Sunnie

Today I was doing some SID and stippling on my sheep wallhanging. I tried very hard to lower my shoulders each time I felt they were about to touch my ears, but I had to quit earlier than I had planned to rest my neck and shoulders. Any suggestions to preventing this pain?

cmrenno

Can you adjust the height of your chair? I think it helps to be a little higher up.

Colleen

mary quilting

Put door stops under the back side of you sewing machine to slant your machine toward you. It helps

gramajo

Taking frequent breaks helps me. The change in position makes a difference.

Tartan

Right now I am battling bursitus in my left shoulder and am resting it until the pain decreases. This is my second bout this year and I hope my last. I am existing on pain killers, heating pad and rest.

QuiltE

Sunnie ... what helped me was to raise my chair. I discoverd that what is comfortable for regular piecing and sewing, is not so, when I am machine quilting. Once I got my chair up higher, the ergonomics worked better, and my shoulders stayed down in place, instead of stretching up to my ears!

irishrose

Raise your chair and use a childs's packpack with 2 pound weights in it until you build up the muscles needed for quilting.

NanaCsews2

Take breaks often. Stand up, walk around every 15-20 minutes. If you can, bend slowly backwards, then forwards as far as you can go. Repeat a few times. Drink lots of water. Eat oranges, bananas, or watermelon for potassium. Take ibuprofen BEFORE sitting down at the machine. Eat tart cherries for muscle pain. Make sure chair is at the right height. Use Machinger's gloves, or Grabaroos Quilting gloves to help move the quilt around easier, which puts less strain on the upper arms and shoulders by trying to maneuver the quilt. It also helps to have a Supreme Slider on the machine. These are what help me. I very rarely have any pain in my neck, arms, or shoulders anymore.

Prism99

I don't get neck and shoulder pain anymore. Used to when I quilted in the traditional way, sitting down. Now I place my sewing machine on my cutting table and quilt standing up. I cannot even describe the difference this has made for me! I will never quilt sitting down again!

In order to have a flat surface to work on, my wonderful dh made a styrofoam surround for my machine when it is on the cutting table. What I really like is that it is lightweight enough for me to move around, plus it stores easily against the wall when I don't need it. Got the directions from Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g14go...ure=plpp_video
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAS25...ure=plpp_video

If you haven't tried quilting standing up, I urge you to try it!

Christine George

Door stops? Really? I'm gonna try that, thanks.