No Pain, No Gain....

Finally after a long break I am back doing some hand quilting. It's been a long time between projects for myself. In fact most of the time I am 'reverse' quilting, I am unpicking something to re-work or salvage it.

But as I have not picked up the needle and thread to quilt for quite some time my fingers are out of condition. They have gone 'soft'. I am a lap quilter and I have never quite got the hang of using a hoop, let alone a thimble. I sometimes use a bit of tape or a bandaid when my fingers get sore, but I need to investigate some of these new fangled quilters thimbles in leather or the other plastic ones that you stick on.
As I sit and quilt I keep hearing John Lennon from the Beatles White Album going....'i've got blisters on my fingers'.... his were from playing guitar, my sore spots are from the needle making a groove in the edge of my finger.

Along with pricking myself in a few spots too, I am cursing that I am not developing some good old callouses fast enough. So, as they say, no pain, no gain....I need to toughen up!

One day I hope to be able to quilt in tiny stitches, evenly and finely. It takes practice and strong fingers. But until then, its a small job and I need to quit complaining...sigh...