I made this double Irish chain for my father in law whom I dearly love.
I was so tickled because I would have it done in time for Christmas. This is the top on my floor.

PS be sure to look at all the pictures so you can feel my pain! LOL

I am only getting one picture. It is of a beautiful irish chain quilt.

i'm only getting one picture, too. it is beautiful! i'm planning out a double irish chain. bought a panel of grandma quotes for the center squares.

Hancock's was out of cotton batting so I went with $38.00 wool!
It RECOMENDS wash warm dry flat. It did not say mandatory to not put in the dryer on the gentle cycle. Since I'm never home in the daylite, I put ii in the dryer on LOW.

That is just gorgous.. Great work I can seriously see that it was ALOT of work!


So what will you do now? Since the batting issue

ohhhhhhh, Kathy! I do feel your pain. That is so *sad*!

The quilt is absolutely beautiful. Can you (gulp) pick out the stitches and re-quilt it over cotton batting?

gahhhh, I cannot imagine how upsetting this must be. (At some point you'll probably start laughing though. I know I would!)

rf

Oh my!! I'm so sorry that that happened. I know that you spent a lot of time on that quilt and I know that would just break my heart if something like that happened.

Could you wash it again and then lay it out, block it and let it dry flat?

Well I'm reeeely having trouble here, be patient, it's coming (I think)
No there was no way that wool was giving an inch! After I finally got it out it was just as flat as it could be. It took my mom and me 6 1/2 days to unquilt and I'm trying to get the final pictures on here.

There we go! Thanks for the compliments.

I would have cried.

Nice recovery though. Yowzer, what a nice quilt.

tim in san jose

oh no , i would of cried too, very beautiful quilt. i agree with tim nice recovery.

Excellent recovery... Sorry to hear you had to undo the quilting.. I would have been frustrated..

It made my stomach lurch just looking at it. I'm so sorry that happened to you, and I'm glad for your perseverence to fix the problem.

M

WOW!! What a beautiful quilt. I'm so glad you were able to save it.

I am so sorry that happened to your beautiful quilt. Thankfully it was saved through lots of hard work though.

Kyia

You must have the patience of a saint! LOTS of love in that quilt!!!!

That quilt is gorgeous but what a worry.... the extra effort put into it paid off..... well done to you both.... a lesson we have all learnt.... thank you for posting pictures....

Beautiful Quilt. I admire that you persevered and took the quilting out and did the redo. Deep frustrstion, would of made a many give up. Alot of work, Your Father-n-law, can admire the fact that you are so-not a quiter, and you found him to be so worth it. A beautiful job, well done, In so many ways. Congrats........

I really don't know what I would have done, I love blue it is a beautiful quilt

A beautiful and stunning recovery! I'm just sorry it happened in the first place. I bet you were stressing when you opened that dryer! You know, a lot of quilters talk about the beauty and texture of puckery quilting! That wool may have been a bit much!

i'm pretty sure she did.

i don't merely admire the quilt itself, which is for sure a beaoooooooty. i admire the fact that she didn't give up on it. unquilting is harder than quilting and definitely not fun.

Kathy is my hero! :P

well now i'm crying again, I don't i've ever been a hero!
i'm just back from carpul tunnel surgery so i'm talking with one hand in my lap.
i was like a maniac when i took that thing out of the dryer, i just couldn't believe it, and when we got it all apart i ecpected the wool to be a puckered up but it was just a perfectly flat sheet, only smaller!
i'm going to use it in a tree skirt when i can use my other hand again and see if it shrinks any more when i wash/dry, if not i'll use it for a smaller quilt. it feels wonderful, not like any sheep i've ever touched! lol
thanks so much for all the good words, i'm all puffed up now.

tim, i'm impressed that you admitted that you would have cried, or was that just to make me feel better? ok, i showed you mine now you have to show us yours! roflmbo

OH Sh00T! I'd've killed the dryer! I'm glad you got it fixed. It looks great. All that work and undoing and re-work give you carpul tunnel?

