Oh yes,... My first attemt with a "Stack and whack" kaliediscope was just like that. I wound up adding strips around it to give me some space and hopefully disguise alot of the errors. I suppose this goes back to the "good enough" comments

I should send you my list (long) of mistakes. Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or to cry!

:You mean that robots don't make that noise???? Tell the kids that you forgot to oil them before you sewed them on. My big question is WHY are you hand appliquing robots on a quilt for children? You must be a good soul!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I am so glad I only drink caffeine free coke.

LOL....good one!!! Me too!! Luckily, I'm not confused very much...haha!!

I'm not laughing at you, really I'm not. I feel your pain.

I've left pins in one of my quilts! I got pricked by them is how I knew, so don't beat yourself up.

I think this is God sending us little messages to open our eyes to the fact that we are only human, we make mistakes and those of us that admit our mistakes are the ones who learn from them and become better at everything we do. Congratulations you a definately a member of the human race and a wonderful person to do this for your daughter's class.

Love to see the pictures before you gift it.
Andie :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

If it's on the back, and it's going to be ironed on, why would you need to whipstitch it closed?

I have done to"ironed to the wrong side of the fabric" trick and that can't be reversed.

So that was YOU!!! (with the Sprite!)
:lol: My husband even got a chuckle out of that one...Said it sounded like something I would do!!! :?

Love your answer, Granny B. Those robots can be so darn noisy!

Yeppers! Even stupider (is that a word? lol)! Some years ago I was making a quilt for my soon-to-be-born grandson, decided to use the fusible batting (for the first time ever)...used a lacquer finished wood table top to fuse the batting onto the fabric...ooops!...the back of the quilt stuck onto the table top! When I managed to peel it off part of the finish of the table came off with it in one spot! I was sick at heart over it as time was of the essence to get it finished before the baby shower a few days from then. I know quilt labels aren't supposed to be in the center of the quilt back...but that's where I put it to cover up the stain...lol! But the worse part was that the table wasn't even mine!...it was a friend's! OOPS!!!!!

Please let us see a pic of the robot quilt before you give it to the class ok? Bet they'll love it!

Sure! But the worst was when I made the serious mistake, I ripped it out, sewed it together and then made the same dang mistake over again.

Oh so sorry!

I see that there are 4 pages of responses, so I know that someone has given you a solution that you are happy with ... well maybe not 'happy'

good luck, and I know you won't make that mistake again... sometimes learning experiences are no fun.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

Just have a big laugh over it, it won't seem so bad. We all make mistakes after all we are human.

My stupid human trick is that I mirror what I see...like I look at the pattern and the pictures and then do it completely backwards. Others don't really know it but it bothers the heck out of me! It is especially aggravating with putting together any sewing project that is supposed to have a "flap" on one side...it ends up on the wrong side! I am aware of it and try very hard not to do it but end up doing it anyway! It made learning to knit very difficult. I am right handed but my stitches look like they were done left handed...quilting is not as bad because I can blow uo a full color picture and lay it out on top and sew it piece by piece...I almost cut the angle backwards on half of the diamonds in my avatar.
I like the comments saying to leave the paper and tell the kids it is the robots. :) Very creative!

No, haven't done that, I do needle turn applique when I do it, not very often.

Well, I am still laughing about the end of the crackling!! I spose if you don't mention these things, nobody else notices.
How funny!!
It's called rolling with the punches!
Like the others, I would slit the appliques from the back. When you iron them down, that should re-seal them, and then it will have batting and backing.

I know you are upset now, but think what a great story it will make years from now when you can laugh about it. I've done some dumb things that seemed awful and now when I talk about them it somehow seems very funny. There isn't a doubt in my mind that tomorrow, or the next day, I'll do something dumb.

Good luck pulling out the paper, it probably will be stuck to the design. You are better off taking out all the applique stitches, and use another sheet of stitch witchery or what ever you use.

I did that not too long ago with a small piece it fell off when I turned it over to press.

Call it part of the robots voice!

