GramMER

I am curious how it was ruined. Is it puckered? Is it too tight or too loose? What happened?

While we were in the US this spring, I sent out two quilts to be done by an "unknown" LA quilter. I too was very disappointed in the results. My guess is that the machine tension was out of whack. As the pattern went one direction, everything seemed fine, but as it went the other direction the stitches were huge and loose--just lying on top of the fabric! The bobbin thread literally lay on the top of the cloth just under loops from the top thread. I believe she may also have pushed the quilt too fast for the machine to catch up if that makes sense. For sure her stitch length was not right. My fear is that the loose top thread may allow things to catch on the bobbin thread and actually pull it out.

I showed the work to another LA quilter and she was appalled. She offered to do it over for me if I wanted to have it done, but I could not afford to pay for it twice. She also asked me who did it and I refused to say because I am not into the bashing business. I am hoping that I can gradually do a few places by hand if they come out.

I did quite a bit of research before I contracted with my quilter. I got recommendations, went to her shop and looked carefully at the quilts she had on display. What more could I have done?