Help me decide..I'm thinking "into the rubbish bin"
04-28-2018, 07:14 AM
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,132
No way would I trash all that beautiful work. You say the quilt is well supported by tables. My husband put together several pvc stands for our group of donation quilters. The stands are a take-off on the Jenoops design, and I find that clipping to the flexible elastic straps holds the bulk slightly above the table and helps so much when I am sewing on the binding.
04-28-2018, 07:25 AM
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Western Washington
Posts: 940
I agree with others that I would not trash this quilt. I see nothing wrong with your quilting and as others have said finish and either use it as a car/garden/picnic quilt or donate it (it will be well loved). I am in the process of quilting a top and I began in the center and worked my way to the edges and alternated direction of stitching with each section of blocks so that may work for you. In the end I would finish the quilt and then wash and see if it a keeper or a donation.
04-28-2018, 07:48 AM
#23
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,410
As far as I can tell, the quilting looks fine (and I am infamous for "telling it like it is")
There is a certain amount of pouf always caused by when the batting gets squished by the stitching.
If you don't have pleats on the back - I think you are good to continue.
You might consider putting it aside for a few days, though - and work on something that seems to be going better for a while.
There is a certain amount of pouf always caused by when the batting gets squished by the stitching.
If you don't have pleats on the back - I think you are good to continue.
You might consider putting it aside for a few days, though - and work on something that seems to be going better for a while.
04-28-2018, 08:15 AM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Ballwin, MO
Posts: 4,211
I think it would be a shame to throw this away. On the other hand, I don't know what sense it makes to put more of your precious time and energy into something you'll ultimately be unhappy with. I think there's a chance you might feel differently when it's done, so I would say, continue with it. It does look perfectly fine in the photos. Please don't throw it away, though. If you decide not to continue with it, donate it to a guild for completion or salvage.
04-28-2018, 09:00 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Van. Island, BC
Posts: 1,416
Originally Posted by ruby2shoes
For the first time ever I am considering throwing out a quilt. My intentions with my 78" x 78" Jacobs Ladder quilt was to quilt it in a diagonal grid all over. I am only about 1/3 of the way doing my first direction diagonals and I am having serious thoughts about continuing. I am getting quite a lot of "pull and poof" in the fabric between my stitching lines and frankly, it's looking ghastly and there is no way I can even contemplate pulling out all my stitching, re-basting and starting all over. I initially tried doing vertical columns but they too ended up with "sagging".
I was so careful with my pin basting....over 600 safety pins and 2 split fingers says I'm a little hero in that department! I have my quilt well supported with tables behind and to the left of my machine which is sunken flush into the table and I am mindful not to sew too fast with the walking foot.
(1)Is this worth persisting with or should I just write it off and move on?
(2) Once I do the diagonal stitching in the opposite direction is this likely to straighten out my sags?
(3) Would I be better off to not do diagonal griding but instead just continue with this one direction of stitching and then matchstick the columns?
(4) Do I make the trip to the rubbish bin with it? Apart from a heck of a lot of time invested this quilt was not a particularly expensive investment.....blacks were all made with scraps from my stash ad therein lies the problem perhaps...a lot of different, and possibly inferior quality fabrics have gone into the blocks....? distortion/bias problems.
I'm really looking for some guidance on this one..never had this sort of problem before and don't want to persevere for another week or so if I'm only heading for disappointment. I don't mind a bit of "sag" here and there in my quilts but this is pretty much all over my columns even though the photos don't show it.
I was so careful with my pin basting....over 600 safety pins and 2 split fingers says I'm a little hero in that department! I have my quilt well supported with tables behind and to the left of my machine which is sunken flush into the table and I am mindful not to sew too fast with the walking foot.
(1)Is this worth persisting with or should I just write it off and move on?
(2) Once I do the diagonal stitching in the opposite direction is this likely to straighten out my sags?
(3) Would I be better off to not do diagonal griding but instead just continue with this one direction of stitching and then matchstick the columns?
