GRRR I had a grand idea, Should have sat down till the thought passed. My girlfriend is having a benefit for her nephew that was hurt while motocross racing and I won' be able to attend due to previous commitments. SO I decided to put together a quilt to auction off (I didn't tell her yet) Well I went to a LQS about 50 miles away (the closest one) and found motocross fabric chose a simple, I thought pattern, cut it all out and started to sew well the blocks are all wonky. OK I will square them up- great lost the points- Well it is a disaster!! Points chopped off squares don't match and I thought I was being careful. Maybe it will keep the dog warm this winter!!! I am so frustrated I could scream! Ok had to vent-- Sorry

Oh, my! I think you are being way too hard on your quilt. My tendency is to be perfectionistic too, but there are lots of people who would *love* that quilt just the way it is!

I wouldn't do an auction, though, if you can do a raffle for $1 per ticket (assuming raffles are legal in your state). Especially in these tough economic times, raffles are likely to raise more money. Raffles also give everyone a chance to take home a quilt; not everyone can afford to bid on a quilt.

I would use it anyway. Only very experienced quilters will know the difference. I bet they will be truly honered to have it.

It won't have quite the same look, but maybe you could do a really narrow sashing in between the blocks, and sew it at 1/8 inch, that way the points that don't quite match up won't show, and you'll chop off les of the points that you had to square up....
I know it's a pain to unpick all those blocks, but it might make you much happier with your quilt, and you'll be more satisfied to auction it off?

Just a suggestion, I don't really have any other ideas.


And to be honest with you, I don't think it's as bad as you make it sound. Mcdaniel is right, only an experienced quilter would see the difference. Plus the person who wins that auction will be thrilled to have it.

It is a beautiful quilt, and a wonderful, thoughtful idea. I would defintitely use it. And I agree, a raffle may raise more money. If you are truly unhappy with the points, could you do a little flag applique, or button to cover the intersections up? It is too great a quilt to not allow someone to enjoy it!

Since my daughters injury so many people have come together and had fundraisers for her. Peolpe have donated perfect and not so perfect items to auction and all of them went. I think you are being to hard on yourself. I REALLY think you should give it to your friend if you feel it will not bring that much money if it is auctioned have a raffle that is what they did with some of the items for my daughter, people might not have spent $50 on a not so perfect quilt but if you sell raffles for $5 each you only need 10 people to buy a raffle. Funny thing some of the items that were perfect brought in less money then a not so perfect one with a raffle. No matterr what amount of money they would get it is a blessing every little bit counts. I know I am talking from experience.

Sorry I did mean a raffle not auction. In my frustrated atate of mind I am a little oopsy! LOL Thanks for all the kind comments, you folks are just TOO nice!

Is the quilt finished all the way. Can you save some blocks by ripping them out and add solids and take out the wonky's. Save that quilt and make it work :wink: :D

Ok, lets' fix it. Cut out wheels from the motorcross fabric, put them on Heat n Bond lite, and heat press the wheel over each triangle point meeting in the blocks. You can machine stitch around each one. That is what I would do. :D

I also think it's a beautiful quilt, and the fabric was well chosen for the occasion. I bet you can raise quite a bit in a raffle, and this is such a nice thing for you to do. Best of luck to the nephew who was hurt.

Tie it with some black embroidery floss on the points and you'll never know the difference unless you tell. :^)

The benefit is Saturday and I don't have more of the fabrics so would have to spend half a day to get to a shop- not gonna happen. I may call her and let her decide, since I won't be there I wouldn't know if they use it to mop floors or make money! LOL I did stitch in the ditch- well near the ditch!! So I am NOT taking it apart!! It is what it is I guess. By the way bebe your quote is appropriate here!!

do you mean cut out the bike wheels and fuse them on? I may have enough scraps to do that.

Oh, hey! Don't be so hard on yourself. I know you put a lot of time and effort into this quilt and for a good cause. Sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to. You could just let it go the way it is. I'd buy tickets on it. Remember, NO quilt is perfect.
I know it's better than I can do. The most points I've made was in a 12 inch block once, and they were awful!

I really like BellaBoo's idea about fusing a wheel on at each point. A big button could work there, too. If you really don't want to let it go this way, get creative! Sometimes our best work comes out because of a mistake. I remember my art teacher told us this in 6th grade, and I try to remember that.

I think you are being too hard on yourself. You know, we all aim for perfection but I guarantee you this quilt is not a disaster. Someone would love to get it. And, a lot of people that don't sew at all would never know that something was not quite right with it. You're so sweet to have done the quilt for such a cause and I hate to see you feel bad over it not being perfect.

I wouldn't rip it apart. I don't think I could ever do that to a quilt.

I really think it's beautiful. How much are those tickets?

At this point in the process 10 cents! But now I have hope that I can fix this puppy!

I wish I was half as good as you are but like someone said earlier find some big and bold buttons and sew them at the points. It will take on a whole new look and nobody will be the wiser.

