New member, new quilter

welcome!

you certainly chose a complicated pattern to start with! I can't help on the making the points match completely but do want to tell you the galloping horse theory: if you can see it from the back of a galloping horse fix it - if not leave it! - works for me ;-)

you don't want to see my first quilt - just plain squares and not a matching point despite my attempts to do other wise!

just go and have FUN! at the class are remember that it took the teacher Years to get this far! the first 3 quilts are all learning experiences and you will see progress as you do each one :-)

oh btw.. only *you* will se what you think are glaring mistakes - most people wouldn't even notice them!

some people use a spoon in the lower hand when quilting instead of a thimble.

I can't handle a thimble or a spoon....I just make my fingers bloody......

there is option 3 - thimble it's - these are sticker pads you stick in place and save on painful fingers I can send you some to try if you like :-)

they are all I can cope with ad do a great job and are so comfy I sometimes forget to take them off LOL

I don't know them, I will send you my adress I would love to try one:)) Sometimes I had to stop handquilting because otherwise I would stain the quilt:(

ok :-D

yikes! no fun! (time to run - pre-school is over for the day)

That's the only sort of thimble I can handle too - and I lose most of them when I forget I have them on and go off and do something like washing the dishes or gardening lol

Hi and Welcome from Downunder!

I'm so glad my DD is all grown up now:) Now I'm gonna search for some pink batist.......feed my petsnakes, try to make a little quillow presentable wich I'm struggling with and try to keep chaos away in my room:)

Wow! You folks have really made me feel welcome with all your advice . Thanks SO much for your encouragement! I'll see how the spoon goes - I bought it, so I might as well try it. There is so much equipment out there, and I haven't a clue as to what's valuable and what isn't, just yet. Thimbles, frames -- there seem as endless a list of possibilities as a chess table set to start a game!

What tools and techniques are ones you can't live without? In addition to what you can see from a galloping horse, of course! (I LOVE that one...)

In stitches -

Susan

Cats wrote:

Welcome from Holland..........:) I don't handquilt annymore, not bigger pieces zo I have to learn the machineway now, its different and sometimes pretty annoying so I do know what you mean:)

If you are near a Jinny Beyer studio and you only do hand sewing, you are definitely in the right place - she is THE expert.

She also has a brilliant book on hand piecing.

-- Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

Tools - Thimble pads (leather dots) and under thimbles (small metal domes) that stick on the end of your finger in place of the traditional thimble. I have never been able to use a thimble.

Techniques - strip piecing (which I use for lots of things), Pieclique (the method used by Sharon Schamber, which I haven't tried yet but certainly plan to), and my own weird way of doing applique on prequilted surfaces.

BTW - do you have a photo page so we can see your work? Any QI's (Quilt Inspectors, usually four legged and furry)?

Oh, and . . . .Does your quilting spoon have a notch cut in the end?

I should warn you that sooner or later someone here will ask for your chocolate preferences too lol

Welcome Susan. Can't help with the hand quilting, I'm afraid; but, once most of America wakes up, there will be lots of help available. Matching six seams to a centre is bound to be a little difficult. My most basic piece of advice is: to sew the individual seams from the centre towards the outside - that makes sure that any distortion is at the edge and not at the centre. Sew three pieces together, making sure that both seams meet nicely; then the second three, and then sew these half-hexagons together. Push a pin straight through the exact centre point on both halves, leave it sticking out and hold tight while you pin on both sides of it, close to it. Then you can remove the sticking out pin. It is quite a challenging pattern to have started with! but, good for you and good luck. . In message , smeehan writes

Susan: As to 'hiding' the little errors, buttons are a fun addition to centers, if the quilt style works for buttons. I think your vivid fabric will accept buttons.

Good luck in the JB class. Please do tell us about it. I am on the Peninsula, but visit SonOne in NoVA, so maybe I could go to JB Studio sometime.

Finally, welcome to RCTQ! 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

smeehan wrote:

See what I mean Susan - they all want to know about chocolate!

I don't..........but I love marsipan.........

Welcome to our little group. I am jealous of hand quilters because I know that is something I could never do. Glad you are doing so well on your first quilt. I am still working on mine and it was just a tiny little four block. Actually I don't know if I am working on it or if I have given up on it.

Jacquel>I'm a new member, living in Washington, DC. I'm making my first quilt,