k3n

Wow Panda, that is different! And what beautiful stitches you make; :D

I don't use any 'protection' (!) when hand piecing or appliqué and for quilting, I've tried all sorts of thimbles but couldn't get on with them; Then I discovered these sticky little leather circles and I stick one on the tip of my middle finger; they really work for me as they protect your finger tip for pushing the needle but you don't lose any flexibility in your finger joint; there's a pic below. I get them from Cotton Patch in the UK but I see that they're made in the good ol' US of A, their website is www.colonialneedle.com. You get 12 for around 5 pound sterling and one lasts me ages - at least a whole bed quilt so they're not that expensive. When not in use, I 'park' it on the edge of my quilting frame!

I use a short N°9 quilting needle and love it best when it's a well-used one that has a nice bend in it - until it finally snaps and I have to start again, 'training' a new one!

For under the quilt, I use my middle finger to feel the point of the needle. I know ladies who use a thimble here as well (even one who puts on a false finger nail!) but I like to feel the point the second it's through as this keeps my stitches neater and shorter, so I just suffer for the first few days until i get a callous on that finger! The best thing would be to hand quilt a little everyday just to maintain that callous but it doesn't always work like that!

Off topic slightly but relevant to different ways of doing things, I was taught to knit around age 7 by my lovely (sadly passed on) Auntie Lily. Because she'd had a stroke, she couldn't knit in the conventional (English, anyway!) way of wrapping the yarn round her fingers and holding the needle permanently in her right hand, just using her fingers to cast the wool over. She had to let go of the needle everytime and cast the yarn over with her whole hand. And this is the way I STILL knit! I've tried to learn the other way but just can't 'unlearn' Auntie Lil's way! Even my old dragon of a needlework teacher at school who said I'd never maintain tension and yelling at me and trying to force my hands in the right position didn't succeed - as soon as her back was turned I went back to Lil's method! By the way, every sweater I made, I checked the tension and I was always bang on, so there! :wink:

This is a really interesting thread, thanks Panda!

K x