Frustrated to the max!
 

Happy New Year to Everyone. I had a wonderful time making a quilt top this month. It's based on the "Up North" Thimbleberries pattern. First time I ever really went scrappy and it didn't take long for me to become a believer. Wonderful to have so much fun creating something virtually by diving into my stash. Now that being said, I didn't have enough fabric for the 8 1/2" wide boarder. Found what I thought would work from Connecting Threads. Got an email saying that fabric was sold out and would not be restocked. I then chose the same fabric line in cream. Yesterday I cut and sewed the boarders on. I hate it and can't live with it. I stewed about it enough I hardly could sleep. Thought in the light of a.m., would change my mind. Nope. To me it looks like you have a quilted coverlet on the bed with muslin colored sheets hanging down. I know after LAQing, it would become more cohesive, but without a margin of doubt, I'd always regret my decision. Please know that the CT fabric is lovely and will be perfect in another project, just not this one. What's not making it any easier, is Hubby is trying to make suggestions. Between us, I think he has a touch of color blindness. I'm frustrated, aggravated but trying not to take it out on him but he so needs to return to the cellar on his own woodworking projects. So, for the next few hours, I'll be best friends with the seam ripper, then the vacuum cleaner. Ughhhhh. Let 'er rip!!

Show us some pictures! We wanna see.

I am sure it just lovely.

Bless your heart! I know your pain, with the quilt and a hubby that is just trying to help and getting on a last nerve,lol. You'll feel better after you have it all ripped out, vacuumed up, and a new fabric in place. And, yes, pictures please!!

Can you piece the border, using the new cream fabric and scraps from the center of the quilt?

Edited - oops! I just realized I am just like your husband at this point, offering suggestions that may not be welcome. I'll go back to the cellar now. LOL

i'm with you there, dunster, as that was my first thought as well :)

Don't you just hate that? I'm with you....if it is not what you have in mind, then put a good movie on the tv and sit down and rip away.

Ah yes-the eternal misunderstanding between men and women. The one listening seems to find it very hard to just be a sounding board sometimes and not try to solve the problem. Of course the other side at times gives mixed signals as to whether listening or suggestions is needed. Thank goodness we all mean well! I' m looking forward to seeing how you solve this. :thumbup:

Just getting my frustration in print cooled me off considerably. I would post a pic but need new batteries in the camera. I like the idea of piecing some of the featured fabric with the cream but it wouldn't look good in this case. the so-called sashing between the star and pine tree blocks are 6 1/2" scrappy blocks. Attached to that are two, 2 1/2" narrow boarders, then there should be the 8 1/2" final wide boarder. Because there was so much going on in the top, my idea was to take a neutral fabric and quiet it down a bit. It quieted it down alright.

Quilt the borders with a variegated thread that has colors from the quilt. I dont know if you do your own quilting, but I bet an experienced longarmer could make it work with some fancy stitching.

Could you use something like a Moda Marble in a shade that will enhance some of the colors in the scrappy blocks.

mltquilt

Good luck with your quilt. Sometimes we have to go with our gut and do what we really like.

Could you dye the fabric that you don't like?

Maybe if you post what the fabric you wanted was, someone here might have it?

I would rip it out and find something you are going to be happy with. I had a quilt all finished and hated the borders, so I cut them off and made it a smaller quilt. I didn't like the fabric from the get-go and should have looked for something I liked. Now it's not a queen anymore. It was already LA quilted and bound when I cut the borders off. What a waste of time. I have too many small quilts - I need queen quilts. I'll listen to my gut next time. So, listen to your gut before it's too late.

Well, I put my feet up, put on HGTV and just started rippin'. Had just received another order from CT and there were a couple of different yard pieces that will work. I was leaning towards a dark blue print. Hubby once again showed up and said the brick red looked better. By then, was ready to order more blue just for general principal. I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture, he actually was right. It complimented the whole quilt without drawing attention away from the center, which is what I was trying to achieve. Another day in paradise!

I do appreciate everyone's input and support; thank you!

How about dyeing the border fabric to something you like better? Or, in my case, removing it to stash and buying new border fabric (maybe taking the quilt to the fabric store).

Sometimes my hubby makes excellent color decisions, too. I think I'm a little color blind, not him. But isn't it funny how can't just vent about something to your husband? I'm always having to tell mine that I just want to tell him about it, I don't want him to "fix" it!

Phew, glad things worked out after all.

I'm so glad you will be happy with it now. I always try to please myself, as I am the most critical of my work.

