We all have it ... a fear factor that is. Don't we? Or maybe it's just me.
I define it as something I avoid because of either past failure, fear of failure, or perceived incapacity to deal with a problem. You were probably envisioning a cave of spiders or other creepy crawlies. While I really wouldn't want to explore a cave full of spiders, sometimes I find it hard to explore new things, even creative things that other people have no problem with, due to my "fear factor".
C'mon...tell us what you're afraid of!!" Ok. Ok.
Believe it or not, using cotton thread on my longarm is my fear factor. When I got my Millenium (Millie for short) the person who trained me told me how great Glide tri-lobal polyester was and the Magnaglide bobbins (prewound) were for long arm quilt. No argument there. They are wonderful. There was no reason for me to try anything else at the time. And the old wives' tale about polyester thread cutting cotton fibers was disproven so there were no 'purist' reasons not to use polyester.
However, being one who defaults to taking the path of least resistance and sticking with doing what works, I wasn't feeling very keen to try out cotton thread for quilting...until today.
My latest success has been using Aurifil 40wt COTTON thread in Millie! 🧵 Yes!!! I've tried it before and could not get my tension to where it was decent so I gave up.... But TODAY!!! I wound my own matching Aurifil cotton bobbin, set the tension and stitched this out. Voila! No unpicking required.
I'm doing a victory lap here. I just wanted to quilt a small wall hanging block on white cotton, using white Aurifil thread (top and bobbin) and a digitized design from Quiltpath. And I did! I will add it to my sewing room as a small wall quilt to remind me.... Fear Factor? What Fear Factor?
Why am I writing this post? Because I can't be the only one who struggles with pushing through to find solutions to difficulties encountered in trying new things. Seriously, this cotton thread in my machine issue has been the last bastion keeping me in fear as a quilter. I've been at this for a long time and have been a cotton purist for piecing since the beginning. I can now confidently add it to my offerings for other quilters who want their quilts quilted with cotton thread. And I'm thrilled!
Until next time, these are my quilty thoughts for this day.
Mavis