Lovely quilt & colors are great! So sorry you had to undo, But it sure was a good save :thumbup: :D

Kathy,
What a beautiful quilt even if you did have to quilt it twice! The first time was for practice, I'm sure.

I had no idea wool would do what it did to you. I used a wool batt for my step-daughter's quilt and washed and dried it but good fortune was smiling on me (I just didn't have any idea how much) because I pulled the quilt out while it was damp and got only a very small bit of puckering. What luck! So sorry you weren't as lucky!

Now to write my step-daughter and tell her not to put that thing in the dryer! I don't want to have to unquilt that thing!

Indeed you are our hero! Thank you for sharing so we don't have to experience what you went through! It's most appreciated!

Kathy, I do feel your pain but I'm so glad you were able to save it. Now this quilt will just have more of a story to go with it. Beautiful quilt!!! :D

Oh, Kathy, that was painful to look at, but I'm so glad you were able to fix it. I don't know what I would have done, I have no patience when it comes to things like that. I probably would have thrown it in a corner and started all over. Kudos to you. And I hope your surgery went well and I pray for a fast recovery!!!

Kathy, Great recovery. That is a really beautiful quilt. I had to unquilt a quilt once and it was a laborious job, but I'm glad I did it. The end result was worth the effort.

Helen

Kathy, that is a gorgeous quilt and an awesome recovery. I'm so sorry that happened to you.

I had something like that happen, some years ago. I made whole cloth quilt as a charity project. I tried to line up the fabric and the batting and the backing. It was a lofty batting. It came out with more lumps than my first attempt at homemade gravy. life goes on. keep quilting. :D

My "triple chain (without the chain)" is complete. I need to wash and dry it myself. It has" Warm and White" in it, I hope it doesn't do what your wool one did. I'll take pictures of it when I give to Phoebe for her bed.

Not only would I have cried, I would have said a lot of things that would make a Marine blush.

That's sort of how I am.

tim in san jose

Kathy, your quilt is gorgeous, glad you could save it. Did you use Warm and Natural this time?

The quilt is beautiful, and more meaningful after all you have gone through in it's creation! I hope your FIL loves it.

I wanted to ask what size block you used for the blue squares. I'm going to do one in greens for my nephew's upcoming wedding and can't decide between 2 or 2 1/2 inch blocks.

Diane

Oh my! I'd have cried and stuck the thing in a box for at least a year. You were brave to tackle it right away.

I'd have tried to see if anybody else wanted it to fix! (Maybe.)

It's beautiful, and the others are right, you are a hero for undoing it and starting again! Your Mom too!

yes Diane I used Warm and White, it's wonderful, like a blanket. On the second go round, I used a 12wt thread and just made one diagonal line down the center of the chain and hand quilted around the designs on the solid blocks to make them puff up. I cut my strips at 2-1/2 so they finished at 2". I have been thinking of doing a green quilt too. I think if I use the Irish Chain for it I will fin a small print for those solid blocks and then lite, med. and dark for the chain.
We went to visit on Sunday so I could give him the quilt, he got teary eyed (he's 90). He saw the lable but I know he couldn't read it so my sister in law who lives with him is going to "notice" it and read it to him.
I could have done it without my mom but would probably still be working on it! Sometimes it would be hung and not moving but I made a lot of stitches before I noticed and those tiny things were very hard to get out.

Kathy....Your quilt is absolutly gorgeous...beautifull work....I am sorry about the misfortune with the dryer....I run once into a similar experience ..The dryers are "quilts killers".....I took off all the batting and reused the top.......
Hope you can save this quilt since you really did a great job...Good luck

Kathy your quilt is beautiful. Your patience is admirable. Your work ethic is commendable. Your mom is wonderful to help you. I'm sorry you had the unfortunate wool experience, but what a prize you ended up with. And we all learned a valuable lesson vicariously! Makes me glad I'm allergic to wool and would never consider using it or I'd probably be in the "been there done that" category! Way to go!!!!

Never give up! Never surrender!

Kathy, Kathy, Kathy! You have earned So Much good Karma! Well done, You!