Thread Case Part IV: Quilting

Hand stitching the appliques went much faster than I thought it would and the swanky fabrics seemed no more difficult to handle than any other. And, as you may have noticed, I didn't surge the edges of the green silk.

I started with one diagonal line across the box and eyeballed it from there. I placed the lines about 1/2" - 10mm apart. I'll quilt around each spool and do a centered line of stitches across the caps. My hand quilting stitches leave much to be desired... no one would ever guess that one of the features I worked on for Threads Magazine was about perfecting your hand quilting stitch.
Obviously, I learned nothing. But I'm not really a hand quilter anyway... or should I say "yet"?

I DO have another secret weapon that helped my wonky, hand stitched applique go so quickly... my OttLite.

fan girl gushing...
I have six OttLites: two portable LEDs, two clip-on and two floor lamps one with LED bulbs and one with OttLite's standard daylight florescent bulb. The LEDs are my favorites.

I like all of them but I absolutely cannot live without my OttLite 2 in 1 LED Floor or Desk Lamp.

It came with 2 bases, as noted above, BUT one of the things I absolutely love about this lamp is the bulbs don't get hot. For me this means no sweaty hands if I'm doing hand stitching, no heat added to my second floor studio on the sunny side of the house in the summer AND no burned fingers when adjusting its position. And, being LED, it uses virtually no electricity.

I use both the magnifier and light at my sewing machine positioned between me and the presser foot. The light is true and the magnification lets me be as precise in my stitching as an anal retentive perfectionist, like myself, has to be. For ANY kind of hand stitching it's simply amazing. I wouldn't be able to do any kind of hand work if it weren't for this lamp.

As of this post the link above goes to an Amazon Marketplace seller who has the lamp for $69.99 with free shipping... it retails for $149. I got mine at Joann Fabrics with a 50% off coupon and this price is less than I paid for mine.
/fan girl gushing...