I started practicing machine quilting with a regular straight stitch foot. I'm not quite brave enough to use my walking foot yet. Although the pictures aren't great, I'm slowly starting to improve. Slowly.
I kept seeing professionals use and suggest quilting gloves. I really didn't know what kind to get. Plus, I hate gloves. I don't know why, but I just do. After searching I found fingerless ones and knew those were the ones for me.
When I first started using them, it felt completely different. I didn't realize it but I was holding the quilt back and not allowing the machine to feed it through properly. My stitches were all sizes. That's when my Seam-Fix ripper comes in handy. The rubber ends make it so simple to get all those little pesky threads.
After I learned to relax and let the feed dogs do their work, the stitches looked a lot better. I even found it easier to rotate and guide the quilt's direction. My triangles actually look pretty good here.
When I was talking to my mom this morning, she asked if I had learned I spiritual lesson too. I laughed...what could I have possibly learned spiritually with this? Well, he goes, let God lead us. Let loose on the fabric of our lives and give Him all of the control. Just like I had to let the foot lead more than the pressure of my hands, we need to let God lead our way.