New from Kansas with KenQuilt 622
03-27-2022, 11:05 AM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 3
New from Kansas with KenQuilt 622
Hi. I just joined today but have been quilting since I was about 12. My mom was a member of a quilting club. The ladies taught my sister and me to hand-quilt along with them. Later I did some tied quilts before tackling a queen-sized quilt on my own. I made a Texas Star for our bed and then hand-quilted it. After that, I made a Friendship Knot queen for our daughter when she got married. I had barely finished it before our son got married. I quickly started a king-sized Rail Fence for him. Daughter #2 announced her engagement so I got to work on a king-sized Double Irish Chain. They were married for about 2 yrs before I got that one finished and had to start one for daughter #3 who had gotten married a yr after #2 had. They were not spacing these weddings out enough for me to finish one project before another was due. But that last one took 9 yrs for me to finish it. Son-in-law teased that they would never get a quilt. In my defense, we moved during that time and arthritis in my left hand got so bad that I could no longer hand-quilt. I had to stop for surgery and then rehab/recovery. I could finally return to the project but only quilt for about 20 min before my right hand started hurting. I gave it to them just before their 11th anniversary.
That was the last quilt I did by hand. After that, I quilted another queen-size on my home machine. That was work. Then I found a KenQuilt with a table-frame and machine. Arthritis reared its ugly head on my right hand then so had to stop to get that fixed. I am now back to quilting and just finished my second quilt on it. I need to redesign the roller cart the machine sits on to make it easier to roll and replace the take-up bars. The bars are from a table older than my machine. They have bowed over the years. I just have to figure out where to get 12' pipes and have the gears moved to the new pipes and then I can get started again.
That was the last quilt I did by hand. After that, I quilted another queen-size on my home machine. That was work. Then I found a KenQuilt with a table-frame and machine. Arthritis reared its ugly head on my right hand then so had to stop to get that fixed. I am now back to quilting and just finished my second quilt on it. I need to redesign the roller cart the machine sits on to make it easier to roll and replace the take-up bars. The bars are from a table older than my machine. They have bowed over the years. I just have to figure out where to get 12' pipes and have the gears moved to the new pipes and then I can get started again.
03-28-2022, 03:30 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Delaware
Posts: 946
A warm welcome from a Delaware farm girl! I'm sorry to hear about the arthritis in your hands. I am having some issues with Uncle Arthur in my right hand. Certainly not bad enough for surgery yet though. I can only imagine how much pain you must have been in to give up on something you enjoy so much. Personally, I can't imagine hand quilting anything larger than a wall hanging! LOL
03-28-2022, 04:35 AM
#6
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 161
Wow...that is totally impressive KS Farm Girl. Many, many years ago---and I do mean MANY! I made and hand quilted 4 double wedding ring quilts, and they were only standard size, for one son, 2 nephews and a niece and I thought that was hard...but I could not fathom that many queen and king sized quilts that close together! Amazing! I have since become a fan of quilt as you go and most recent was a patriotic king sized quilt for my son-in-law---with a walking foot, THAT was tough! Right now working on a hexagon baby quilt for my newest grandson, which I had hoped to have finished before he arrived---NOT! The Easy Hexagon, finished hexagons, 6" x 7". My first ever hexagon...boy did I take on a project! Hand stitching them together has been the most time consuming EVER, but have to say I am enjoying it. Would love to see pics of your finished quilts.
03-28-2022, 06:47 AM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 7,241
Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan! It sounds like you have always enjoyed quilting and that arthritis has been your worst enemy. I hear you when it comes to arthritis. I have limited use of my right thumb and that can be a big challenge with trying to hand quilt. I bought a Grace Original Quilt frame and a machine to go with it and used that for many years. Right now it is out of commission as the machine needs some repair. The last few quilt I have done I sent out for the quilting. That can get costly. I have a number of quilts that need repair and they will need to be repaired by hand so I figure that right hand will get the work out. I also had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands and that too has helped a great deal. I haven't tried for years to fit a quilt through one of my DM's. So for now I guess I will continue to send them out and repairs will have to take their time.
I look forward to seeing a great deal here. It is a great place to be with other quilters and so much is shared all the time. Again Welcome to the QB!
I look forward to seeing a great deal here. It is a great place to be with other quilters and so much is shared all the time. Again Welcome to the QB!
03-28-2022, 01:55 PM
#8
Super Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: near Topeka kansas
Posts: 4,524
Hey KS Farm Girl from Topeka. I am not a quilter, but I love wrenching on pre 1950 machines and doing demos with them. Did you know Wichita just opened up a sewing museum on 3-19? GF is the fashion sewist and we do Demos of hand cranks over Eastern Ks.
03-28-2022, 02:00 PM
#9
Super Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: near Topeka kansas
Posts: 4,524
