Saturday, July 18, 2015

Optimal Positioning






This or that?






Top or bottom?




X's or O's?




Positioning is important in quilting. With colors in a block, blocks within a quilt, and so on. Your working position is important, too, and you can read about some of the tricks I've used in Ergonomics in the Spare Room and Workspace. Pay attention to how you're sitting and standing, and as your mother would say, "Shoulders back, and don't slouch!" She was right. If you can feel it by the end of a work session, something in your posture or positioning might be off.


Do you get stiff and crampy from sitting and sewing? I do! I complained to my dear, blogger friend, Sandra, who happens to also be a Yoga instructor. Who better to help us? May I wholeheartedly recommend her post from Musings of a Menopausal Melon? Sunday Stretch for Sewers #1. I found it was great help! I'm hoping since she titled it  "#1" there's more to come. Would you let her know if there's something special you'd like to know about?

There is another highly important position that I learned about this week--that of our thread spools. It's something we don't talk about often or ever. This liberal education I'm getting while gearing up to longarm has reached into areas I never expected. 


For a quick intro, watch this short video from Pat Sloan.




Superior Thread Holder video is 3 minutes long, and is more helpful for understanding why this all works as it does. This product is available through the link, if you'd like one.



As a temporary fix, and to try this out, I've been using my bobbin winder as a stand in. I'm only setting the large spool on it, and running the thread over to the machine. So far, so good. 


I hope that some of my information is helpful to you. My current pursuit is thread, and while I think it's captivating, many eyes are rolling in the room when I talk about it. I'm sure you know how hard it is to keep the good stuff to yourself when you find it out.

More on thread this week, and back to work on the Moda Modern Building Blocks in between the Red, White, and Blue. My Handiquilter rep comes Tuesday to make sure my machine and I are off to a good start, and there isn't a day next week forecast with rain. But who knows? Something else might catch my attention, and then it's all up in the air again!



Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.

Linking up with~
Sew Darn Crafty
Show Off Saturday









5 comments:

Kaja said...

You are right Julie, positioning is so important and I enjoyed your examples here. (Just came from the yoga post - excellent idea!)

Jayne said...

I love playing with block layouts, you never know what you will come up with! Great examples. I have to remind myself to sit up straight all the time! It doesn't help when my set-up is not the best! Thank you for such great advice!

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Posture is a constant "remind myself of" ....it's kinda hard. I enjoy and appreciate Karen's yoga moves too. Looks like you are having fun...love your fabrics and contrasts.

Sandra Walker said...

Great post Julie. I almost always use my thread holder to feed the thread up, over, and into my machine from the back. I love the endless possibilities of pieces within a block as well as blocks within a quilt, never mind placing what colours and what values within the blocks!

Sandra Walker said...

PS wouldn't let me type anymore on my phone...wanted to say I LOVE that quote. And thank you for the shout out. :-)