I know that it is hard to see but the dot close to the nail is the said rotary blade versus index finger feud. If you look just a little closer, you may see there is a line or really a flap of skin moving up from the edge of the nail.....
well, a day or so after my first injury, somehow (???) I managed to look away ever so quickly from the machine and fabric that I was presently utilizing and before you know it, that finger met up with the sewing machine needle which was moving up and down... ever so fast! How the heck did that happen?! Blood on the finger, none on the fabric and suprisingly enough, the needle didn't break!
That cut no longer hurts but my thread seems to get caught in the flap of skin while I am trying to knot my applique needle!!! A royal pain in the you-know-what!!!!
Anyway, these injuries have, in no way, dissuaded me from continuing to sew!
Last night, I was trying to whip up a couple of white log cabin blocks...
when, somehow, the pair of scissors in my right hand managed to nick the middle of my same index finger on my left hand!!!! 
Blood was drawn but a bandaid was applied and I completed my block!
Who knew that the art of quilting could be so hazardous!!!!!
Here are the weapons in question with some of their equally dangerous counterparts!!!
This is not a new phenomenon in the least. Some years ago, while Teenager with lots of stuff was in elementary school, I was hoping to do some quilting while Mr. U was working late. So, Teenager (in second grade) was seated beside me at the sewing table for her required nightly 15 minutes of reading, while Nature Boy and a wee Sugarbaby ran around the house from the sewing room to the kitchen to the family room to the living room back to my sewing room in a great big circle!
Well, I guess this multitasking got the better of me and my encounter with the sewing machine needle was a little more in depth, shall we say!
The needle hit my nail and broke!!! All be darned! The thing was even embedded in the fingernail so Teenager (then in second grade) ran to get the tweezers as I tried to remain calm (I am not very good when foreign objects pierce my body!) and we fished the thing out. Mr. U had me get an xray to ensure that there was no metal inside the nail (and there wasn't) and I had to get a tetanus shot too!
Gee whiz! I hope you are all a lot more safe in the sewing room than I!!!!
But if you are just as accident prone as I, share your story in my comments, and on Monday March 2nd I will draw the name of one lucky klutz for a prize!!!! I have been lucky to win a couple of goodies lately from Cherry House Quilts and Amy Schimler, so I want to pass on the goodwill too!
In spite of all of my recent accidents, I have managed to add a few blocks to my polka dotted Dear Jane project....
and I now have quite a collection of white log cabin blocks!!!
Be careful in the sewing room!!!!!
I have been there done that! I had the machine needle go right through the center of my finger/fingernail as well it broke off and I had thread stuck in the middle coming out both sides! Yuck!
ReplyDeleteI have surely had my share of mishaps but the most memorable sewing injury would have to be my son. He was about 5 at the time. My mother in law had given me the sewing machine that belonged to her grandmother. IT is a hand crank machine. I had just cleaned, oiled, and put in a new needle. I let my son try it out. He had had some experience with my machine. I turned my back for a second and then I heard "Mom, my finger is stuck." I looked back and he had been watching the hand that was cranking the machine and sewn through the tip of the other finger. I cranked the needle out and all was well. I told him then that one day that sewing machine would be his.
ReplyDeletehttp://thelittleredhen.typepad.com
I never really cut myself. I usually burn myself. Hot pans, burner, oven, iron. If anything hot is within a few yards of me, I will eventually get burned. I've even accidentally poured boiling water on my foot before! eeeks!!
ReplyDeleteHope your fingers feel better soon :)
Knock on wood...I've not had a sewing injury, BUT...I am forever putting my carpal tunnel (right wrist) into spasms with my hand sewing....like it is now...and back into the brace. Does that count to be in the giveaway??? LOL
ReplyDeleteHey Mrs. U....Many, many years ago, when my Mom was sewing and I was observing, she told me the following: You only become a full-fledged sewer when you sew your own finger! Of, course, I did do it, but only once!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have made the seam ripper fall off the table and land in my thigh!!
But, like you, I continue to sew!
Last August, I shoved a needle into my right big toe. I pulled it out and thought all was right. Then 3 days later, my toe was all red and swollen. After a quick trip to the ER, I found out it had broken off and the next day I had emergency surgery...
ReplyDeleteHere's the story
http://withthreadinhand.blogspot.com/2008/08/older-not-wiser.html
Ugh how horrible! What an ordeal. The quilts are cute and your work is always great, if that is any consolation.
ReplyDeleteim sorry you hurt yourself, that must have hurt like the dickens!! ok, i am SUPER klutzy(and married super klutzy and now have a daughter klutzy), but havent had too many accidents isolated to the sewing room. i have cut my finger with my rotary cutter, and took a nice slice of skin off. i repeatedly shove my needles into my finger backwards whilst sewing on binding, i even have a perpetual weird spot there.
ReplyDeletein the rest of the house, i cut my hubbys hair and have repeatedly sliced into the fatty underside of my fingers with the scissors. also when i was 7.5 months pregnant i dropped a glass orange juice jar on my second toe and had an open break, 16 years later my toe doesnt lay flat. hows that??
thanks for doing a giveaway!
