Today’s Topic-Stitching Safely, Good Habits for Better Machine Quilting
Good Morning, Quilters!
Welcome to the Better Machine Quilt-a-long based on my book 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting.
(Find all of the previous Lessons HERE. Sign up for emails of the class HERE.)
A Public Service Announcement
Today, I offer a public service announcement.
Never reach under your needle with your hands! Use tweezers!
The foot pedal on your sewing machine is extremely sensitive–(that’s what makes quilting fine details possible!)
But it can be lethal! One slight tap and down comes the needle-whether there’s a quilt underneath, your finger, or even a cat’s paw!
Ask me how I know…
My Quilting Injury
A few years ago–(this was not a novice’s mistake)–I was in a hurry and reached under the needle to grab a short bobbin thread.
To my shock, the needle slammed down into my finger and the needle shattered to pieces.
Two days later I went to the doctor, the result:
30 minute surgery to remove the needle shards, ten days of antibiotics, several days of pain meds and four sessions of physical therapy! It’s been several years now and I can still feel numbness in my finger.
Misery Loves Company?
When I posted about the incident (a blogger never lets a crisis go to waste-LOL) I received hundreds of comments and emails from quilters and sewists who knew my pain first hand (pun intended).
I find no solace in knowing others had experienced the same fate!
One reader wrote that her cat often batted at her sewing machine and took the brunt of the needle!
Best Practices
Take my advice. Learn good quilting habits early on.
Whenever you reach under the needle, use tweezers AND take your foot off the foot pedal.
I move my foot completely off the pedal and rest it on the rung of my chair.
Don’t learn the hard way!
Practice good quilting techniques and they will become second nature.
Good habits will yield better machine quilting.
Give Blood!
As long as we are talking about Public Service Announcements and Needles….
Give Blood! There is a critical shortage of blood! Cancer patients and others are not receiving important treatment because of the shortage!
I gave blood a few weeks ago (and it wasn’t so scary) and am scheduled to give again in July.
Schedule through the Red Cross HERE.
What About YOU?
Have YOU ever had a quilting injury?
Does YOUR cat like your sewing machine?
What good habits do you recommend in the sewing room?
We’d Love to hear!
Your Cautious Quilter,
CLori Barton
You might also enjoy my motif books: Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 and More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3
