For all you quilters under say, 59, and those of you who DON'T wear bifocals, you can stop reading right now.
For the rest of you who remember when the first man went up into space, who probably wear bifocals and have a touch of arthritis... You all know how hard (practically impossible) it is to hand sew something black with black thread. I could barely see what I was doing, and for a lot of the time, I just guessed. If any members of the quilt police find fault, they can kiss my richly upholstered derrière. One of my most fervently held beliefs is that craftspeople need to leave the evidence of their hand in the work they do. We are not machines, and our work should not look like it was machine made.
10 comments:
I at least remember where I was when man landed on the moon, sadly in my late, late 40s I got trifocals and wish I was near-sighted instead of far, but so far no arthritis. But there are days when I wonder. This is one of my favorite quilts of yours of all I've seen. Absolutely lovely.
Yes, I have accidentally tortured myself sewing on black fabric with black thread. Actually, it was before my bifocals days, but I learned my lesson!
I fit the qualifications to continue reading the last paragraph of your blog today. Why is it that black binding so often seems the perfect choice in my quilts, when it's the most difficult to see when stitching? What has made the task a wee bit easier, is a camping head lamp worn strapped on my forehead. Tipping my head I can get light right where I need it. Nonetheless the stitching needs to be done with a lot of eye blinking, and in short periods of time to rest my eyes a different focal point. I agree that our hand work should not be so perfect people assume it was done by a machine.
I qualified for the last paragraph. In years I'm over qualified. I like the idea of leaving evidence of being handmade. This quilt and your talent are incredible.
Great post. Awesome quilt!
Love the headlamp idea - even better than my bendy bright led light suggestion would have been ...
Ah yes, black on black and arthritis. I swore off black on black years ago and then after a few years I became enamored with black again and use it more than ever.
I did my first all machine binding in 1996 because after hand quilting a king size quilt I had tendonitis in my right wrist. It wasn't perfect but I received a blue ribbon anyway.
Your quilts are so well thought out and your overall workmanship is so good and your artistic application is so amazing that the quilt police are probably all admiring your quilts.
Hi!!! It is beautiful!!!
You can show it a million more times as far as I'm concerned - it's beautiful - the birds are amazing - thank you so much for sharing your great work and fun thoughts!
I'm totally in love with this quilt, it's awesome.
I have this handy head/hat bike light I use for handwork. It uses those spiffy LEDs and is on elastic strappy things like a headband with an extra strap up the middle part. It has three settings low, high and blinking (blinking is only used when the hand needle is lost as a warning to others in the room :)It is far from stylish but ever so handy as you wear it like a headband on your foreyhead and focus the light on your work.
Have a great day.
Always, Queenie
Fantastic post! I said "amen" out loud with a huge smile on my face!! I also have some "richly upholstered" parts... you are funny!
And creative... your quilt is amazing!
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