What is the hardest, or scariest, project you have every done? (maybe it was scary at the time)
Even started (and didn't finish for various reasons - is it a UFO?)?
It may even be one you learned the most from or advanced your skills.

I did a quilt for my mom a few years ago with 240 curved seams. That was really scary when I started. I hadn't been quilting long, maybe a year. Bit the bullet and dove in head first. Nervously cut out all those curves. It was also the biggest quilt I had done at that point. Glad I did. It turned out great. Bonus: I'm not afraid of curved seams anymore.

Now, very very tiny applique. But I'm diving in head first. And I'm practicing and I'm getting better.

I quilted this baby on my DSM, prior to the long arm. Never again! It was my oldest daughter's graduation quilt. It's a king size. It was also the first quilt that used templates for cutting.

My very first quilt. My mom was meeeaaaan! I wanted to make a Carpenter's Wheel. It was before there were instructions for HST. I did all with triangle and square templates. No rotary cutter. My mother did not tell me it was a hard pattern.

I didn't realize that the triangles were not actually triangles. They had to go a certain direction. I quit. My mom finished it for me. I used it every night.

I am really glad I learned this way because somehow everything else seemed easy after trying that one and the next one went together like a breaze:)

Lynette

I felt the same way when I made a drunkards path quilt. I'm not so afraid of curves now, but am scared to death to try paper piecing. Go figure. :lol:

beautiful quilt.

This is mine. BOM that we did at our LQS. Really difficult but I learned a lot!

So far, this has to have been my hardest. I hand pieced the compasses with plastic templates that I made and then hand pieced the border. I learned tons...I learned...never to do that again! It is an oversized queen and I also quilted it on my old Singer.

That's really pretty Pat. I also learned never to do that same quilt again! The one in my pic.

shell, that is beautiful quilt. and the hard was worth it. aren't you proud of yourself?

and sandpat, really, you joke about it now, but aren't you glad you did it? how many other quilters have gone that far? not me! LOL!

c'mom, janstar. we all know the tough ones are the best ones. who else among us (well, we know a few!) has that kind of patience and perseverance? did you win any ribbons? you sure should have!

Every one of your quilts are beautiful, all of you. Shelly, I love the colors!!! Janstar and Pat.... WOW. I have not tried anything really hard yet. I have avoided much paperpiecing, any templates and don't really do applique either. I guess I am a wimp. I have some challenging looking patterns that I hope to someday try. All of you are an inspiration!!!!

My avatar is all paper pieced! IT took a long time, and was really hard when I began, but pretty easy by the time I finished the last block! :lol: There were 110 of them, and I had made a sample with 9 blocks to see if I really could and if I wanted to make a big quilt.
Yesterday, I paper pieced a panda, and it was HARD! I don't know when I have had to rip so much. The pieces aren't regular shaped, and I kept placing them backwards! But by the time I make several more (with the pattern enlarged) I will find something else to challenge myself with! And that is what it is all about! :lol: Learning how to do something new and taking the next step! :lol:
But applique :( :? Now there is a challenge that I keep postponing! :?
Someday :?

good for you!

every time you learn something new, you grow! :thumbup:

Wow ladies all your quilts are outstanding.....You rose to the challenge and succeeded...hats off to all of you I am very impressed :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

WOW!!! Beautiful quilts.

I would have to say the one in my avatar was my most challenging but the one I am working on at any given time is usually challenging. I just like to push the envelope to more and more complicated.

Amen to that, Mary! Push that envelope! :lol:

To be honest, just about every bed-sized (not baby) quilt that I machine quilt is scary and hard for me. I HATE machine quilting, but knowing my attention span and dislike of hand-quilting, bite the bullet and fuss with rolling, maneuvering, etc to get it done. So I stick with stitch in the ditch for the most part.

This is why I am so serious about getting a longarm--I really want to go into business for myself, but I also want a longarm for selfish reasons. I love to piece, and have a number of tops that are not quilts because I so hate to mess with machine quilting on my DSM.

For a long time my mom would handquilt for me. That ended when I got to be about 40 when she informed me I was getting to be a big girl and that she wasn't going to bail me out on any UFOs any longer. She rarely quilts nowadays and at 81 is a crocheting fool. LOL

My challenging project (turning into a UFO) I call the QFH...Quilt From Hades.

