Practice, Practice, Practice

They say practice makes perfect - not so sure about that!

I can't believe how intimidated I've been by this machine ;) I've been practicing on muslin, old fabric, you name it. I know that I'm getting better but boy, what a long way to go yet! Here's a few things I've learned so far.

1. Breath.

Sounds silly but you'll find that you may hold your breath. I always stretch my shoulders and take a deep breath before I start.

2. Patience

. You will NOT be perfect. Expect to make mistakes and learn from them. Don't be surprised if you make the same mistake more than once, this is a big learning curve.

3. Relax

. Before you've gone half way across the first pass you'll find that you're shoulders are tense and you're holding your breath!

4. Acceptance.

I find that I am being much too hard on myself. I don't want to show any of my friends what I've done because I don't think it is good enough. I'm slowly getting away from these thoughts and I'm finding that I am getting somewhat better.

5. Practice.

And then practice some more and then practice again. It is so true. Using a quilting machine means re-training your eye-hand co-ordination and using muscles in your shoulders and arms that you may not be used to using.

I belong to a small quilting group called the 4Q's (four quilters) and we did a round robin. All tops were absolutely stunning when they were completed. My centre block was an appliqued pansy in burn oranges on a muslin background. I had originally said that I wanted it to be a wall hanging for my kitchen. When it came back it was almost 48" square! Well, it's been waiting to be quilted for many months now. I think I owe it to these gals to finish it.

Am I good enough? Not sure. We'll find out.