Thursday, July 27, 2006

Three Down One To Go!





Well this one has been a real bitch to do! It's always difficult working on somebody else's creation whether it be a round robin, quilting someone else's top or just binding somebody else's quilt.

When you complete your own work you know how it's been constructed and what to do from there.

Sadly this quilt has been worked on by lots of different people at lots of different skill levels as you would expect from a group quilt and as it should be because it's good for everyone to contribute regardless of level of expertise. My main problem has been that the right hand side border is slightly too long giving a little fullness at the edge. This coupled with the minimal quilting which never takes in any fullness means that even with a walking foot there are sadly a couple of unavoidable tiny tucks where the binding joins.

In addition to this the binding fabric was woefully thin and floppy - you could almost see light through it - so I've managed to stitch in a slight twist. However I just don't have the time to dismantle it and rework it, plus I don't think the fabric would stand up to the frog stitching quite frankly.

Still I suppose finished is better than perfect and the applique and hand quilting is also a bit suspect so at least that's not down to me. It has taken me some amount of time over yesterday, the day before and this morning to bind, label and sleeve it so I feel I've put in as much effort as it will get.

It is the main prize for our raffle so I hope the recipient likes it - it is a lovely quilt (from a bit of a distance) but does leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't get it perfect.

Now I just have to find the length of dark blue flowered fabric I've kept for The Brute's binding to match some of the narrow borders in the quilt. Oddly enough it's not in the bag I thought I'd put it - Oh No! - I can feel the need for a stash excavation coming over me :o(

Panic over - in a moment of inspiration I just realised I'd squirrelled it away in a drawer in the lounge so I would know where I'd put it! - located now and started to cut the bias for the binding :o)

6 comments:

Lily Mulholland said...

Oh Anne I have lots of 'very safe places' all around my house too! Glad you found it.

Yikes. Moon rising over mountain for a group quilt - that was ambitious! I hope you don't win the raffle - if you know what I mean! *winks*

Linda C said...

Sounds like you are going to be very happy to see this one leave your house. It is hard not to overlook its faults with your nose that close into the work and the frustration shows with trying to make a "silk purse" out of prior situation. Hopefully lessons will be learned for the next one and someone will be thrilled to have it.

quiltpixie said...

its hard to be satisfied with a project that isn't our best work. It is useful to hang on to the fact this was a group project, not yours... its qualitity is a reflection of the group's work, not yours individually.... Sounds like you did what you could, which was all that was asked :-)

Judy said...

Yes that always trips me up too...when I "put something away so I can find it later". *VBG*

Almost never to be seen again!

It is a lovely quilt, despite the issues.

Katie said...

The only sure way I know to find the misplaced item is to buy a placement. Works every time. VBS

sharon b said...

It will be a wonderful quilt.. raise some money and someone will hopefully wrap themselves up in all the work. check out quazeequilting and see the wedding ring that 5 of us did for gift for older couple getting married in one month. it's got ripples and tucks, but we make these quilts with little bites of ourselves that we give away with glad hearts and hands.. Don't be so hard on you effort..