Slow stitching

For a long time, my art quilts where completely machine-stitched. I’m the last few years, however, more and more handstitching has made it’s way into my quiltmaking process. Most recently, I find myself hand-piecing all the faces in my quilts. Even further, many of my current series of 40 artworks are completely hand-pieced. 

There are a number of very good reasons for this. The first being to opportunity to slow down a little. Hand stitching is such a beautifully gentle, unhurried process. It gives you the opportunity to think or chat while you sew. 

Here’s another motivation for incorporating more hand stitching: it allows me to work on my quilts in the midst of my family, and also to engage with them at the same time. I can stitch while I supervise music practice before school and homework after school, and while my husband reads bedtime stories to the children. 

As an aside, having handstitching nearby, waiting to be worked on, gives me something to do in the inbetween moments of day, rather than reaching for my phone.

Finally, hand stitching the seams of the more complex sections of my artworks gives my greater control and results in a better image.

If you, like me, have resisted hand-stitching for how slow it is, you might be pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable to process is, exactly because it’s a bit slower than machine work!