Introducing myself/novice quilter

Hello from Downunder in OZ, and welcome.

Welcome --- the hardest part (for me) is the sandwiching. I have a TERRIBLE time getting it straight with no wrinkles. For the quilting -- I would suggest starting with something simple... like outline quilting... or echo quilting. I'd keep the pattern simple -- so you could focus on your stitches initially.

Kate in MI (not a confident hand quilter either!)

Welcome, Mary Anna! Wow! We've had several newbies today! :) There's nothing wrong with liking both machine and hand piecing -- I do it, too. ;) As for the quilting, try some simple straight lines first, or some slightly curvy ones, if you don't think you can maintain a straight line. You won't learn if you don't try, and we've all been beginners at one time or another. :)

Hi Mary Anna, and welcome to the group! I live in Central NY; near Ithaca.

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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Welcome, Mary Anna!

Welcome Mary Anna!

You may have seen Polly's note, in another thread, about a practice sandwich? Apart from practising and warming up, that is a very good way to build up confidence. Don't bother with any piecing; just a top, some batting and a backing - about 12" - 18" square will do fine. You can draw a few lines on it if you want to practice 'echo' quilting (following a pattern line a little distance away from it - several lines if you like). Once you have the feel of things, on something that doesn't matter, you'll be itching to get going on your actual quilt. . In message , Mary Anna writes

Welcome! We're looking forward to getting to know you better, too. Pull up a chair and join the conversations.

Hello Mary Anna, I think you will enjoy the best of both worlds! It is good to be able to do some hand needlework, for travel or waiting times, if nothing else; it is a great pleasure. SM work is fun, too, and great for speed. I do hope you will take advantage of the expertise available here and ask questions as you progress in any form of quilt making.

Finally, I am happy to welcome you. The only rule you really need to know: Send a pound or two of chocolate to the Official Chocolate Tasting Office, conveniently located here in my Palace in Virginia, USA. I will taste test if for you and report via E-Mail. No need to thank me! It is my selfless volunteer service to the RCTQ Community.

PAT, Official Chocolate Taster or RCTQ AND Queen of Everything

Mary Anna wrote: (CUT!!)

Hi Mary Anna. Welcome to the cyberquiltframe. Grab a chair and a chocolate, oh and don't forget the needle and thread. Where in upstate NY are you? I live on Long Island. Good luck with your quilting. Stick around here and you'll get lots of wonderful information from all these great ladies.

Hugs, Mika Queen of PP Klutzdom

Thank you all for the welcome and for the tips. I will definately be using the suggestion about a small practice piece. I have some 8" and

12" pieced squares that were in a bunch of material that someone gave me. There aren't enough of some of them to do a whole project with, and the designs are a bit beyond my abilities at this point to add to them, so I think they'd be perfect for this.

I've been doing a lot of piecing squares together lately. I have periods of time with nothing to do at my job, so I've been bringing squares to work so I have something to pass the time. I'll have to get some pictures taken so I can get some opinions on how I'm doing. My stitches aren't the greatest right now, but that just means I need to do more quilting so I can get better, right? :)

To my fellow New Yorkers, I live in the Capitol region, near Albany.

As far as chocolate is concerned...in my opinion there are still just 4 basic food groups: chocolate cake, chocolate candy, chocolate ice cream and chocolate cookies! Yummy!

Mary Anna

Hi Mary Anna.... You wouldn't happen to be a car dealer in your spare time would you???? DS (son) just moved to Albany a couple months ago for grad school and since then his car has become terminal. Darn darn darn. It's a pain in the tush to find wheels for a kid so far away. (I'm in Iowa.) I hope you found some good information here in our little group. There is someone who is an expert on almost any topic you can bring up! It's a great bunch of women and men! I love your food groups.... KJ

Sorry, no, I'm not a car dealer, lol! Actually, I'm a phlebotomist.

I wish you luck in the car hunt for your son, though. I know what it's like to be without one, no fun at all.

Well, if he ever has any extra blood to withdraw....I'll give you a call! Heheheheh. KJ

Hello Mary Anna,

Welcome to the group! Thanks for dropping in. Pull up a chair and stay awhile. :-)

As for handquilting, compared to some of the ladies here, I'm a novice too. I've done one full-sized quilt and am working on a wall-hanging. However, I'm VERY slow. The wallhanging gets worked on in the winter only, and not full time by any means. Anyway, many quilters put their quilts in a frame of some kind to do handquilting. I find the frame cumbersome. Also, because a frame holds a quilt fairly taut--which is what it's supposed to do--it makes the quilting tougher to do. Therefore, I don't use any frame at all. If I have the piece securely sandwiched, I just work with it in my lap. You can experiment and decide which works best for you.