Thimbles

This may seem to be a strange thing to talk about. Though if you are a quilter who normally wears a thimble all the time, then you'll understand!

I personally use a Roxanne thimble. Not because they're really pretty or anything (even though they are) but because it's the only thimble I found that fit me correctly and was comfortable too!

As you might know, I'm working on a quilt that is all done by hand. Yesterday, I decided to trace some of the other elements onto my fabric so that I could start embroidering it. It's turning out really pretty, though it did lead to a realization about thimbles.

So, here it is! If you wear a thimble all the time while you hand quilt, then be sure you do it also when you're embroidering! It might seem that it's not very important and that the embroidery definitely is not as hard to push the needle through the fabric. However, I discovered yesterday that the finger I usually wear a thimble on is a baby! The skin is actually rather soft and has never built up a callus from quilting. It took me a while yesterday to figure out why it was hurting. Then I remembered it's because I always protect it when I quilt. Even while doing embroidery, I still automatically push the needle with that finger! The constant tapping of the needle on that poor unprotected skin was making my finger really sore.

So, there's my note for the day. If you're used to wearing a thimble all the time, continue to do it while doing any hand work on a quilt. Otherwise, you'll end up with a sore finger!