I recently mentioned to several friends that I was having trouble pulling my needle through my latest hand quilting project. Kinda felt like when your hands get a little dirty, or a little sweaty and it makes the needle "stick" a little. I got some helpful comments to my query, and I think the problem may be that this batting might be all cotton, which is harder to hand quilt than a bat with some polyester in it. I bought it off a bolt in a shop, so I don't have a label to tell me what the content is. My dear SisterStitches very kindly brought me a new kind of needle to try last week when she came to visit. It is the needle pictured at the left, called Black Gold Needles by Clover. You can tell in the photo that the needle really is black. It. Was. Amazing. These new needles are like a hot knife through butter. Such a pleasure to use. Thank you so much, SisterStitches! To be an honest product tester though, I do need to tell you that I broke one of the needles while I was sewing, something I don't think I've ever done before with a hand needle. Maybe it was the pressure I was putting on the needle, possibly bending it a little, and you can be sure these needles are very skinny. But I still love the needles and will happily use them and recommend them to others.
While SisterStitches was here, and I was doing my hand quilting, she commented on my thimble and asked where I got it. I LOVE this thimble. It is made out of a hard, but flexible, rubber and is very comfortable. I bought it at a Quilt Show booth a few years ago, and this is the card that came with it. If you can't read it very well, the company is Peters Quilting Fixtures and their website is www.customthimbles.com. At $25.00, it is not a cheap thimble, but most quilters are happy to pay for something they really like! (BTW, if you are reading this and live near me, I'd be glad to let you try my thimble.) An interesting feature of this company/thimble is that they guarantee the fit for as long as you own the thimble. If you gain/lose weight, develop arthritis, or in any way change your finger size, you can return it for a new size. I quilt with the end of my finger, not the side, but the thimble has good ridges on the side, so I think it would probably work well that way, too.
I recently mentioned to several friends that I was having trouble pulling my needle through my latest hand quilting project. Kinda felt like when your hands get a little dirty, or a little sweaty and it makes the needle "stick" a little. I got some helpful comments to my query, and I think the problem may be that this batting might be all cotton, which is harder to hand quilt than a bat with some polyester in it. I bought it off a bolt in a shop, so I don't have a label to tell me what the content is. My dear SisterStitches very kindly brought me a new kind of needle to try last week when she came to visit. It is the needle pictured at the left, called Black Gold Needles by Clover. You can tell in the photo that the needle really is black. It. Was. Amazing. These new needles are like a hot knife through butter. Such a pleasure to use. Thank you so much, SisterStitches! To be an honest product tester though, I do need to tell you that I broke one of the needles while I was sewing, something I don't think I've ever done before with a hand needle. Maybe it was the pressure I was putting on the needle, possibly bending it a little, and you can be sure these needles are very skinny. But I still love the needles and will happily use them and recommend them to others.
While SisterStitches was here, and I was doing my hand quilting, she commented on my thimble and asked where I got it. I LOVE this thimble. It is made out of a hard, but flexible, rubber and is very comfortable. I bought it at a Quilt Show booth a few years ago, and this is the card that came with it. If you can't read it very well, the company is Peters Quilting Fixtures and their website is www.customthimbles.com. At $25.00, it is not a cheap thimble, but most quilters are happy to pay for something they really like! (BTW, if you are reading this and live near me, I'd be glad to let you try my thimble.) An interesting feature of this company/thimble is that they guarantee the fit for as long as you own the thimble. If you gain/lose weight, develop arthritis, or in any way change your finger size, you can return it for a new size. I quilt with the end of my finger, not the side, but the thimble has good ridges on the side, so I think it would probably work well that way, too.
