I hardly did any quilting this week with the financial year
end and stock taking.
I however had the Bernina technician all the way from
Johannesburg to fix some issues on my long arm, so hopefully better days ahead
and I’ve also been asked to quilt another striking quilt by a fellow
quilter. With all these interesting
happenings I had to abstain and focus on the reality of being in business. Murderous!
When I finally got around to spending time on the long arm,
I experienced every problem in the book.
My ruler foot, obviously mass produced and one that slipped through
inspection, is so off center it is just not true. The needle ends up being anywhere but the
center, then my take up rail still gets stuck on the frame at a certain point
but unfortunately this only happens occasionally, so I’ve been unable to proof
this when the clever people are around.
The quilter whose quilt I am doing decided on a grey thread
and a white sheet for the backing, what a moral destroyer for any new long arm
quilter. One sees every little mishap,
every little curve that went haywire and every stitch defect. I might never
quilt with a sheet and contrasting thread ever again. If the thread perfectly matches the sheet, it
can be considered but then it should match the top as well. I really have to force myself not to look at
the back as then I will simply phone the quilter and say I can’t do this.
Fortunately I had amazing feedback, just when I was about to
cry and give up totally, from none other than the very amazing Patricia Heinrich
Hechler from the FB page The Threadworks Factory, which kept me going, ignoring
the back, as not part of my responsibility.
Also a huge thank you to Kathy Rogers who told me that fixing quilting
problems or choices about thread or backing was not my job. Believe me, anyone out there not doing long
arm quilting, the price they charge is worth every minute of their time, you
have no idea what goes into quilting on a frame. Bleeding fingertips covered in plasters and
tears threatening to appear any moment are just some of the emotional/physical
pain I went through up to now.
But… not wanting to end this post in total negativity, is
this not the most stunning quilt top and named so appropriately “shimmering
triangles”.
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