Keep calm and quilt on

 Lately I noticed that I couldn`t bend and stretch my right ring finger as freely as it should. And while bending and stretching, it made a soft cracking sound. It became increasingly painfull as well. My doctor diagnosed it as a “trigger finger” and sent me to a fysiotherapist. 

I had the intake there yesterday. The therapist asked about my hobbies. Ofcourse she had no clue what patchwork and quilting was. When I explained she said (while typing):”ah, with a sewing machine “ and was horrified when I replied that I am a HANDquilter…LOL

Anyway, she made a brace and told me that it had to stay on 24 hours, 7 days, for starters and that I should not use that finger at all if possible, except to do prescribed excersises. 

I considered myself lucky that it was this finger. After all, you don`t use it while quilting!

Phew!

How wrong was I!! You use it all the time when grabbing something. I couldn`t pull a needle through anymore. And I was making such good progress on the Granny Square!

(The sun made some strange shadows on the picture, but the quilting is visible..)

I didn`t have a needle puller at hand, so I made one myself.

I padded the pair of pliers not to damage the needle and although it slowed me down considerably, it worked. Sort of.

Another nifty tool I gifted myself is a ergonomic rotarycutter. I choose one from Marti Michell.

What a difference this thing makes!! I never ever cut so many layers at once with so little effort. I cut a bunch of scraps to shreds just for fun, because I just couldn`t stop cutting haha. I forgot to take a picture, the orange pieces were the last ones left on the table.

Now let`s order a genuine needle puller and see if that keeps me quilting on (with the wretched brace)…Not quilting would mean I need a psychotherapist and probably a divorce lawyer in the near future.