I spent most of yesterday quilting on Luke's quilt but have about one more hour's worth to do. What do any of you do about stiff shoulders? People often ask me if I get stiff shoulders when I hand quilt or knit but the only time I'm plagued by this inconvenience is when I've done machine quilting (not machine piecing or regular sewing). Of course the nearly 4 hours of machine quilting could be a cause don't you think!? By 7:00 last night I needed to give my right shoulder/neck a rest. There must be something I'm doing wrong...Nevertheless, the quilting is coming out satisfactory. Since the Bible quote is from Song of Songs "His banner over me is love" I decided to use a heart quilting pattern though I'm not too sure that a little boy is going to be thrilled with hearts everywhere. Still it seemed appropriate. Mary has done some wonderful echo hearts on her quilts though I think she uses a longarm while I'm on my domestic machine, but I took the plunge and started in.
As with all practice, the more I sewed, the more uniform the hearts became, so the hearts at the bottom and the ones at the top are different. Ah well, this is going to be a practical quilt so as Calico Quilter so aptly put it, "...quilts are useful objects in my world, not art. My line is always, "Use it and love it, and if you wear it out I'll make you another one!".
Hoping to finish the quilting today. Do you think I can even get binding on? Not if I'm sitting at this computer right?
14 comments:
The quilt is looking good, Tanya!
I sometimes get the achy shoulders and neck when I machine quilt on the regular machine. I would guess that the problem is that you are tense while you quilt. Also, it looks like your machine might be too high for you. Ergonmically I think you should be sitting with your feet flat on the ground, and your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle your body, with you lower arms flat.
Love the hearts! They look great! I often try to do counter poses or stretches in the opposited direction, when my shoulder start to ache. The other thing I do is place a rice bag, that has been heated in the microwave on my shoulders. It is just a tube of fabric filled with dry rice about 75% full. Then sewn across the top. The weight and heat always feels good on my shoulders.
Your quilting is looking great! I'm psyching myself up for lousy quilting as I'm expecting delivery of a (new to me)HQ16 in a week or so. I'm preparing myself for a learning curve. I HOPE my hearts look as good as yours!
You are so speedy! It's looking wonderful. It was very flattering that you quoted me.
Perhaps your sewing machine is too high. Can you find a way to lower it? Even two inches would help. By the time I finish a Linus quilt my shoulders are up around my ears and won't come down! I keep promising myself a built in sewing machine cabinet with a recessed spot for the machine, but hasn't happened yet!
I get achy shoulders when I switch between the computer and the sewing machine. I want DH to make up a trapeze in the barn so I can hang from it to straighten myself out!
Beautiful quilting.
I think it's lovely and love the echo heart design - it will be a wonderful snuggly quilt for Luke. As for the shoulders they do say have a break and a good stretch every 20 minutes but to be honest when you're in the groove I always feel loathe to break off.
I need to catch up with reading blogs! You are doing so well with this quilt! I have spent the whole day sewing, & I am stiff & sore.
Those hearts are beautiful! I admire you for being able to do that on a table-top machine.
I see lots of people have the same suggestion I have -- your machine might be a little high if your shoulders ache. If you cannot lower the machine (which is not always possible), try using books and lifting your chair! Don't forget to use a couple of books for a foot rest so your feet aren't dangling though! :-)
I think your hearts are turning out really well. I only stipple with my machine, and keep thinking something like that heart pattern adds so much to quilt...
The quilting looks wonderful - of course a boy should know about love! That certainly isn't a woman only domain. Stiff shoulders - you can prevent by taking breaks (a timer to remind you of how long you have been in one position), having a good chair height to machine height, making sure there is lots of room around the machine for the quilt, so you don't have to do as much maneuvering, moving your shoulders around instead of holding one position. A nice hot bath helps.
Tanya,
Your hearts are wonderful for anyone...a merry heart is a wonderful thing. We use rice socks at our house, using a 100% cotton long tube sock and put about 2 lbs. rice in it. Heat in microwave for approx. 2- 2 1/2 minutes. Same idea as the bag. I use it also for leg cramps. ( the sock produces a moist heat that I prefer). It is also good to relax and roll your shoulders forward and back. Take some good deep breaths often.
Hope you are better today!
Liz
I think you did a wonderful job on the hearts...I found that I was pretty good at them by the 3rd quilt.
It sounds like you got several good suggestions for the aching shoulders - I really like the idea of the rice bag. I used to have one I purchased in a store that had some herbs in it - very relaxing.
I love your echo hearts! What a nice pattern! Free form machine quilting is so much fun!
No solution from me regarding achey shoulders - I get them also, but limit myself to 20 minutes if possible. The suggestion about adding some books to your chair in order to put yourself higher, sounded good to me, as I cannot get my machine lower.
It's a lovely project!
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