Be careful up there, Lisa! Klutzy? Me? Let's just say my doc rolls his eyes when I come in for a tetanus shot. He doesn't even ask if it's sewing related anymore. I have a long history of regular klutziness too. My earliest VIVID klutz memory was when I was 5 or 6 and was trying to balance on a railing. Of course, I lost my balance, broke my fall to the ground with my wrist. Also breaking my fall was a dead rose bush. So, before the docs could put a cast on the wrist, they had to get the thorns out of me. Of course, this happened in the summer and I then got a case of chicken pox. But that wasn't my fault. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy most memorable experience with some sewing object was while I was at work one day a lady (name purposefully left out!) came in to work - she always had knitting or crochet work that she carried with her to do on her breaks. When she sat down - somehow - a crochet hook popped out of her bag and she sat on it. It actually became lodged in a very uncomfortable area in the rear. We had to call the paramedics to come and take her to the hospital to have it removed. No worries as nothing was damaged and the said crochet hook came out once her body relaxed (thanks to some drugs). We did give her the day off with pay.
ReplyDeletePoor Lady! I was soooo embarrased for her.
Your Polka Dot Dear Jane is looking great. What instructions are you using for it?
Ohhh i'm cringing reading all the stories. I've done the usual 'slice the tip off the finger', needle through the fingernail, but the one I always remember is looking bug-eyed at my 10 yo son (scream caught in my throat), rotary cutter in his hand while rubbing his thumb over the blade and saying "see, it's not sharp at all" just a split second before blood gushed out of his deeply gashed appendage.
ReplyDeleteoh all that danger...and then that last photo makes my heart skip a beat!
ReplyDeleteHere's my reaction to your pictures: ewwww is that what i think it....yep, it is. Wow, that circle is cute, oh and look at the little piece of red poking out there. Gah! I almost see blood! The usual suspects. Xray???? Wow, how'd she get the dots to follow right along with the handle of that basket? Super stinkin' cute. Who would've thought doing white log cabins would look so awesome!!
ReplyDeleteThere you go, i love your blog BTW. :)
I don't have a major one. i usually rest my head on the front of my machine while sewing cause i like to get in there and get a good look at what's going on, and i have very frequently been hit in the forehead with the up and down thingy (not sure of the technical thing). i do know that it hurts like heck. I have a new machine now the up and down thingy is not at the edge. :)
ReplyDeletebefore i was born my mom sewed right through her finger while trying to sew on elastic. her fingernail has a bump in it now from the injury. she didn't tell her mom right away cause she didn't want to hear "i told you so".
Two nights ago i was machine quilting and caught my middle finger and pierced it right through.
ReplyDeleteBut apparently that wasn't enough as about an hour later I did the same thing to my index finger, except for this time when i pulled my finger away two pieces of neeedle were stuck in my finger. The middle of the needle was coming out of my fingernail and pressing up against the skin on the other side causing it to bulge out The tip of the needle, with the thread still attached, was coming out of the pad of the finger. Thankfully i had some pliers and after pulling really hard (who knew it took such effort to remove something from your flesh) i managed to remove both and be on my merry way with only minimal swelling.
The bigger problem was a had to go the store and buy more needles to finish the project.
Oh Lisa! You have been in the wars lately! I had to skip looking at your photos of flappy bits of skin in case I jinxed myself!
ReplyDeleteI haven't got any accident prone tales to relate, Miss Boring here, can I still put my hand up for a prize?
Probably my funniest accident was when I got up from sewing for a minute and one of my kids was playing with my curved scissors and left them open and pointed up on my chair. I, of course, sat on them leaving two little holes in my butt that looked like a snake bite! Ouch.
ReplyDeleteI certainly understand - I can't walk from my sewing room to the dining room without tripping on a cord or another klutzy mishap! I even had ballet lessons as a child LOL. You are very talented and I love your blog. Thanks for entering me in your giveaway!!
ReplyDeletePamela S.
I certainly understand - I can't walk from my sewing room to the dining room without tripping on a cord or another klutzy mishap! I even had ballet lessons as a child LOL. You are very talented and I love your blog. Thanks for entering me in your giveaway!!
ReplyDeletePamela S.
I have been sewing since about age five. My grandmother taught me to sew and for several years she would only allow me to sew by hand and watch her at her machine because she was so afraid I would sew over my fingers. Well, it finally happened when I was 37 years old! I was in a sewing class and the needle broke on my fingernail. Quite messy, but I survived! I hope your injury recovers quickly. Thank you for your terrific blog! carolann427@aol.com
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. You are just too much Lisa!!!! You really should wear a safety glove while sewing. Or a metal one.!! lolol I am very clumsy and have had several incidents but most involve me falling down. Not while holding a rotary cutter though.
ReplyDeleteLove your polka dotted blocks.
ok...i might have to send you some sewing armor! believe it or not i cut my cheek with my rotary cutter (pushing up slipping glasses)
ReplyDeleteI have pricked my fingers so many times with pins that I no longer bleed now.
ReplyDeleteBut if you do get blood on your work, here's a tip an experienced seamstress gave me - use your own spit and table salt to blot the stain away.
It works - but it must be your own spit, so don't just ask random strangers to hoik a spit on your work!
OMG!!!!! Be careful!!!!!! It is me that has been the bad blogging friend! Sorry! I hope toy are all well and that you are recovering from your mishaps!
ReplyDeleteOMG!!!!! Be careful!!!!!! It is me that has been the bad blogging friend! Sorry! I hope toy are all well and that you are recovering from your mishaps!
ReplyDelete