I know what you mean about having the light colored outer border. It's like the quilt just goes on and on. I have always preferred a darker outer border to frame it all in. Let 'er rip.

Put it away for a while. Then reassess it.
MaryKatherine

Glad you found something. Good LUck. Hope you like this one better once it is sewed on. I just finished Carol Doak 50 paper pieced stars. I found a sashing fabric that I just needed. It was in a quilt hanging in the LQS. No one knew what it was, but it was at least 2 years old. I tried numerous other fabrics nothing worked for me. I searched and searched everywhere. It was a batik and nothing. I finally asked the LQS all of the brands of batiks they sold and found the fabric on ebay. I had searched off and on for months. It was just perfect. It is so hard once you decide on a fabric and you can''t find it anywhere.

Glad you found something that will work. When I get frustrated, sometimes I take my pieced blocks or tops to my LQS and the ladies there are very helpful in making suggestions for borders and sashing.

just and idea--you could border or frame it with a solid and then make a scrappy outer border to match the solid framed scrappy inside.

Oh shucks. You may have to go shopping!! Put the cream in your stash and find that perfect fab. Sorry this happened. Good luck!!

The ripper is an old friend. If your unhappy with the looks you are right in ripping it. If you still like the material from Connecting Threads then try finding it on fabric.com as they often have out of stock material. Good luck.

I feel your pain. I once did a pieced border for a KING size quilt, hated it as my measurements were off because I didn't take into account all the bias edges of the key-west block. So, I let it rest a couple of days, then spent TWO DAYS ripping it out, then set it aside for a long time before deciding that a plain black border would look best to go with all the fabric in the quilt that had a black background, and it turned out nice. I had made the quilt for my husband for our 25th wedding anniversary, however, it "aged like fine wine" for10 years before I finished it,but I did finish it, and I really liked the plain black border, especially after quilting it witih a cable quilting design. Now if I could just figure out a way not to let my projects "age" so long, I'll be all set. LOL. If you don't think the second fabric you chose isn't right, take it out, give it a couple of days, then make a decision, it will all work out.

<waving & a high 5 from Brie> Well all I can say is let er rip and varroooooooooooooom .. LOL (cuz I don't wanna go to my cellar as its cold dark and dirt~!LOL).

Good Luck in whatever you decide to do!

How frustrating, I have a quilt like that, and so it sits borderless till I figure out a solution. I have a friend that appliques over areas of a quilt that she thinks is dull, and they always turn out beautifully!

Guess I should have read page 2! Sounds like you have a hubby like mine, he is excellent when it comes to blocks and colors, which is funny since he is color challenged - not color blind, but close!

How about trying to over dye the fabric to blend better? If you aren't happy with it you don't have much to loose...JMHO

I had a similar experience with a quilt. I didn't unpick the border off, but instead, made a skinny border and then added color on the outside border to liven it up, and the neutral little strip, kind of separated what was going on in the center. Easier to trim, than to unpick.

Yeah, I hear you about the venting thing, but excuse DH because he's trying to be helpful and sympathetic. And sometimes he's right.

Could your helping husband photocopy a piece of the material on that fabric material for photocopiers. Sorry about lack of proper names. I saw a street map done with the owner of the quilts house marked so doing a sample of material should be possible.

Why don't you try just a bit of appliqué on those borders? If you're not good at appliqué, to can be raw-edge. Amazing how a vine or some berries or holly make a border beautiful.

Pieced border
 

Sometime what I do if I don't have enough border fabric, is sew a small "strata" of some of the interior fabrics, generally about 1" wide, and the cut it as wide as the border and add them between the larger border pieces. It ends up looking like a "design decision" and not that I've run out of border fabric.

can you tea dye it to look like it belongs more? Oh and applique is a great idea too!!

The cream boarder has been removed and is packed away snuggly with the rest of the stash, similarly colored. Am now waiting for CT replacement boarder fabric to arrive. When I was on such a creative roll, I took most of the unused scraps and made a large lap quilt so I'm plugging away on that, adding the final sashing. I just need to be patient for the replacement boarder fabric to come, but you all know how that is, the heart wants what the heart wants! If this is the biggest hurdle in my life, I'm one lucky woman.

Happy New Year to all quilt board members, and SouthPStitches, think of it this way -- 2013 started off not great for you, so it can only get better and better!

So sorry that your quilt didn't turn out the way you wanted.
I hate to rip, too, but in the long run, when we rip out and redo, we end up with the way we want it.
Wishing you peace in your day! May it get better!