ever amen. I will keep going... they had me with the snickerdoodles.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cookies I can do, sewing is out of the question. You're very brave trying to make a quilt. Good luck.

Shanster said...

Thanks! I'm gonna need it!

Cheryl said...

I have one of those cheapo sewing machines, one so small it looks like a child's toy. It's good for mending and other emergencies but I wouldn't want to sew an entire quilt on that thing.

The idea of hand sewing a quilt sounds so appealing. I don't know why the women in that meeting would feel sorry for you (though of course they sound super nice, cookies- yeah!). It's sounds no different than knitting, something I've always wanted to take up. Or writing long hand versus typing. Or painting on a canvas rather than using Photoshop on my computer. Using one's hands engages other parts of the brain. It gives one time to think and mind play.

Can't wait to see the results!

Shanster said...

I know. I always think it's sorta odd that so far EVERYONE'S reaction in the fabric store is the same... they are all a little horrified I'm hand piecing the squares!

Furry Husband's mom is in her
80s. She keeps making quilt after quilt after quilt and she does all of them by hand. I think that is really cool.

It is slower and it's easier for my brain to figure out how it's supposed to go when I can hand stitch things together.

And it will really mean something to me ya know? Both of our hands spent time making it.