Help-need opinion/options for yucky quilt job-Update

[maggienoella]

The tension was fixed and I followed your advice:  I started at the end of the quilt and fixed what I thought were the worst bobbles all the way back to the start of the quilt.  There were 3 I think.  At each pass I looked it over and then stepped back 3 or 4 feet and it looked ok. 

My client picked it up and was happy!  We will be getting some boards very soon.

Thank you for all the advice.   

 

 

 

I'm sorry I don't seem to get here too much except for when I have problems...I'm trying to get back to communicating more but...anyway

I quilted a You've Got Mail quilt.  The client wanted the pattern that was in the magazine and the closest thing that I had was Bauhaus.  I told her that yes, I could do that panto but it would not look like the perfection that was in the photo because it was obvious that it was done by computer.  She said she understood and I got started.

Well, I quilted it and did my best but I don't like the job that I did.  My husband says that I'm being too critical, that when you lay it out and look at it as a whole it looks fine.

I just don't know what to do.  I know that a computer for us is at least a year out.

I'm going to unroll it again...I had to redo part of the first row because it had eyelashes on the back.  I don't mind doing whatever it takes BUT the row that I re-quilted didn't really look that much better than the last row...and this is a king, so I had plenty of rows to get better and I practiced a couple of rows without thread before I started.  Anyway, I'm going to unroll it and look at it with fresh eyes today.

I can think of a few options but I don't know what to do...I don't want to imply to my client that I did a poor job.  However, I don't want to trim it and hand it back to her and have her be unhappy with it.

I can:

1) ask her to come over and see if she likes it or would like me to rip it out and quilt it with another pattern;

2) tell her I'll re-quilt it when I get a computer;

3) offer her a discount to take it as is--I don't want to do this.

I'll post a photo but want to ask what you would do.

At this point, this quilt has become an elephant in the quilting room. 

I'm thinking option 1 is the best option.  I don't care how many hours I will end up having in the quilt - I Just Want It To Look Good.  Not perfect, but something that I'm not ashamed of.

I also am having a hard time trying to figure out how hand guided should look compared to a computer, if you know what I mean.

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Joan

 

 

[delld]

Eye lashes?  Yes I would frog those. I don't think you have done "bad". Ask her if she is pleased with what you have done. If not offer another pattern that you are comfortable doing.  Circle Lord boards are great to use.  I LOVE MINE!!!

   Good luck!

[maggienoella]

Hi Dell, yes, I think that's what I'm going to do.  I have the basic circle lord but that's it so I'm going to work with her on a pattern that she likes that is a circle lord and go from there.  There should be one that is similar to what she wants.

Thanks,

Joan

[Zora]

I really don't see anything wrong in the photo you showed.  What do you think is wrong with it?  Following a panto, any panto, is not an exact science.  Remember, you are staring at the quilting.  Everybody else who sees it is looking at the quilt.  I think it is entirely possible you are being too critical of your work.  That said...it's why I don't do pantos.  I am never satisfied with my imperfection.   And, I am a lot further from a computer than a year out.  Check out Trinity Burrack' s Precise Panto system.  It might help until you can get a computer.  

[K. Szymaszek]

Hi Joan, I don't have a computer either and sometimes pantos kick my you know what. I don't do to many but if that changes I will be looking into the Precise Panto System by Trinity of 2sistersquilting. It looks like it would really work and the response sounds good. It runs around 250.00. A lot less than a computer. Hopefully someone with one will chime in. Might be another option till you get your computer. K

 

BTW, I don't think it looks bad either. We are our own worst critics.

[maggienoella]

It's funny because when I first started quilting, my circles looked like squares.  Now that I've gotten the curves down, my squares look more like circles.

Anyway, I see that R&S has the Bauhaus pattern in a board.  I'm going to see about getting those boards next week and also have her come over and have a look.

Thanks,

Joan

[Sue E.]

I think the quilting looks good. Don't compare yourself to a computer. I have several digitized designs that are not "perfect". I believe we are all much harder on ourselves than our clients are. Look at the quilt as a whole and stand back several feet. Years ago I was told that if it looks good "on a galloping horse from 6 feet away" it is fine. No one but you will notice that it might not be perfect. I personally would not offer her a discount. I would correct the tension issues but I wouldn't worry about a "bobble" or two.

