grammydiane Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I can't believe what I did this afternoon. I have been working on my daughter-in-law's quilt. Got all the blocks done and was working on one of the borders. I went across the top and down the right side. Didn't watch what I was doing when I rolled it up and caught the remaining batting. Now I have the extra batting attached to the back of the quilt. So now I have about 10 inches of small loopy meandering to "un-sew." Wouldn't you know it was batik too. Oh well, another stupid mistake makes for another lesson learned. Guess I should have cut off that extra batting. I was going so good too. Hope the holes will fill in. Maybe they won't be too noticeable once I stitch again. :o:mad::cool: Yup...having all these emotions!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 don't get down on yourself. I too had a morning of seam ripping due to tension issues! Life Happens and we can all learn from them. Thank Goodness for that! Happy Quilting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsurich Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 a tip I remember from someone- To get rid of rip out holes, spray the area with water, getting it damp relaxes threads or something to make them less noticeable. The down side of being human. . . not being perfect. We are all right there with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieK Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 I am sorry! I wish i could help you pick it out! conniek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 and thanks for sharing, we all do dumb things and it helps to know we aren't alone. I have a quilt sitting here in need of some frog stitching. I think I will get started on it, I know you will be somewhere doing the same thing. Ferret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Diane, Don't get discouraged. We all do dumb things, could have been the whole quilt that you had to rip out. Your message will help others to avoid the same problem. Char Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Yep...we all do dumb things....like the other day....I was quilting on a friends quilt. She has always said she runs her seams vertically on all of her quilts. So without measuring, I mounted the backing on with the seams vertical...because she ALWAYS sews her backing that way...not to be. I get to the bottom of the quilt and the backing is short...not to mention I put the batting on the wrong way and that was short. I shot myself in the foot twice on one quilt. I had to handwhip the batting to make it larger and taking backing from the side to make it long enough to finish the quilt. Needless to say, I was glad that it was done. Definitely not a money maker:mad: I only have myself to blame. We learn lessons every day:) Cheryl Mathre Stone Creek Quilting Sandy Hook, VA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadows4 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Cheryl, I did the same thing this week with the backing with a quilt I was quilting for my mom. Thankfully I was just doing SID around all of the blocks to stabilize them first and found what I had done. I HATE ripping out stuff. It wastes too much time! Oh well, glad to hear others do this kind of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammydiane Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Thanks for the tip Sue. I'm hoping that when the quilt is washed the first time, the holes will go away also. But will give them a spritz too. Time to finish out the "frog sewing." Have a great day everyone. We have cloudy skies here in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and oh how I hope it rains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltaholi_518 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 If you wet the batik fabric when it's off the machine, take another piece of the batik and rub the holes. The holes will disappear, or be much less noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stagecl Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Jeanne, Glad I am not alone:)...back to quilting. This quilt I am working on...I measured the backing:)...it was too short for the quilt. Added a piece before pinning it on...thank goodness! Cheryl Mathre Stone Creek Quilting Sandy Hook, VA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregoncarol Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 oooh i am so sorry i hate undoing a mistake. hope the rest of the day goes better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammydiane Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Well, I finally finished the sucker. Here is a picture. Please remember, I am new and this is the first quilt I have done that is not a pantograph or that I haven't had any help with. I used a stencil on all the blocks, and they are anything but perfect, but I think it's a lot better than when I first started. I used the stencil holder that you lay across the bars. The borders I did freehand, but nothing fancy. I suppose I should have done some SID, but decided to stop while I was ahead. Thanks for all your help on the "holes" problem. I gave them a spritz, rubbed them with another piece of batik and my nails, and they pretty much disappeared. Now I get to do the part I hate....put on the binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammydiane Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Here's a closeup. Remember....it's my first time completely by myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 With every quilt I wonder -- will there ever come a day when each new quilt is NOT a learning experience? I don't think that will every happen! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennan100 Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Ok, this has GOT to make you feel better, and you ladies are the only ones I've ever revealed this to! I don't have a machine yet, remember? After years of handquilting I have callouses that build up on the first two fingers of my "underneath" hand. I'm usually happy about this since it means I can't feel it if I stick myself or somethng, and I never get blood on the quilts because the callouse is just too thick. I have, however, had to unstitch myself from the quilt......3-4 stitches at a time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 SOLIDARITY SISTERS! we are all human and this thread admits it. I am so glad to know that I am not the only one that makes oopsys! Happy Quilting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I have made this mistake too when I started quilting,,, but learned this method If you fold your quilt top long ways then fold over again and do your backing like this and lay them down with the fold sides together this way you can tell if your quilt top is longer then your backing,,, or your backing is longer then your quilt top... I do this every time before I pin a quilt in too do,,, no more mistakes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadows4 Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Lee, You'd never know it, but I usually do it that way! This time I thought I knew which way it went and didn't double check it and boy did I pay for thinking I knew something. Should have used that "measure twice, cut once" way of thinking and I would have caught my error. It was totally my own fault! I wish I could blame it on something else, but I can't. Oh, well, wasn't the first time, and won't be the last! lol:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadows4 Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Grammiediane: I almost forgot: Your quilting looks great! We always tend to be too hard on our own quilting. I know I am. But lay it out and look at the overall effect and you won't notice the things you aren't happy with as much as you did. It's hard stepping out of our comfort zone, but you did good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belquilt Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I THINK YOU DID WONDERFUL!!!! I have had my Liberty for two weeks now and have finished two small quilts with freehand meandering. You inspire me to move on with something else now!!!:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Diane, Beautifu!! And aren't you glad that one is done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingupastorm Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Since we are comiserating on frog stitching. I had a customer quilt two weeks ago that was getting an allover loose meander......................the lady got in on my startup sale so the quilting was really a bargain but she took forever to send the quilt. It was a huge king sized quilt. When I got it off the frame I discovered to my horror that her baking had two huge folds......................................yep took a few hours of frogging and reloading on the frame! Then last week I had another quilt and was being sooooo careful to check the back underneath each time I rolled it. This quilt was getting dense McTavishing and one morning (it was a several day project) I had been at it for an hour when I just got a bad feeling about the way the machine was moving.............................yep the tenison on the back was loopy..............................I spent the next 8 hours ripping out McTavishing that I had been working on for an hour! If you have never done McTavishing there is alot of stitching back over some of your lines so it is a huge pain to unsew much less for 8 hours! Well once I applied a damp washcloth to the areas where I had pulled out threads you could not even tell I had to pull it out. The finished quilt turned out beautiful: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2298393050053837050guifLJ This is a shot of a corner right before I took it off the machine. The McTavishing was done on the white backgound and does not show too well in this shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Nice job, Sewingupastorm. Don't you wish you could charge by the hour?? Gammy Diane, how do you like working with stencils?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammydiane Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Sewingupastorm....Wow...guess I won't complain too loudly. But every time I make a mistake, I really seem to learn something from it. I just don't want to make a huge mistake on someone else's quilt. One think I've learned from piecing quilts....there is usually a way to fix everything. I'm curious...what causes the folds in the backing? Does it go into the rollers crooked or what? Your quilt was beautiful by the way. Mary Beth....I like the stencil, but it is all I really know right now. I started out with pantographs and that quickly got boring. Although there are some beautiful ones I still like to do. I don't have enough talent to do too much from the front of the machine. I put my stencil on a little holder I got from The Pattern Man. It lays across the bars. I know people also make their own. It holds the stencil in place and I follow it with my laser. I did one other quilt for Project Warmth using this method. This was just my second one and I was using a larger stencil. It's far from perfect, but if you don't look at just one square it's not too bad. I find it a lot easier to use the laser than to follow lines on the quilt itself. It's nothing like what some of you ladies produce by a long shot. I figure if you use the 30 MPR rule it's fine. Hang it on the porch and drive by at 30 MPR and it looks great!!!!:D I think back when I knew nothing about quilting, and my sister-in-law was into it. At that time the only longarm quilting you got around here were strictly very simple pantographs. I thought they were awesome. So I figure the people I give these to don't quilt, so hopefully they will be happy and not know any better. Fancy or plain....I love doing it, and hope to keep learning more and more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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