I am sorry that happened to you but at least it can be repaired.
I am making a turkey wall hanging for our home and had it almost finished. held it up to look at.Turned it around and the batting and backing had gotten caught some how and I had to rip it all out!So I am working on it again.Geez.

Merridancer, how on earth did you manage to leave an entire tape measure in a quilt? LOL

I think the "stupid" things we do just make us human! I know I do plenty of them.

I do hope you gave your cat a special treat! :P

Don't feel bad, just think, you felt good enough to share it with all of us, and that counts for making it all better, in my book at least.

I'm still looking for a strip of fabric I know I cut out for a project months ago. Project got finished with a replacement strip, but for the life of me I never did find it.
I don't have any pets and DH know better than to venture into the quilting room so it all falls back to me! :-P Have since given up looking.

Oh no!!!!! Hate when I do stupid stuff!!!
Bless you for your patiences. I am sure the class will love it.

I blame it on Attention Deficit Disorder which seems to afflict me the worst when I am doing something and talking at the same time!

Chalk it up to "lesson learned". I just got my lesson learned project in the mail. Doesn't it feel good to know that others have their lesson learned projects too? While frustrating, I'll bet you'll never make that mistake again!

I do believe we all have made that mistake or one similar. Anyone who clames not to have made a mistake or several is not telling the troth. Over the many years I have quilted I have made many mistakes and still do :lol:

This is not called stupid. It is called experience. Ever heard of an experienced quilter??? Well I am sure that an experienced quilter has made their share of "errors" that cause them to think a second or two before attempting another project of the same.

That is disheartening. It isn't stupid, but it sure makes ya feel that way. I know I have done so many things like that. But you just rip it out and keep going.

yes, made my oldest grandbaby a really nice kitty cat with a dress, vest, hair bow and shoes.
shoes that crinkle! I could have ripped the seam etc. to remove the paper, but I did such a good job and hey...now her kitty makes noises when she dances...
(that's a good thing, right? lol) :lol:

If you have not quilted the quilt ... turn it to the back and cut inside the stitching lines +/- 1/2 inch away from the stitching. You can then take the paper out. This is what they do in paper peicing.
Sometimes you will need tweezers.
Look up you tube applicay and paper peicing

Am currently taking a quilting class. Our instruction just shared with us that when she was ill her family brought a couple of her deceased grandmother's quilts to the hospital to keep her warm. She found herself getting pricked by needles her grandmother had "lost" in the quilt. Made her smile each time she was "touched" by her grandmother. :)

Don't you think just slitting the backing fabric on which the things are appliqued, the pulling the paper out from that slit? After the paper is out, slip a piece of one-sided-bond interfacing in facing the slit and iron it shut.

I am also right Handed and sew like a left handed person would you should see me knit (could never get the hang of it intill a left hander showed me how)it sure leads to ripping things out a lot so I do a lot of dumb things and drive any one watching me crazy they want to show me how to do it right.

Cut the back idea or leave it because it's a wall hanging.
They now have papers that 'wash away' you can use for applique, I think through Nancy's notions or your local shop. That would solve everything, stitch away, wash & prss & done.

Very cool idea to slip in a piece of bond interfacing, thank you a bunch of quilting hugs.

Since you're hand sewing around them I don't think it would hurt to leave the paper on. Only you will know

I have to claim the monthly dumbest award. It is funny to me now, but when I realized what I had done... I've been sewing for over 40 years and while I can't claim to be the best seamstress I have had many successful projects. So to make a quilted Halloween bib for my new great nephew I carefully cut the pattern out, cut the batting, prepared the fusible face pieces and wondered why the bib was so tiny. Just as I was about to crawl into bed I realized why the bib was so tiny. There, in small print, it said "Please increase the pattern to 125%." All is not lost as I will give the tiny bib to my one month old great niece and the correct one to my nephew. Just proves that they write the instructions for a purpose. I guess I could attribute the goof to a senior citizen moment, but it just proves that following directions can save a lot of headaches. So is that dumb or what? I know, it is the altitude here in Colorado.