Gloves

After my last post, I had a couple of friends question my gloves. (I only wear them when I'm machine-quilting or sewing something bulky.) DoJo and his employees use gloves like this at the Ice Plant. The palm and the finger tips are rubberized, which gives you a nice grip on those cold, slippery ice bags. Really, they are the best gloves ever, and they are multipurpose! I have a pair I wear for outside work, but I save a clean pair just for my machine-quilting projects. I discovered their quilting usefulness quite by accident. Several years ago while quilting a large quilt on my regular-size sewing machine, I found that I needed more control of the fabric-batting sandwich. (What I really need is a long arm quilter, but that's another item on my already long enough wish list!) Anyway, the quilt was getting the better of me. My shoulders were achy and my hands hurt even worse. I was on the verge of giving up when I had the brainstorm...Ice Plant gloves, and presto! problem solved! It's kind of redneck, and I know it seems goofy, but it worked for me and I've used them ever since. At the time, I didn't know that they actually market quilting gloves. I Googled it recently and found out that Atlas, the maker of my Ice Plant gloves, also sells quilter's gloves. They come in much prettier colors, like fuchsia, granny apple green, purple, and blue (like mine!) Too bad I didn't come up with this idea years ago. Perhaps if I had, I would have enough money to buy myself a long arm and eliminate the need for the goofy gloves.

*Note to Mel: You don't need gloves for making the blocks. Plus, I have an idea for finishing our across-the-pond quilts. Check out my friend Deidra. She has the long-arm quilter I covet and she knows how to use it! Paying for her expertise is better than buying a pair of gloves. Her work is beautiful.