I would like to have the quilt in my house :wink:

Billy

It's gorgeous! Don't worry so about points, keep the mind on what the reason for the quilt is. Buttons may look like wheels, even if you did the SID you can still tie in some of the corners/points that bother you. Don't be embarrassed or frustrated, it's a wonderful quilt and anyone would be happy to have it!

Hugs,
Sharon

I think the quilt is darling!! So what if none of the points match? Who will notice (other than you)!

The simple solution is to put a label on the back that says "imperfections are part of the beauty of this quilt." Problem solved!!

LOL
I thought something like "to remind you of Andrew's injury I have included boo-boo"s"

What a kind and generous heart you have!
I think your friend would be so touched by your thoughtfulness!
I think you should give it to her to auction off. I think any money would help towards the medical bills.
Sue

Yes, it may not be perfect, I know I have been there many times, every quilt deserves to be loved! People will love it for what it is, most won't know any diffrent. YOur heart is in the right place, people will appreciate you and the quilt for that. I have one that is so so flawed, I still love it and use it! Maybe even more so! Who ever wins that quilt will be so happy to win! Trust me :!:

Put some ties randomly to hide the bigger flaws (use black thread) or you could place some buttons....Use some creativity after all it is the thought that counts. :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

I think you are being way to hard on yourself. You did a wonderful and thoughtful thing for your friend and made a really cute quilt that is going to raise lots of money to help her. I'm sure someone is going to love getting that quilt.

I think it looks great.

When I look at the whole quilt picture, I don't see any chopped off points or wonkiness. There is a quilter's rule-of-thumb that goes something like this: "if you can't see the mistake from 50 yds away while riding on a galloping horse, it's not worth fixing".

i think it looks great. i agree with the person who mentioned raffle.

You know what it looks great and I would still donate it, it's the thought and people aren't going to care if your points don't match up. You should have seen the afghan that I made one year it was bad but it brought in alot of money people just don't care when it comes to helping someone out.

I talked to my friend and she was in tears, said the same thing you all did. It will go to the raffle and I have a couple days yet to fight with it before then. I just wish there was a place close by to purchase supplies.

Thanks you everyone for the vote of confidence and you are right-no one will notice if they gallop by on their horse!LOL

It's for a fund-raiser - and sometimes it's nice/fun to have a quilt that can get "used hard." (That is not meant as in insult - it's meant that it won't get put away never to be seen again)

I'd spend a couple of dollars on raffle tickets - I won't spend $5.00 for any raffle ticket, though.

It's bright, it's cheery. It has MOTORCYCLES - and that fabric is not easy to find.

I can relate to your frustration in in not going "right", though.

Bearisgrey- I want my quilts to be used hard!! It is meant to be taken to the motocross meets and snuggle in, Have a picnic on and curl up under on a chilly evening- And you are right the fabric wasn't an easy find, I think that is why I was so upset. I think the pattern was off on the block sizes thus part of the problem. They yellow triangles is what I think was wrong.

Sometimes the instructions are wrong - and it's bad enough for an "experienced" quilter - but totally discouraging for a "beginner" -

I think you should go ahead and donate the quilt for a raffle -

It is interesting that sometimes the "imperfect" items have more appeal and charm than the so-called "perfect" ones do.

Your quilt is definitely one that I think would be fun to use.

A solution to your problem is the real thin bias binding that you can
iron on and then put fancy stitches to hold it down. It covers a
multitude of sins and looks very attractive on a quilt. :P

I hope you donated it to the cause! It looked fine to me! In my experience, when people are holding a benefit to help familes out ANYTHING goes! I am a quilter and I would have bid on that quilt.

Well, I haven't read all 3 pages of this thread, but my suggestion is SEND IT! :) :-) :D

Your color choices are truly wonderful, and while YOU don't feel it's perfect, SEND IT! :-)

Let the people who will go to the fundraiser buy tickets on it until they run out of $$ and they have to sell their children to get more. SEND IT! 8)

I absolutely LOVE you color choices here; the quilt looks warm, and snuggly, and would be appreciated by anyone -- master quilter or beginner. SEND IT! 8)

You have nothing to hang your head about here. SEND IT! :-)

Let the family be touched by your generosity, which is tremendous. SEND IT! :-)

And do NOT be ashamed because you don't feel it is perfect; it is a LOVELY PIECE OF WORK and you should be PROUD that your heart was touched to help out in this manner. SEND IT! :-)

Think of it this way: By not attending the fundraiser but sending this quilt instead, they may likely make MORE $$ on a raffle of this beautiful piece of work than just taking your $$ at the door. SEND IT! 8)

Have I made my thought clear yet? SEND IT! :D

As it says in the Good Book, "You've done well, good and faithful servant." :wink: :!: :wink:

SEND IT! :D

Odessa

I would buy tickets on your quilt. I think it is a great quilt and you are being much too hard on yourself. If you decide to sell tickets, pm me and I will buy some.
Linda

Aww you guys make me get teary eyed!! I will SEND IT!! I will buy a ticket and hope I win!!!! That way I will end up with it! Good Idea huh? LOL