It was my first foray last year into Mystery Quilts. I still like the theory behind the mystery. You don't know what beautiful creation you are going to make until the last clue. I'm a fan of Mystery Novels and Agatha Christie or Arthur Doyle computer games and such. In fact, even though I hate this quilt with every fiber of my being, I would still consider doing another mystery.

This particular one has 4 different units making up the quilt top. One of the units has 4 times the number of all the other ones. They are flying geese units made THE HARD WAY. One clue had us cut 160 triangles. 80 were HST and the other 80 were QST. Then the next one had us sewing them together. Then the one after that had us cut another 80 HST. And then the assemble was in a different clue. Maybe if I wasn't such a beginner, I would have known that they were Geese, but I had no idea. Each and every one of those blasted things stretched and warped. I've never put anything together on point before.

Whenever I want to torture myself, or when hubby bugs me, I'll pull it out of the Godfather's boxes and stitch another row or two together. Konstantin put this great thing about adding coping strips in a newsletter not to long ago. I'll be adding this throughout and I don't think the quilt will look the same, but I'm sure it will still be pretty. The flying geese make a star around one type of piece, then they also create the appearance of a backwards star too. Overall, the quilt is very pretty...but I don't like the way the pattern or directions were at all. It's WAY too advanced for me.

I hate my QFH...I just wish I knew how to complete it so it would stare at me everytime I enter my sewing closet to get my stuff out.

Quick question mpeters - what are "coping strips?" Anything with the word COPING in it seems to be a good thing to know. :lol: :lol:

My hardest/scariest was the red/white/black one I made for my nephew (picture posted on Black/White thread in pictures). It was queen-sized, and was my first attempt at machine quilting on my little Elna. I thought I'd NEVER get done. But, he loves it, and my memories of the pain and suffering are fading enough I'm doing another queen-size one for my MIL. This one calls for machine applique, but I've been experimenting with hand applique and find that I love it, so may applique all the blocks by hand, just to dive in and do it.

I was going to add my eternal gratitude to the member who posted the tutorial on employing used dryer sheets for applique - but I checked my bookmark, and the topic is "gone" so I don't know what happened or who to thank. I'm sorry this one is gone, because I was using it. :cry:

Nothing specific comes to mind, but one of the things I think is so neat about quilting is that I really DO learn something new with every quilt I make. Do others feel the same? Or am I just a slow learner?

Coping strips...I can't find the newsletter which is irksome as I thought I saved it.

Basically, in my QFH, I am making strips that will end up going diagonally across the quilt. All of the pieces are supposed to be 5 1/2 inches square. Well, the corners of all my flying geese are 5 1/2 inches apart, but the sides are horrible. Of course, I didn't realize that until AFTER I started to sew the rows together.

Well, my rows instead of all being even like this ____________ they look a bit more like this l___________l there is definitely something amiss. Coping strips are small strips of fabric that you make and then sew to the uneven edge so it makes it all even like this _________. If I square all of my pieces DOWN, then I've cut off all the tips of the triangles and the SIAS units would look horrible. With coping strips, it's a bit more work, but it means I don't have to cut all of my pieces down. I can shove these fabric strips in the uneven spots and see if I can selvage it that way. I don't how it will affect the overall pattern yet, but I really don't care anymore. If I can ever finish the stupid thing, I'll tie tack it and since I promised hubby when I started I wouldn't give it away, it'll go on the bottom of the stack of quilts. I hope it never sees the light of day again.

I hope that made a little sense. I'm going to keep trying to find the newsletter.

omg!! Shelley, your daughters graduation quilt is really gorgeous!!! You really did a great job.
froggy

I can honestly say the hardest or scariest project for me is yet to be made...probably still hiding in one of my quilting magazines waiting to be created. lol.
Half square triangles are nightmares for me...I cringe just thinking about them not matching up.

Calico92402 wrote:
Nothing specific comes to mind, but one of the things I think is so neat about quilting is that I really DO learn something new with every quilt I make. Do others feel the same? Or am I just a slow learner?

well, there are 3 lanes on the interstate and the outside one is referred to as the 'slow' lane...that's where i am and calico, if you are there, then I figure i am in good company, lol! :wink:
I have more than a few chronic disorders that make me stiff and in lol, - chronic, pain, so slow is all I know, but give up...nope, nada, not until I can't do it at all. :D