Frog Stitching
 

I’ve spent the last two nights ripping FMQ spiderwebs out of a quilt. This quilt is one of the first ones I made having never sewed before. It has been basted and set aside for a long time. When I started the quilting I found a couple spots where I had split seams. I figured I could deal with it using a zig zag stitch in matching thread. Then I found more. I (silly me) quilted some more with a plan to put some appliqué or patches as embellishments over the splits. I put it aside because I was tired of quilting the spider webs with all the starts and stops and burying thread ends. When I brought it back out recently, I made the decision to rip out the quilting, soak it to separate the layers, as I used spray glue to baste it, and fix the seams. I will not be quilting it with spiderwebs again. It’s been tedious to pick everything but I’m happy with my decision. I’ve learned a lot since my first quilt tops were put together and I’ll be giving my nephew a much more quality quilt when I’m done. Thank you for letting me share.

Rip..rip...rip. One stitch at a time. I get it and have done it too.

You will be happy with the results when you get to re-quilt it.

Frog stitching is my least favorite thing to do when quilting and the birds nest are usually caused by the upper tension being off on your machine. Before putting your quilt back on your machine do a practice piece of 3 layers to check the tension. Don't be afraid to tighten it or loosen it. When it is fixed quilt away and no more frog stitching. Oh yeah, you may want to use a safety pin to mark the places that you will need to re-stitch on your quilt top. The safety pin makes it easy to spot those area when all the frog stitching is done. I can't wait to see this quilt.

I'd rather rip than be dissatisfied with a quilt every time I look at it. I am thinking of doing the same thing you did with a quilt I look at daily because I'm not happy with the quilting. Some day!

Thank you for the tips! I didn’t really have birds nests on the quilt, but I found where my tension was off in spots. I believe it was a hand speed vs machine speed issue because the tension was clearly different even within the same line of quilting. I should have practiced more before doing the spiderwebs for sure.

This quilt is a Jelly Roll Race, so it’s not a particularly exciting pattern. One thing it has shown me is how far I’ve come since piecing my first quilts. That’s part of what made me decide to go back and fix it. I know I can do better now!

Agreed!... Now. 😊 When I started quilting, I was too enthusiastic and headstrong to want to take time to fix my errors before getting to this stage. I have certainly learned my lesson.

You have a strong trait of tenacity for your quilting. I have cut up, donated, or tossed more more then one aggravating UFO to get it out of my life. LOL

I use my redesign tool when I have to frog stitch. Some people call it a seam ripper!

🤣 I like your name for it more than the original!