(4) Do I make the trip to the rubbish bin with it? Apart from a heck of a lot of time invested this quilt was not a particularly expensive investment.....blacks were all made with scraps from my stash ad therein lies the problem perhaps...a lot of different, and possibly inferior quality fabrics have gone into the blocks....? distortion/bias problems.
I'm really looking for some guidance on this one..never had this sort of problem before and don't want to persevere for another week or so if I'm only heading for disappointment. I don't mind a bit of "sag" here and there in my quilts but this is pretty much all over my columns even though the photos don't show it.
, didn't care for my quilting but finished it anyway. Didn't think it was good enough to donate so it sat at the bottom of my pile. Sis ( a quilter) saw the color and pulled it out and asked for it. She thought it was beautiful. So continue on with your quilt, to me it looks great.
04-28-2018, 12:34 PM
#27
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 15,179
Ruby, that is waaay too beautiful to trash. But I can understand your frustration, as I'm sure the others do.
I'm not a machine quilting expert so I have no advice other than maybe let it go for a few days until you can deal with it again.
I'm not a machine quilting expert so I have no advice other than maybe let it go for a few days until you can deal with it again.
04-28-2018, 12:40 PM
#28
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Everyone has given great advice, and I agree with those who think you should continue on with the quilt.
To lessen the problem with distortion, I recommend spray starching both the top and backing several times. Ideally you would have done this before pinning, but you can still do it now even with the pins in. Easiest method is to lay out the quilt flat on the floor on top of a larger flat sheet. Use spray starch, spraying from the outside edges towards the center to minimize overspray. Let dry. A fan speeds this process. Repeat, placing about 3 layers of spray starch on the one side. Then, turn the quilt over and repeat the process on the backside.
What the starch will do (even without ironing) is stabilize the fabrics so they are less easily stretched and distorted while you sew. This is useful for any straight line quilting, more so if the lines are on the bias as yours are, and even *more* so if you plan to crosshatch any of the lines. Crosshatching is where you are most likely to discover little puckers and tucks because you have excess fabric in front of the presser foot when you get to the line of stitching you have to cross.
To lessen the problem with distortion, I recommend spray starching both the top and backing several times. Ideally you would have done this before pinning, but you can still do it now even with the pins in. Easiest method is to lay out the quilt flat on the floor on top of a larger flat sheet. Use spray starch, spraying from the outside edges towards the center to minimize overspray. Let dry. A fan speeds this process. Repeat, placing about 3 layers of spray starch on the one side. Then, turn the quilt over and repeat the process on the backside.
What the starch will do (even without ironing) is stabilize the fabrics so they are less easily stretched and distorted while you sew. This is useful for any straight line quilting, more so if the lines are on the bias as yours are, and even *more* so if you plan to crosshatch any of the lines. Crosshatching is where you are most likely to discover little puckers and tucks because you have excess fabric in front of the presser foot when you get to the line of stitching you have to cross.
04-28-2018, 02:10 PM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 9,300
I'd say persevere with the grid, bind it (by machine if you really don't want to put any more valuable time into it), then wash it and keep or give it as a picnic/beach/ballfield/emergency quilt in the trunk of your car.
In the trunk, you don't have to see it every day, but it's there. Perhaps you'll see a homeless person or someone in need of warmth in a crisis. Using it for that purpose would most certainly redeem it in your eyes, right?
You have been up close to it for so long, and the mistakes and aggravations are magnified to you. (I think we can all remember "that" quilt.) Let the reward be in persevering. Designate it the Most Utilitarian Quilt on the Planet and you won't shed a tear when it gets messed up.
In the trunk, you don't have to see it every day, but it's there. Perhaps you'll see a homeless person or someone in need of warmth in a crisis. Using it for that purpose would most certainly redeem it in your eyes, right?
You have been up close to it for so long, and the mistakes and aggravations are magnified to you. (I think we can all remember "that" quilt.) Let the reward be in persevering. Designate it the Most Utilitarian Quilt on the Planet and you won't shed a tear when it gets messed up.
04-28-2018, 03:15 PM
#30
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 730
Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the opinions. I have a week of work now so I have 7 days to mutter to myself about it before making a final decision. So matchsticking is not an option? You don't think that would help?
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