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| Jessie Aller's Jasmine Tea fabric fat quarter packet is the newest quilt on my new tool |
Last Spring at the Prince William County Fair grounds when we went to the annual quilt show, I was lucky enough to win a silent auction item. It is a stand that has a big 18 inch hoop for hand quilting. I had not been using it, until yesterday when I got fed up with aching shoulders from the strains of a big hoop on my lap. I pulled out that little box and spent about ten minutes assembling the small hoop on a stand. I tried it out last night on a hand quilted project I hope to have done in the next couple weeks. It worked much better than I thought it would. There is a center pivot point that allows me to turn the project in the hoop 365º so I can always have the surface right over my lap at an angle and shift it as I change stitch directions. No more strain on my neck and shoulders trying to hold the loose hoop in the right angles. Now if I could just find a way to make it taller so I could do some work standing...
I am curious if other quilters have tried using this sort of tool? My first experience was with an oval hoop on a fixed stand that didn't turn like this one at Valerie Hohing's house, my high school pal where we worked on a big comforter she was making senior year at Stonewall Jackson. We took turns quilting while listening to music of the era and planning trips to blue grass festivals and fiddler's conventions. I cherish that memory of Valerie's big peacock rattan chair that was the seat for the oval hoop quilting frame and the times we spent together there.
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| #5 pearle floss in old rose pink with some of the fabric for my new quilt project. |
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3 comments:
That's pretty cool. Any tool that makes the work easier is a good thing. I am currently on a knitting project that uses a mesh yarn that is about 3" wide and has to be straightened out as you work. I found that undoing it all then flattening it out before winding on a empty paper towel holder makes
it so much easier.
I used to have one of those type of stands. I used it a lot but now I can't remember what happened to it. Could you put in on a coffee table or even a dining table to make it taller? I love to quilt standing up- it feels like I go faster, maybe so I can be done and sit down!
Thanks 'ham, and Jessie for your comments. I am stiff today from yoga and a long night of quilting the night before with my new tool. Maybe it isn't perfect but I am going to try the standing version. I was thinking about standing to quilt ever since you mentioned you do it Jessie last year. Now I can give it a try. This might be a fun way to work in a little quilting through out the day instead of sitting to quilt with the TV all night. They say a little work at a time is better than long sessions of doing the same repetitive movements. You both are inspirations to my work.
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