My Cutting Table Today ~ Embracing the Brace

After an afternoon and evening of rest 

and a night of wearing the wrist brace, 

my hand is feeling better 

sew  ...

nn my cutting table today!

This lovely fabric ...

Kindred Spirits @ Riley Blake Designs

As you can see in the background, my quilty kitties are hard at work helping me.

Maestro is (almost) in the basket on the archway.

When she curls up she fits. 

There is a lot of Maestro to love ... ;) 

Katniss is comfy on the quilt on the back of the sofa

 where she can monitor the bird activity outside. 

Nutmeg has snagged the coveted red sewing chair next to my red computer chair today.

I am at the computer typing and sipping the last of my morning cuppa coffee.

The brace is awkward but helping my 

Quilters' Carpal Tunnel

Another thing that is helping is that my hubby got out his heavy duty wrench before he went to work yesterday and unfroze my cutting table and raised it to its highest level.

Wondering what this is on my cutting table?

It is a 3 lb weight I use to hold my long ruler in place when I am making long cuts.

Works much better than the handle grips and such that I have tried.

I am fortunate that my dining room cutting table,

which is also our dining room table,

is an antique drafting table

with an adjustable cast iron base.

My hubby bought it when he was a young single guy

 and turned it into his dining room table.

It is a bear of a piece of furniture to move

and he says it is staying with the house forever.

You can see the rust on the newly exposed extension pipe.

Today I like it.

My hubby will not like it the next time we need to use this table for dining

and he has to lower it to the level of our chairs.

I suppose I could move the counter height chairs from the kitchen table in here instead.

I'll let you know the next time we have guests at our table ... ;) 

The other weight is on my mouse pad today.

It has been put into use today while I have removed the brace to air out my wrist.

I have not had to take any ibuprofen today ... :)

I also use these as actual weights to maintain my upper arm strength.

Every little bit helps.

What ideas do you have to share 

to help keep your quilty wrists healthy?

I am always looking for new ways to make my quilty life happier.

Have a happy quilty day! 

Clued In and Closed Off

Clue 1 for the QATW Forum Mystery Quilt

is done! 

I started this mystery quilt here.

This one was easy peasy.

Cut strips

Sew strips; cut strip sets, sew strip sets. 

Press ...

and I am ready for the next clue.

Or am I not?

These blocks were easy to sew,

but not easy for me to sew right now.

My right hand is in a brace.

Apparently I am a "one out of every ten" quilter who 

has developed 

Quilters' Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

I actually already do most of the suggested guidelines

for trying to alleviate this condition.

So I am closed out of my sewing happy place for the moment 

and I am taking the afternoon off from sewing 

and catching up with the book that has been 

on my nightstand for a few weeks now.

At least I can read about quilting.

Have a Happy Tuesday Afternoon

<3 

Happy New Quilty Week

There is quilting  again on This Quilt at last.

It was a mixed Sunday filled with

enjoying the flowers outside,

hoping in the car and heading off to a family get-together,

coming home to find storm clouds moving in.

This is a storm sky in the northeast, coming down the river from the north

and bringing rain, wind and lightening, 

the type that can bring damage 

but last night the closest lightning strike was over a mile away in that direction.

All we had to do was put away a few seedlings,

close up the house

and turn of the power strips a few times.

I did get one row and the top border done on this quilt.

I am quilting free style hearts and flowers

on this "Blueberry Park" fabric

and am pleased with my progress so far.

Have some piecing to do today and then hope to get at ;east one more row done.

I had to stop early last night in part to another storm

but also because my eyes were very bleary and tired.

Today it is bright and sunny,

a clear day after the storms.

May you have a Happy Monday! 

A Quilty Kind of Sunday ~ A New Quilty Gadget

My quilty kitties are watching me expectantly.

Katniss is giving me, "the look."

Maestro is peeking out at me from under the batting roll.

Nutmeg has given up and is taking a nap in the basket.

Well Nutmeg did follow me into the quilting room and was watching. 

Then she decided she might as well take a nap in the basket

because I have gone in the room everyday for several days and not actually 

done any quilting.

Today is the day!

I start (re) quilting ... 

  This Quilt

I have been catching up with other quilty commitments

and ... quite frankly ... 

I think I have been dragging my feet on this one.

I think I am feeling a little intimidated by having to actually quilt this one.

I think I need to stop thinking,  get over myself and just quilt it. 

This quilt is not ever going to be "perfect."

I just need to do the best I can with it.

One of the things I noticed on my first quilty attempt was I had a hard time
anchoring the quilt at the top and sides.

So ... 

I got these $10 "Channel Lock" rings to help me with those long straight quilting lines.

The rings attach over the wheels of the machine on the track.

This one is to do a horizontal line.

Here I am anchoring the top to the already anchored batting.

I used a few open safety pins to help hold the top in place for this.

Then I moved the rings to the vertical track in the back.

Then I anchored the top at the sides. 

These channel locks have limited use as I have to go to the back of the table
and move them every time I want to quilt a straight line

but they were very helpful for these initial steps.

There is an expensive electro-magnetic channel lock add-on to my machine that I really, really want to get someday so I can do free form straight line quilting on my long arm.

I am saving my pennies up for that one.

In the meantime, this will do. 

Maestro is curled up next to me now on her red chair as I type this post.

I love how she follows me around all day and keeps me company.

It is cool and going to rain.

Today is also a family get-together day to celebrate our oldest son's birthday.

After that,  I will be quilting "this quilt."

Wish me luck ... :-) 

Saturday Night Sew-In

Me and My Kitty BOM Blocks.

Saturday was so nice outside.

Cool and sunny.

So my sewing time had to wait to tonight.

I caught up on two months of my 

Pretty Kitty Sew Along BOM Blocks started Here

Here is the 12.5" block for May's 

Eccentric Star Block

and 

My 12.5" block 

Greek Square

I am also sewing the 6.5" version of these blocks.

I am really enjoying this monthly sew along

and am looking forward to the quilt I will make withe these blocks.

I have not planned a layout for this quilt yet.

I am thinking maybe a white sashing.

I may make extra blocks.

When I I see all the blocks together I will see what they say.

For now I am just enjoying the fabrics and the fun sew along with my friends.

Family time tomorrow and then I will see what I will sew.

:-)