GASP! Small fabric piece is now damaged in completed quilt top!
 

Imagine my horrors when I went to sandwich my quilt and noticed that a small, 1" square piece, in a block of a completed quilt top had a large hole in it. I don't know what to do! I haven't any idea of how it happened. The 3/4" hole looks like it was made by something poking through it and it is ripped in two directions, both across the grain and also with it. It's too big to just quilt over it. Taking out the piece will be complicated, but possibly doable. It might be easier to put a patch over it. Any suggestions? Thanks!

~ Cindy

Could you applique a flower or something over it?

Hi DC,

No, it's a "manly" patchwork quilt. There is no other applique work in the quilt.
~ Cindy

Applique fixes everything. If you don't want a design like a flower or whatever, just applique a piece just like the one with the hole in it. Get some fusible interfacing and stitch it to the right a piece of fabric slightly larger than the one with a hole. Turn it inside out so the edges pull under. Give it a quick iron and stitch around it with invisible thread. Once it's all quilted, only you will know.

I agree, just sew another square over the damaged one.

Applique or fuse another piece of the same fabric over it.

It can be fixed. You have to take the seams that touch the bad piece out the 1/4 in. seam allowance, and insert the new piece by hand probably. I had to do this on a wedding ring quilt of my Mother-in-Law.

If I had the material, I would take it out and put a new whole piece in. At least, I would feel better about it even though no one would probalbly notice a patch once it was quilted.

I usually find that taking out and replacing the offending piece (whether it's damaged or set incorrectly) takes far less time than I have already spent agonizing over it.

i agree with dunster. and even though no one else may notice, i would feel better about my work.

Applique does not have to be flowers and butterflies. Slip-stitch a matching square over the existing patch and nobody will ever know. If you have all the pieces of the bad patch (i.e. it is "only" ripped) you could first put a piece of iron-on interfacing under the rip and secure it with an iron.

It really is easier to remove the offending piece from the block than you think. Just pick out the seams around it about one inch further than the piece is sized. You can even do this by machine. Just take your time, press the seams open so that they are not pushed to one side and are therefore easier to work with, replace the section, re-sew the seams a bit at a time.

Good luck!

Jan in VA

Thanks for all of your helpful replies. I did go ahead and take out the offending square and replace it. It was much easier than I thought it would be and only took a few minutes. I even did it by machine. One of the corner points didn't quite match up with the rest of the quilt, but I'm not going to sweat it. Overall it looks soooooo much better.

~ Cindy

I agree with Barny. It is what I hate to do. If you take the offending piece out, there will be less bulk when you applique the new piece in. Good Luck !! As they say, been there, done that !!!

I agree with Dunster. Remember when I set my quilt on fire hahahahah, yeh, I just dreplace the section that was damaged, thank goodness it's not quilted yet and you can do it easily.

Using a seam ripper, take out the offending piece. Iron it flat, measure, cut new piece, and sew ! Ta-da! You won't be disappointed!

I'm glad you found a solution that worked for you.

:thumbup: If you had the fabric available, that really was the best solution.

Glad to hear you we're able to fix it.

Wait,......what??? You set a quilt on fire??!!:shock::eek:

Jan in VA

Applique technique with same fabric, with the edges by the seam before should be invisible when quilted.
A friend had a worse problem. Having made and partially quilted a project for her brother of all his favourite things, which included cheese etc. on opening quilt up she discovered she had mice as they had been eating the cheese. Holes went through batting etc. she appliquéd over matching fabric pattern where possible.
Her brother thought it was very amusing and loved the quilt.

I would put a patch of the same material UNDER it. Put some fabric adhesive on the back of a small piece of the same material, poke it through the hole and iron it into place once you have arranged it suitably. It will not be noticed once you have cleverly quilted over the top of it. Experience tells me this - don't tell anyone and I am sure it will be OK. All the best with it.

Glad you got it fixed! Can't wait to see it!

I brought a baby quilt back from Indiana my sister found at Goodwill where she works. Has a 3 corner tear and a few seams coming apart. Also for some reason some blue wax. Where ever I can't repair I'm going to applique. She got it for her grandson when he comes over. Got the wax out but the color of the wax is still there. Bleach pen isn't working but got regular bleach and it came out. Applied the bleach with Q-Tips. Just need to find the right appliques and go from there.

I'm glad you got it fixed.

Yes...I was wondering the same thing. I'm guessing that it's some rite of passage with her local quilt guild. I've heard of such mysterious practices, which is why I never joined a guild. ;) :D

Appliques would work.

What if you got a piece of grey fabric and appliqued it so it looked like duct tape?

Take it out and replace it. You will never be happy doing anything else.

I would stop and take it out. I had the same thing happen with the quilt I'm working on, blood in the darn middle (of course, but when did I bleed???). I just took apart enough at each stage to get to the one I needed to replace OR... can you put the label over it??

I would applique another square piece over the damaged piece, with Wonder-Under or applique by hand, turning the edges over so it would probably never sew. Remember rule No. 5 - if you make a mistake, don't tell anyone, even the quilt police as they probably won't notice it anyway. Besides, the Amish always deliberately put a "mistake" into every quilt they make - as only God is perfect.

LOL, Dunster! Just what I was thinking, but you said it better! I'm a little too obsessive-compulsive to just patch over it, and have had experience with removing and replacing patches now. It's not as bad as you think. Remove the offending patch, and then hand-stitch a new one into place. Just make sure that you've secured the stitching as it leads off from the patch, so nearby patches don't unravel.

I agree with Dunster and MacThayer.

This happened to me once, and I was on a tight schedule that didn't allow for pulling the piece out. I ended up fusing the piece from the back to stabalize it, and then appliqueing a piece that had a "made with love by:" on it. Worked really well! So sorry this happened to your quilt!

Glad you got it fixed. It's almost a heart stopper to notice such a problem like that, but at least you didn't have it quilted before you found it.

I agree you are agonizing more than the time it takes to fix this and it will all be fine, don't despair.

If it is intended for someone in particular, could you possibly do an applique with that person's initals on it? Perhaps you could do an applique with a birthdate on another square, or something such as this.

Can you help me understand better what you are suggesting? Sorry my slow brain isn't processing.

I have had to correct this kind of problem too. I did as the others suggest. Just put another piece on top and stitched it down. If it small it probably won't be as noticed....hopefully.

Applique something out of the ordinary over the spot. Here is your opportunity to "create."