I just LOVE this thread. Like many other people, I am in awe of Andrea's quilting. When she said she only does one stitch at a time, I thought "I think it's just a bit more efficient to take a couple instead of just one". Well... last night I was quilting and found myself using a "Andrea technique" - one stitch at a time. Here's why I really think it work for her.
Many of us handquilters do not use a thimble, including myself. No matter how much time I take to insist that my finger utilizes this contraction, it just never feels comfortable. So...
1. Taking one stitch at a time makes is SEW much easier on my fingernail to push the stich through, thus my finger isn't sore afterwards and I can quilt longer.
2. Taking one stitch helps my stitches become more even because I place my needle exactly where it needs to go each and every time so I have much more control. My stitching around curves are much more fluid and smooth instead of 'choppy' and irratic.
3. Taking one stitch at a time greatly helps with my inserting the needle STRAIGHT down, so my bottom stitches look a lot more like my top ones.
4. Taking one stitch at a time really allows me to slow down and ENJOY the process. I thought it'd really be a lot slower, but I'm finding that in reality it really isn't. In my own opinion, for me handquilting is all about the enjoyment of the process. Doesn't always need to be a "get 'er done" project, and if I have one of those I simply machine quilt.
I just wanted to share what I've been learning this week. I'm sure I'll continue to learn even more as I go on. Hope you are all having a great day. :)
Trina in PA (where we first had a tornado, then an earthquake, now thunderstorms, and this weekend a hurricane!)