[qltnbe]

I thought it looked fine, too.  I would leave it and not offer to do anything to the quilt (other than frogging the eyelashes).  Just stand back and see what you customer says and go from there.  Really, it looks good to me.  We are our own worst critics and a king size quilt!....I am thinking I would hate to rip all that out. 

[anniemueller]

You are being too critical of your work.  Many of us do that, myself included.  Fix the tension problems and present it positively to your client.  Chances are she's going to be happy with it.

 

If the odd thing happens and she is not happy with it, ask her what she doesn't like about it.   Listen carefully to what she says, because it might not be what you think.  Then, if you get this far, you can offer to rip it out and redo it at whatever price feels good to you.  This could be at no price if that makes you feel good, but don't short change your time.  You did have the discussion with her before you started.

 

Past this quilt, invest in the boards.  They will give you great results and peace of mind.

[KarenH]

Hi Joan, 

Annie gives great advice. I think  we only look at a portion of the quilt at a time, and I am sure we can all pick out the spots where we think it doesn't look like the panto. But as a whole it always looks good, especially after you take it off the machine.

Good luck, I think you did a fine job, and I am sure your customer will like it.

[meg]

It looks fine.

I'd fix the eye lashing and give it to your client.

Don't be so hard on yourself!

Life is too short.

[JenniferBernard]

If you decide to show to ask your client to view the quilting as it is, remember to present it with smile and a positive attitude or at least a neutral attitude. If you make negative comments, she will match you since you are the quilting expert! When I have to quilt a design on a quilt I don't like (not my colors or a pattern I don't like) my attitude seeps in and I may feel it is ugly or bad quilting but my customer usually loves it because it was her top and her design choice.

A modern quilt that had a similar design was in the recent issue of American Quilter magazine and it won a ribbon at one of the AQS shows. The squares and rectangles were very wonky, off square, and rounded corners. I think your quilting looks fine.

[HeidiP]

I think it looks fine. It's similar to what your customer wanted and she agreed to similar. She'll likely see the bigger picture, her piecing, with modern quilting, a finished quilt.

[KathG]

Joan, like everyone else I think you are being to critical of your work. To me it looks fine. !!

[Lizbeth]

I think your quilt looks just fine. We always want perfection which is pretty impossible so

we get disappointed. The only one that knows what is wrong is you, don't tell-----

Keep up the good work

[RitaR]

If you have strong irritations for the problems you see, ask your hubby to lay it out on the floor, or your bed, and turning the area to a direction you do not know, then go look at it from 6-7 feet away and see if you can find it easily. I doubt you will be able to, and I'm reasonably sure your customer won't see it either.

Take it as a boost to your confidence, and smile when she picks it up. It will be easy to do.

I don't see what you are showing as a booboo.. so it can't be very bad.

Rita

[cegates]

I did a wallhanging for our school and it is displayed behind the main receptionist's desk where I see it every day.  On the top border, around the name of the school,  I did a fill that is similar to your pattern, but it was smaller and freehand.  When the quilt was first hung all my inconsistencies and wobbles just leapt out at me, but after walking past it a dozen times for many days (and continuing to look at it with a critical eye) I now really can't see what I was worried about.  Just saying that I know how you feel when the quilting is not perfect, but I seriously doubt that your customer will be anything but pleased with her quilt.  I think it looks fine and I think she will too. 

 

Carol

[lisae]

Joan, your quilting looks fine to me too! Fix the problem area and give it to your client with a smile! You done good!

[sammi357]

Is the 'yukky' factor because you don't LIKE the design?  If you don't like the design, don't find it pleasing to YOU personally, doesn't mean that the quilting is bad. 

 

We see quilting and piecing so up close while things are in progress that sometimes it's hard to step back and see the big picture.

 

Unsewing bits because the machine stitch isn't good is one thing, but frogging perfectly fine hand-guided work because you're not a computer is another!  

 

I think the sample photo looks fine.  Free hand is not computer generated...it has a human, hands-on element that is what it is supposed to be.  wowies happen.

 

dittos everyone, it's fine, smile, give it to her, take the check and breathe a sigh of relief. 

[T Row Studio]

Remember you are not a machine the slight wobbles add Character. Your Quilting is just fine.....