Do you ever get half way through a quilt...
 

only to regret your fabric choices? I'm working on this quilt with lots of neutral colored filler quilting...but I chose a really dark backing fabric so the quilting sticks out like a sore thumb on the back. I thought I could live with it but the more I quilt...the more I'm contemplating just giving it away because I don't think I can keep it in the same house with me as it is...it's driving me crazy! I get really wishy washy where some moments I love it and some moments I hate it. ARGH!!!

I'm working on a strip tube quilt right now. I just don't like the dark browns in it, so I'm pulling any blocks with that color out and making more with no brown. I figure I'll use the blocks with dark browns to make a small charity quilt. As I just mentioned on the thread about making the wrong fabric choices, I do this way too often, but it's still fun so I try not to stress about it.

yep, live and learn.

My first quilt is still sitting because I do not like my fabric choice.

Boy, do I ever! I just took apart a quilt top of 36 blocks and 3 borders because I just did not like one of the fabrics. Of course now I'm stuck with a pile of blocks that were all trimmed and are no longer usable out of their original position.

No and I finish all my quilts. I have given away some quilts that I really loved. Now I am just making them and Daughter and Granddaughter can figure out what to do with them.

If it were not too time consuming I would rip out my quilting and use a darker bobbin but if you go that far might as well use a different backing or finish and donate to someone.

Making fabric choices for a project can be a struggle at times. What I do is agonize and keep trying out different fabric combinations until something just clicks! Using a digital camera to audition fabrics has been a big help.

Finish the quilting, maybe, then if you hate the contrast, baste a lining over it, hit it with spray paint or resolve to never, never, ever look at the back side. Seriously, if you love it sometimes and hate it only other times, love might win.

I too have a huge problem putting fabric colors together. I always feel I don't chose the right fabrics. But I usually finish and just give away.

I usually finish them and then don't want to give them to anyone because I'm embarrassed about them. I have a few just sitting in my closet with no one I would dare give them to.

I bought expensive batiks for a quilt for my sister. Then I fuse some yellow flowers on top of the background I made. I hated it. I still have the unfinished top but decided I will rip it off and re-use the fabric on other projects. It took me a good 2 years to decide to rip it off and I haven't done it yet. I guess if I came up with a design for the fabric it will be much easier to do it.

Yes, I have made quilts that I regret the color choice, but others loved them. I now know that I personally prefer quilts that have a great deal of white in them. I know what types of quilts I like and what I don't like. Since I quilt just for me, I make quilts with the colors that I like and they mainly turn out OK.....now.

I would not rip, I would finish the quilt, you might grow to love it. If you don't feel like using it now, store it and maybe use it when company comes and you need extra bedding. Can't have too many quilts when guests come.

i say finish it up, donate it or throw it out. in any event, it would be out of your house, and you will be able to focus your energy on the positive experiences. i know that this kind of negative energy bogs me down.

I tell my LA. Quilter that i dont want to see the quilting thread. I want to see the fabric. Live and learn..
S

Since I make a lot of quilts for Linus, I figure if I'm not all that crazy about my fabric choice, I'll still go ahead and finish it. Someone, somewhere is bound to like it:)

Yes, this has happened to me. But, LOL, for me, I am way too lazy to tear something apart and way too A type personality to not get a project finished. I belong to a quilting group and someone there always loves whatever it is I am not liking...lol...so I send it home with them and they finish it. Then we always bring whatever we have completed to share and so eventually it shows back up at the quilting group and looks great! Win win for everyone!

Hi there..you know if that is all that bothers you , you can take a fabric pen or crayon and color the threads on the back. I know that is allot of work but it seems tons less work than tearing it all out..good luck..

Same thing happened to me too. Bought material on an impulse at the end of a quilt show and once I got home really didn't like it. Finished the quilt but it went to charity. Live and learn. Nice to know that happens to other people too.

