Vonvanna

Ok I'm fairly new to quilting I'm still working on hand quilting my first quilt. I am looking for something that might be available in Japan that would help protect the finger under the quilt. Unfortunately in the area I've been in I have not been able to find any leather thimbles in any of the craft stores in about a two hour radios.

ManiacQuilter2

Have you check online with quilt stores that carry thimbles in Japan?? There should be somewhere in Japan that have what you need since they do a lot of quilting.

PaperPrincess

Clover is a brand of sewing notions that is made in Japan. Check their site for a dealer near you!
http://www.clover-mfg.com/
I would guess that they make at least 10 different styles of thimbles.

Monale

I live in China and buy my quilting supplies online. If I don't want to go with "made in China", the next best affordable option is Clover - "made in Japan"! It costs usually more than Chinese products but quality is much better - and it's still cheaper than the things made in USA. I know from my Japanese colleague that internet shopping is also big in Japan. I'm sure they sell quilting supplies! If you don't read Japanese, you might need a friend to help, though.

Vonvanna

I have some clover products but you may be thinking of southern Japan. It is really difficult to get things threw the mail and a lot of places here do not have very much. Not all of the stores here even have thimbles, batting is a nightmare to find and ordering threw mail system I have found to take about 2-3 months. I have finally found a store that sells batting and cloth but the thimbles are really limited to one type. Is there something else I can do other then a leather thimble that is not going to kill my fingers?

Monale

2-3 months?!? Are you talking about mail orders from the US or from within Japan? Because I live in a very remote part of China and can get stuff from the Chinese internet within a week... Japan in my eyes is much more modern and better organised, so that sounds almost unbelievable. Anyway, do you read Japanese? Because if you want to give it a try, I found an online Japanese craft store that seems to have all kind of things for quilting: http://www.shugale.com
It seems that Amazon Japan also has some stuff (although probably more limited choices).

About your thimble problem: Although I'm doing hand-quilting myself, I'm really not the expert because I'm doing it all "wrong". So this might be a real stupid idea, but I was thinking you could try to use strong fabric band-aids or duct-tape to cover your finger?

Monale

...or try making your own leather thimble: http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00077.asp

Gannyrosie

If you could find some rubber cement and a piece of hard plastic, like the top of a container or something. Cut the plastic into small circles, and put rubber cement on one side. You could still feel the needle hit the plastic and the rubber cement will keep it from slipping off.

Vonvanna

APO is a pain in the ass. I'm in a remote part of japan and it has caused a lot of problems the band-aids might work so I'll give it a try.

ptquilts

I have been hand quilting for over 30 years and never used anything to protect the underneath finger. It will build up a callus. Then if you can avoid absent-mindedly peeling off the dead skin after you wash the dishes, you will be all set.