Thursday Morning Quilt Migraine

Nancy that stinks! I always wanted to get into quilting! I can crochet but only a single and double crochet, so you can imagine how creative the blankets are that I make! LOL

 

I hate that migraine takes away things that you love to do. I used to love to do cardio kickboxing. I don't think I can do it anymore. I hold out hope I can again someday......

 

Maybe you can invent a new "migraine safe" sewing machine - for when you quilt - Oh don't tell anyone that idea - you can patent it and make lots of money!!!

 

Hope you feel better soon my dear!

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Quilting is very cool indeed... I always had great respect for those with the eye to make these magnificent works of art. To do so as a migraineur has to be even more difficult. 

 

Maybe using heat or cold on your neck while you bend over the sewing machine? Or even the TENS unit itself.

 

What's with this week and migraine activity? Seems like more than a few of us are getting clobbered?

 

Gentle hugs and a bowl of yummy homemade chili,

 

Jamie 

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Hi Nancy:

 

I am so sorry you are having one of those days and unable to quilt.  My best friend back in NC is a quilter and has never had a headache.  How can anyone live six decades and never have a headache?

 

I have not really painted in a year and I was teaching fine arts before headaches got much worse last year.  It is very very frustrating.  I pretend that all this "time" spent unable to focus and create, there is something under the surface that will, one day in the more "headache-free" future, burst forth into a masterpiece.  Hah! I hope you have a master quilt sizzling beneath the surface that you soon are able to enjoy quilting again, WITHOUT interruption.

 

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Do you get the migraines because of a vision issue or a neck problem when you quilt?  I haven't gotten them when I am quilting but I get them when the barometric pressure changes.  It is hard to make people understand migraines especially when they have never even had a plain headache.  I have printed out information for my bosses about migraines and I don't think he will ever understand what it is like to get one. 
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Well Nancy everything you need for quilting is basically the cause of your migraine. The material, the threads, the machine because of the oil or the light the comes from it and then there is the neck. Oh, gosh the neck...doesn't take long and you can feel your stomach churning.

 

Now what about your eyes....besides just the regular eye sight needed for the general sewing on the machine do you do any by hand? Then that leads to more stress on the eyes and the neck unless you can sew with your arms straight out and up.

 

I am sorry this is happening to you. I may not have any visible scars or audible distractions but my life has changed drastically. I try not to think about it many times. I must say though the depression has set in. I have done my best to keep it at bay but it is showing its ugly side now.

 

I really don't know if there is anything you can do about that. I suppose you could speak with an ear, nose, throat specialist to see if there is something that can be worn or sprayed into your nose ahead of time. I did read in the news paper that a gentleman has invented a lense that will be in 220 opthomologist, not real sure if that is right, offices. It is to help with the light for people whom ae affected by its brightness and who see little rings around the headlights in the evening. Well, that is me. I hope this one place, Gailey Eye Clinic, will have them. Otherwise I  guess I will have to wait another year for them. 

 

The skies have been grey and damp here in Illinois. Just perfect for setting off the sick kind of migraine that may go away in the day but is back the next. Don't like it at all.

 

Do, you think I have gone on long enough? I either  don't say anything for sometime and then I come in and talk forever.

 

Take care Nancy and hope you and everyone else get to feeling better.

 

Ta Ta...Marlene               

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I, too, am an avid quilter and share your pain.  I've come up with some work-arounds that help me.

 

1.  Less busy prints, few or no dark prints

2.  Higher than usual sewing machine.  It helps me to be closer to the stitch so I'm not straining to see it.  Thought about using one of those swing-arm magnifiers.

3. No night sewing.

4. Hand sewing, as in yo-yos or paper-piecing, again on light colored, less busy prints.

 

It's not perfect, but it's quilting!

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