My cat
Millie occasionally deigns to sit beside me. Here she is watching me handsew the binding on the Sunshine Quilt. Millie was a rescue cat, and she was feral, so she does NOT like to be handled. I've had her three years and I still can't pick her up, so when she decides to sit near me, it's a nice thing.
It got me to thinking...
Twenty-five years ago, when I was still married, I had a worktable four feet wide by ten feet long. Yes, four feet by TEN feet! It was glorious! When I had to sew the binding on a quilt, I would lay it out on the table, and let the edge hang down. Then I'd sit in an office chair and just move the chair as I stitched my way from one end to the other. In this manner, I could blindstitch an astonishing two inches a minute. Of course I didn't have arthritis and I didn't need bifocals either! LOL!
When I start handsewing the binding on a quilt, I always start about 18" away from a corner, and work my way to the corner. That way, when I turn the fourth corner, I'm well and truly in the homestretch.
I -always- use a thimble. I wear it on my middle finger of my right hand. It's a size 8. I have two thimbles, both size 8, but I always use the same one, and if I set it down somewhere and forget where I put it, I can't work until I find it. I never use the "alternate." The one I prefer is on the right in this picture.
I've been watching the
US Open Tennis Tournament on television. I've made good progress on binding the Sunshine Quilt while watching. I've turned three corners, and have two sides complete. (I can't sew anywhere
near two inches a minute any more.)
How come I can do so much handsewing when doing 24" in one session is usually so tough for me? One word:
Ice.
