Hand Quilting the Quilt

In 1994, I began appliquéing a Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  Blocks accumulated sporadically over the next five years, and finally I finished them, and sewed the quilt top.  By that time, we were going to Mesa for the winters, so the unfinished quilt went with me.  I marked the quilt, basted it, and began hand-quiilting it on a stand that was rectangular, looking a little bit like a card table, with the outside being removable, so that you could make the top smooth and fairly taut to quilt on it.  I worked on the quilt a little bit each winter, hauling it back and forth from Preston to Mesa.  When we finally sold the place in 2005 or 6 (?), because we were tired of the move every six months, I was about half done, but I folded the unfinished quilt and put it on a shelf in the sewing room.  This summer, I made a list of unfinished quilting projects, and this one was fourth on the list, so down it came.  Niece Cheryl had told me about a special lap hoop made by Barnetts, so I searched on line and found the site for the sale of these wonderful hoops - mine uses a beanbag bottom, so that it shifts around comfortably on my lap.  And I manage to get one or two blocks done each week, so perhaps I'll finish it by Christmas.  Then, there will only be another 36 unfinished projects for me to complete.

A local friend and writer for the Preston paper, asked me if I was doing any hand quilting, and when I said that I was, she asked if she could come and take pictures of the process for the article she was writing for the paper about our upcoming quilt show in October.  As  you can see by the pictures, my strongest digit is my thumb, so that is often the "pusher" of the needle.  I wear a thimble on both my thumb and my middle finger, and I love these thimbles, because they are so comfortable, and have such deep holes.  Anyway, there you have it - worn and spotted hands still performing a pleasant activity.