I tamed the beast...before and after pics

[On Pins and Needles 36]

Finally this is finished. I took it off the frame and frogged about 18" of the quilting. I was a tailor for 30 years so frogging is one of my strongest skills, ha! Then I started taking borders off bit by bit, straightening and reducing them. This is what I came up with. It's not perfect but passable, I think the customer will be happy. I spent more hours on this than I'll ever admit.

Thanks again for all your help.

[mamu 149]

WOW.. .you really made those border look so much better!    You are a better person than i am..I don't think i would have gone to all the trouble of fixing it all 

[qltnbe 385]

I don't know what you did, but it turned out great. 

[Oma 1,064]

Yes you most certainly did.  Congratulations...job well done.

[Pepsi Girl 238]

Amazing!

[Gamache 40]

Doesn't look like the same quilt!! You worked wonders on it and your customer will have to love it.

[chrisquilter 372]

Excellent!  You did a wonderful job!  Yes, your customer will love it.

[Lizbeth 7]

The quilt looks awesome. What did you do to it to make it square?

As a beginner I would not know where to even begin.

 

Lizbeth

[anniemueller 332]

I am always in awe of the quilters who work magic.  That's terrific!

[Beachside Quilter 704]

Wow, Cindy! You really tamed this beast! Congratulations!

[ffq-lar 3,593]

I'm applauding (clapclapclap)! It's lovely now and not-so-lovely before. You did a great job!

 

 

Please tell me you either charged for the fix  or at least instructed your customer on the right way piece so the top is nice and flat?

[JeannieB 154]

Hey, I think I know that piecer!!!  LOL!  What a great job ... AND please tell us all the gorey details of how you fixed it!  8-)

[cherylannie 68]

That's amazing.  You are a great person as well as a great quilter.  I hope she appreciates it. 

[On Pins and Needles 36]

Thanks for all the kind words, I was surprised at the transformation myself! When I took this off the frame my plan was to give it back to her to fix, although I didn't really think she would or could so after a couple days of looking at it I started ripping.

I took the bottom two borders completely off. Then I determined how much fullness I needed to eliminate, about 3" in width and 1.5" in length to get the corners up and even with that short part in the center. Then I started squaring up corners starting with the innermost border, there were 7 borders in all. I just did them one by one, and as I went I made the borders shorter by taking in seams here and there. There were a lot of seams to work with. Then I sewed the bottom two birders back on, simple as that..ha!

I hate to admit this but it took me 8 hours, she's also an enthusiastic back stitcher so I fought that at every turn and that made the job slower. I'm not sure if I can charge her for it, now that it's done I don't care. My plan was to give her a lesson on correct border application and not take any more quilts from her that were improperly done, well see how that goes. I sent her a text to tell her I had it worked out, she was very grateful and said she had another one ready to bring me. This is one "her daughter designed and it has fancier borders". I'm very, very afraid......

And thanks again to all if you. I have to say I've not made peace with my machine yet and it's been 6 years, but the APQS community is second to none!

[GMALKB 368]

I would really look over the next quilt and see just how "fancy" those borders are.   You worked wonders with the first one, but shouldn't be expected to continue to make them like they should be. 

[lmeimann 39]

Wen I did that once for a customer that had a chronic problem with "full" borders, I trimmed off the extra fabric and pinned it to the spot it had been cut from. Seeing pieces several inches long made more of an impression than just discussing it with her. I'd love to say she totally changed her ways.... But things are a bit better.

[RitaR 645]

You diod a tremendous jopb with that quilt. 

I'd be afraid if you don't  charge her for the extra work, she will get the idea you will fix them all and not charge.

 

At least charge= her for half the time it took you to fix it, and impress on her that you spent time working on her

quilt that you had scheduled to work on someone elses quilts.

 

Good Luck and talk sweet to Your Machine, and you two will bond. 

[On Pins and Needles 36]

Linda B and Rita, don't worry, I won't do this again. Her next quilts, including the one with the fancier border will get a good inspection while she's here and we'll negotiate the fixes if there are any. I'm also going to give her some instructions on how to put borders on correctly and we'll go from there. I think she'll be a steady customer so I'm willing to give her a chance. I'm NOT doing this again though.