Thoughts on Safety and Organizing (otherwise known as a confession of my faults!)

The other day while pressing it occurred to me that there are a lot of ways to hurt yourself while quilting. This epiphany came to me as I steamed my finger. I realized it is easy to burn yourself daily! I've been known to steam myself, burn myself on the iron, and my personal favorite is the 2nd degree burns from hitting the light bulb in the machine. I'd say to be careful, but I still keep doing it myself....so good luck out there. Another dangerous thing is the rotary cutter. Obviously it is VERY SHARP so getting cut is bound to happen. I can honestly say that I am so obsessively careful with mine that I have never had a bad cut. That is probably because I have only one strict rule of quilting--CLOSE THE DAMN ROTARY CUTTER EVERY TIME IT IS PUT DOWN!!!! Makes me nuts to see someone leave the cutter just sitting on the table. I've heard stories of stitches on the hand and feet. Yes, the feet. Probably a good idea to wear shoes in case you drop the cutter. But the most major injury is also caused by the rotary cutter. My ex was an ergonomics expert and he drilled ergonomics and tool safety into my head. It is very important to use the cutter properly. It is important to have a straight line from the fingertip to the shoulder. That means the perfect way to use the cutter is standing at the perfect height for a straight arm. (This one is the hardest one for me to follow. I have to sit down sometimes. Shame on me). Always hold the cutter as shown, with the finger on the finger rest and the wrist straight. Always cut straight away from yourself.

The day I thought about this blog post, I was working on proects that required a lot of pressing and squaring up scrappy, thick blocks. I managed to steam myself and actually had shoulder pain from all the cutting. The last thing I ever want is another frozen shoulder, or rotary cuff injury, so I had to follow the professional advice...REST! Shoulder was better in a day, thank goodness, but it was a good warning! I cringe any time I see someone gripping the cutter with a bent wrist, or cutting across the body. Why, you ask? Carpel tunnel and rotary cuff injuries are just waiting to happen. And no one wants those!!

If you see yourself in this picture, PLEASE make an adjustment! On a separate note, I just have to document the clean-up progress I made this week. I have been making charity quilts. I've been mostly using strips of fabrics. Talk about a mess. I had fabrics everywhere! I have also inherited a quilting room from a friend, and was overwhelmed with stuff--UFO's in bags and boxes, fabrics in bags and boxes, tools, etc. I consolidated fabrics into my stash, worked on UFO's of mine and hers, cut scraps into strips, and was finally able to stack up the totes. I documented my progress by taking a picture of all the empty ziploc bags, and boxes! And the tops that are in the first stage of construction.

So please .....Be Careful out there!