Nightmare in quilting

This was supposed to be a gift for my husband that I started a couple of years ago. This was too big for me to handle and the mistakes now glare at me. I put this away for a time because I had gotten too tired to sew it. It wore me out just trying to lift it. It is a king size and way to heavy for my hands, arms, and back. You can see the problems of quilting if you look closely.

Here is a close up image of the quilting. There are too many pinches, jerky spots, and knots. I am NOT going to give this to my husband as a gift, but it will still be a much used quilt in our house. It will be a constant reminder of remembering my limits. Until I get a different set up or a long arm quilt machine, I'll do quilt-as-you-go quilts or very small quilts. 

I won't subject myself to the unhappy quilting days that this caused again. Yikes. 

Best way to hold a rotary cutting ruler

I have carpal tunnel and arthritis and often have trouble using my hands. An internet friend tried to explain the best way to hold my ruler and fabric so there was less slippage. She explained that I need to have my fingers on the ruler and the base of my palm on my fabric. So I sent her this photo to see if that was the way to do it. She said that it was. 

Great! Except that there are days that my hand won't be able to do that. So I will need to get a handle for my ruler and some non-slip dots to help me on those days. So if you want to keep your fabric from slipping and you have no problems with you hands, just keep your fingers on the ruler and the palm of your hand on the fabric. Be careful and do not cut your fingers. Safety gloves may be a necessity in the future. 

Scrap fabric into blocks

This is what I do with my scraps if I have no other plans for them. I make blocks to use in other projects. This is a 6 1/2 block. I drew the original pattern on a sheet of graph paper. Then added a stack of paper under it, used clips to secure them, and sewed along all the lines so that I had paper foundation for piecing. 

Each paper piece block tends to be a little different. I have been making simple string quilts. This one above incorporated some bigger pieces that I wanted to use. I also made a crazy zig-zag pattern that I could incorporate odd and smaller sizes of fabric. 

So far, I have been making pet quilts. I donate them to the local no kill pet shelter for the animals. I decided that if I was going to throw some of the fabric away, because the pieces were too small to use in one of my other projects, why not donate to a cause that I care about. 

I also think that as I make more and more blocks, I may make table scarves, place mats, tea cozies, totes, and purses. The ideas are endless and I wanted to share how those scraps could be used to make some fun items. 

(Just a note to any who have read that my cats help me sew. As soon as I finished taking this photo, one of my black cats decided to lay on the 6 1/2 block that is picture above. Yes he is too big, but he doesn't seem to care.)