Thursday, October 13, 2011

the {real} quilt story



The last time I was here with Leila and Rosie I showed this quilt I was working on, and I received some very kind compliments. But I'm here today to tell the {real} story - the reason being that I am just a schlepper in the quilting sphere, and you can do this, too - most likely far better than I!

 The quilt top was made by someone else and I got it on ebay. It's worn in places, and the fabric has thinned. I chose it for the colors, and didn't realize the condition it was in.

When I put the layers together, I didn't bother to tape down the backing, thinking I'd smoothed it out sufficiently; so when I started machine quilting it, I found I had to keep unpinning and smoothing it out again as I went along.  Oh, well!

I wanted to machine-stitch it, so first I stitched in the ditches, then decided to do some parallel stitching across the whole thing, one way. Partly because of my carelessness in not smoothing it out enough initially, and partly because it wasn't put together evenly in places, there were areas where it didn't lay flat - it kind of puffed out between the stitching I had done. I decided to just topstitch it down and at that point I began to realize that it was not going to be a beautiful quilt. That's okay - I hope I'm at least somewhat adaptable!




Another terrible mess occurred on the back - I think I was zipping along too fast with the machine and there appeared some bunching, which I had no intention of ripping out (too much trouble)!  I was dismayed  and had a brief temptation to give it up - but I told myself to just cover it up somehow later. Ah, well!




But that isn't all.  I'd gone on youtube to find a video on making mitred corners, and thought I did pretty well with them. But, when I was cutting around the edge to trim off  the seam allowances, I cut into a couple of the corners and ruined them!  By this time you can imagine that foolish mistakes were almost de rigueur - what, another mess-up? What else?



To "fix" the bunching in the back I cut a rectangle of the binding fabric and, with a double strand of embroidery floss, whipstitched around the edge of it in a very obvious way, with a big Natalie Chanin style knot showing. If you're not a perfectionist, it's not use trying to pretend you are - believe me!  I have some yellow and white striped fabric, and I think I'm going to patch up the offending corners with it. Then it will look more presentable.






My point in telling all this is to prove that I really don't know what I'm doing, (but I want to do it anyway!), and to show all those who complimented me so sweetly that if you shed your concerns about having to do it perfectly, you are bound to do much better than I, and if you don't - it's fun anyway!

I learned a few things from this:
I need to tape the backing to the floor next time.
Stitching in the ditch is a pain.
I need to be more careful when trimming off the excess batting - and maybe employ a different method of cutting around the corners!

I also learned some other, positive things:
What a transformation is caused by the quilting process - how amazingly different it all looks afterward; even a cheap, vintage five dollar quilt top.
And, how the right binding around the edge can also do beautiful things to the whole piece.

Try it yourself - what have you got to lose but your hesitancy? Now, I have another covering in the house, and it matches. It's warm. It's cute. I won't mind throwing it on the floor or on the grass.

I will be more careful next time.

It cost me less than ten bucks.

Thanks to Rosie and Leila!     And, by the way - I realize this post may also be considered a {funny} by those who are expert in the quilting world, so I give you full permission to laugh.  :)



round button chicken

17 comments:

  1. I think it's beautiful, and as someone who knows little about quilt-making or "real" sewing, I'd look at your quilt and not even realize there were any flaws or "live and learn" moments involved in the process of creating this one. It's lovely.

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  2. I love your quilt! It sounds like I made it myself! We have a saying at our house, "Perfect is the enemy of the good." In other words, if it must be perfect, it might not be. I'm so happy you finished it. I remember it from last time and I think it's lovely. Thanks for sharing it again.

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  3. Oh I would never laugh! I remember some the horrendous "finished" items I ended up with when I first began sewing. I still cringe to think of it. Making mistakes is the only way to learn a new skill and move forward.

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  4. Ha, now I love it even more. Yes, I'm sure perfect quilts are wonderful, I've seen some, but I like loved quilts the most.

    “Pied Beauty” (1877)Gerard Manley Hopkins


    Glory be to God for dappled things—
    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
    Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
    Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
    And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
    All things counter, original, spare, strange;
    Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
    He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him.


    So, consider your first quilt a dappled thing. :-)

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  5. Dondi, that is true - I learn best from my own mistakes.

    Mousy, I thank you - I would never have made that connection with anything so sublime-sounding as Gerard Manley Hopkins' words.

    And thanks also, Val & Bethanne!

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  6. It's beautiful! I'm a big believer in learning by doing and unusally in the process I learn by messing up ;-)

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  7. I won't laugh because I think that it is just amazing and I most certainly couldn't even attempt something like that.

    You are so talented.

    Well done Lisa


    x Fiona

    who cannot even sew a button onto a shirt!

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  8. What a fun post! You are very honest :) But if you go back and look at your post as if you were just visiting... you might see the charm, and the real sweetness of your quilt!

    If you compare your quilt to a formal masterpiece, then, well, yes, you had some trouble. But I find that the concept of a UTILITY quilt is a wonderful one! Something to keep someone warm -- to throw in the car, to grab on a sofa, to spread out for a peanut-butter picnic -- well, then, it's fine!

    Have you ever seen these quilts? http://pinterest.com/search/?q=gees+bend

    These ladies had very little to work with. When you understand that, things that at first seem quite odd become lovely. And that's how I feel about your quilt! XOXO

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  9. Oh lisa I wouldn't laugh because I have been there, done that. My first quilt I was going to give to our dogs, but my Mum salvaged it.

    In terms of your buckling - your problem might not have been your smoothing out (though that probably would have helped) but whether you had a walking foot. My quilting has improved 10 fold since I made that investment.

    Also, this is my favourite tutorial for doing binding. On my first three quilts my binding ended up on the back - this tutorial has it working perfectly. http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/10/binding-tutorial.html

    Oh, and always remember that the Shakers used to put a deliberate mistake in their quilts as a reminder that nobody but God is perfect:)

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  10. Leila - a "peanut butter picnic" - I just happened to be eating p.b. when I read your comment!
    Anyway, thanks for the link - I'd heard of Gees Bend, but didn't know what it was about. The quilts are very appealing! Thank you kindly for the affirmations.

    And thanks to everyone!

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  11. P.M. - I do have a walking foot - I just got a new machine which has one, so I was dying to use it! But thank you for the tutorial link!!

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  12. I think it looks lovely. I hope to take up quilting someday.
    Blessings,
    dawn

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  13. This is great Lisa. Real is the deal. I like you even more now... ;)

    Blessings, Debbie

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  14. I love a {real} story. It is still a lovely quilt and perfectly imperfect.

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  15. Hi Lisa! Thank you for commenting on our Wind in the Willows Grand Tour! It's been VERY fun! I'll keep putting the blog posts on my sidebar so everyone can enjoy Ratty, Toad, and Mole's journey! Nice to "meet" you!

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  16. I like the quilt. I like things that look hand made, not perfect, but pretty anyway. And to me, part of being a crafter is learning to adapt and discover new ways of fixing things. Because I, too, have to fix a lot of mistakes!

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