Rachel,
I have hand quilted many things and love the process, except for one quilt. An evil, unscrupulous quilt shop owner took advantage of my newbie-ness a few years back and sold me Warm and Natural cotton (machine quilting batting) and a large, single piece of backing that I swear is canvas. I quilted a third of this before I realized that life was short and I was not going to martyr myself over this quilt.
It is a nice quilt-red and white Burgoyne Surrounded with my name, town, and date pieced into the border. Instead of giving up, I put this quilt into my quilt hoop stand in the living room next to the tree and try to get at least one block quilted during the Christmas season. It looks like one of the decorations and it will be finished in 20 or 30 years. It gets packed up with the Christmas decorations so I don’t have to think about it from January-November.
This has nothing to do with your situation, of course, your friend probably expects quicker results. Why don’t you fake a hand injury and suggest she send it to the Amish to finish while you recouperate?
I really wish I’d posted in time to get in on the whiney contest!