I am "color challenged" so I let my DD pick the colors for our quilts. I've never been disappointed with her choices

I agonize over my fabric choices, then when it is partly quilted, I find the perfect fabric that should have been in there and isn't, or some pattern I threw in because I loved it just doesn't seem to match. Usually everything looks fine at the end, or sometimes I add more applique pieces.

I always think the back is prettier than the front. I love it when I can see the stitches. I remember my Mother quilting on a frame that hung from the ceiling. Every night when she would roll it up she would stand and look at her quilting. She loved that part and I guess I got it from her.

Don't be afraid to use a sharpie to darken the thread you hate or cover the backing with another piece of fabric. If the top is ok for you, you can always fix the back.

I made a quilt for my DSIL and decided I didn't like the variety of greens in it (she wanted forrest colors). After it was finished though, I decided it wasn't so bad after all and she just loved it!!

I have three quilts in various stages of completion for just this reason. The second part of our story is that we moved into a new home and some of the colors just don't seem to fit our new home. Our previous home had both a living room and a large family room and while I kept the colors in the same color palates, the hues in the family room were much bolder to accommodate the size of the room. We have no family room here, so I'm needing to keep the colors a bit softer so as not to overwhelm the room. My bedroom colors have changed also, from the teals and rose/mauves to a softer blue, white and rose pink. When it comes to fabrics, we can only purchase what is available when we START the project - and then I find that one or two PERFECT prints that would have worked better but weren't available when I started - oh, just more goodies for my quilt closet stash!

it's beautiful! Love it!

If it's the back that you don't like, why worry about it? It's not going to be seen unless you are having it judged. Too, the galloping horse rule usually works when being critical of our own work. Up close we might think something is objectionable but standing across the room, it blends together and the part we don't like just goes away. We see the "whole" and not the individual "mistakes".

I just don't understand anyone throwing quilts in the trash because they don't like them or made a big mistake. I have bought several tops from St. Vinnies and fixed them enough to take them back there so someone can use them. They will keep someone warm, and mistakes don't matter when you're sleeping under the quilt. I just can 't see the waste when people over the world are hurting.

I just moved and needed to downsize so I donated my un-luv unfinished quilts to a quilt guild hoping they will find a home ....

I have done that - made something and hate the fabric. I finish it and give it to charity immediately. One man's trash....

It happens all the time, I have been known to take apart QUILTED quilts to change a block or two!

I quilt for pleasure not torture.

No matter how much you hate a quilt, there is someone out there who is going to love it. There is an ongoing need for quilts for charity and our military, so any quilt you make and still hate after putting it away for a while, will have a good home waiting for it somewhere. Military quilts do not have to be in red, white and blue.

I, personally, wouldn't worry about the backing unless it shows through. A picture would be nice to get more opinions.

Boy do I understand your problem! I have a couple of really complicaed quilts I made for myself but when they were finished absolutely did not like them. I tried everything--including sashing, on--point --thinking it would improve the quilts. Believe me-once you do not really like a quilt, it does no good to try to SAVE it. It just doesn't work. Have even thought of trash--just joking--but it is frustrating.

Someone in my quilting group occasionally give me an unwanted, unloved, unfinished top. They know I will take anything noone else wants. It gives me great pleasure to finish them either to use or give to someone. It feels good to bring life to a quilt.

I find that when the quilt is finished it looks a lot better then when you are in the process.

I too find that if I finish the quilt, put it away and look at it later it usually doesn't bother me as much - Look at the big picture and try not to concentrate on what you don't like about it. If it's the back you really won't spend much time looking at that part anyway. Take it as a lesson learned. I've had plenty of those lessons!!

I've made a number of quilts that I didn't like by the time I finished them. someone else always loves them. and some have been flat out NEEDED. if you don't want to finish it give it to someone who will. I have made many adjustments with permanent markers. one I gave a nieghbors little boy and found out later he'd re-colored some of it because it was too girly. he still has it!