Krystina Quilts All The Things.
So this is a fun little thing that I haven't mentioned- I'm doing a quilt show this week! Two weeks after coming home from vacation! And three weeks after finding out! And I'm fine! Promise!
A super long-time friend of mine is a killer artist (seriously, check her stuff out) who, in addition to her ceramics work, does a lot of art programming for a local park. This year, they're doing a "Make and Mingle" event that is a 21+ art event called "Old-Fashioned Fall" where they're highlighting traditional handwork. She felt that my quilts would totally fit the theme and make a great exhibit!
This means I spent most of this and last week doing a LOT of basting and quilting and binding (because I hoard tops). One good thing to come out of my bruised basting knees and sore quilting shoulders, however, is a list of three next-level quilting lessons.
1. Don't quilt big quilts while wearing lipstick
Seriously. I quilted two big quilts in the last week, and I'm so glad my Modern Maker's Club quilt has a lot of red because I was up to my ears in it and definitely (and luckily strategically) face-mushed it when adjusting and it is no worse for the wear. Big quilts will literally get up in your grill (or maybe this is just me? I don't know. Don't tell me if it is), and the last thing you want to do is clean bright red lipstick off your newly-finished quilt.
2. Use a pillow
This is my new favorite thing, especially for heavy quilts (did I mention that I quilted two big quilts this week?). I grabbed a small throw pillow from the living room and set it on my lap, then piled whatever quilt parts were hanging off the front of my machine. This helped fill in some of the space between my lap and my sewing surface and reduced some of the tension on the quilt by keeping it elevated, and saved some work on my shoulders by keeping everything poofed up and floaty. I'm going to make a cuter one, so stay tuned :)
3. Hang your binding roll on your knee lifter
I just figured this one out yesterday! I used to loop it around the foot of my sewing table, but the raw-edge threads would get caught around the foot threads and mangle things. You'll occasionally have to re-position, but it spooled out really smoothly and there's a couple bends in my knee lifter so it never totally flew off.
Happy (smudge- and strain-free) quilting!
