Me. too. You must have been so disappointed!

All of the puckers seem to be on the quilt top. Most are about 1/2" folds. The back has several places where the thread seemed to have balled up and since it was done with white thread on the burgandy fabric, that really shows up too.
I will rip it all out and maybe I will make my first quilt top my first to hand quilt also.

rip it out, if you not happy now that won't time as time goes by. I just ripped out my own quilting because I wasn't happy, started over and now I love my quilt.

I agree. After the time you put in, you want to love it! Lots of time involved, but maybe a friend can help (as long as they are careful), makes the time go by faster as you work together.

:?

I would definitely rip it out, but maybe ask the relative to help you do it........... she also needs to learn from her mistakes.

Please don't take offense at what I am about to say since I don't know you or you me, but ---I know a lady who just got a quilt back from the quilter with lots of puckers in it and she carried on and on about the quilter who is a very talented lady and who has done several of my quilts. I insisted she measure the completed quilt and she found that one side was several inches larger than the other side and the length on one side to the other was way off. The quilter had to put some puckers in it to get it to quilt at all. I know a good long arm quilter can work some extra fabric in but this one was way too off to do much with. So in a nut shell I am saying measure the two sides and the two ends and make sure they are reasonably close. If they aren't that could be the problem. Even experienced quilters don't always have the exact same measurements on thier quilts. Please forgive me if this is too rude, I just want you to be aware of the possibility. Sue

The relative lives about 4 hours away from me, that's why we mailed it back and forth.
My sister will help me rip it out.

Hmmm, I will go measure the quilt, thanks.

I would rip it out the same thing happened to me a couple of years ago I sent her a twin quilt first and she did fine I made my daughter a king size quilt and it was a mess I should have figured something was wrong when I went to pick it up and she had it in a garbage bag and told me she was in a hurry she had to get somewhere I got it home and I was shocked it was terrible.I ripped it all out and hand quilted it and it turned out beautiful. I called her and told her how upset I was with the quilt and she hung up on me.

I know just how you feel. My first quilt, a Grandmothers Flower
Garden that I did all by hand. When it came time to put the
backing on, I quilted around each octagon by hand with the
wrong type of white thread on a marrone sheet. A real mess.
Not very pretty to look at up close. I'm still debating if
I should take all the quilting out. I love the colors that
I had used in the top, but the back looks bad. I'm just sick
over it. How fast I learned my lesson.
Maybe we should get together and doing our ripping together!
Good Luck.
Maureen's violets

I am going to take out some stitching I added to a small table topper last evening. Hopefully, you can start to take out the unwanted quilting stitches on your log cabin top and fall back in love with your first quilt. Please don't let this unfortunate episode discourage you! :)

Suggestions on this board are great: a good movie; being with a friend; setting a weekly goal. Before you know it, you'll be past the rescue stage and firmly on the road to bliss. This is only a detour, not the edge of a cliff...

Sew piecefully,
Kay Susan

I have ripped out the quilting on three quilts this year - for a friend who was learning to quilt and had some "wonkies." It isn't awful to do. Just relax and do it realizing that it takes a while. Meditative. Listen to a book or sit and chat while you do it.

I can send you a case of kleenex. :mrgreen:
Sorry, that just popped into my head.
I don't have any experience with machine quilting so this probably wouldn't work but could you snip stitches on either side of the puckers for an inch or so and then restitch easing in the fabric to remove the puckers. I've done that when sewing but don't know if it would work on a quilt.

I agree with this BUT... If a LA Quilter saw this was the case there is no excuse for that person not to contact the quilter tell her of the situation and let them know before hand what the results are likely to be so they can make an informed decision as to go on or not.

I'm so sorry that the result you got back was so undesirable. Echoing what the others said, rip out.

But whether to say something to the quilter- I think I would! Not to hurt her feelings, but to let her know that what may be acceptable for her own quilts aren't acceptable for a quilt that goes out of her house, and to let her know she needs to practice some more. She may think that she has more skills than she does, or maybe she doesn't care about quality and needs to know that other people do! I would say something to her about the fact that you are ripping it all out because it is unacceptable.

To me, it sounds like she didn't put it on the frame right- as others said- it was crooked, or she didn't have side tension right.

Best of wishes and let us know how it all turns out!

If I lived closer, I'd be happy to help you do the frog - ripit, ripit. What a shame.

awww so sorry. I'm the queen of busy work. satisfies me, somehow. Since I'm 30 min from OK border, I mapquested us. LOL! 230 miles. Sorry. I'd say send it to me & I'll do it, but you don't know me. Plus, you can get your "grieving" done while you rip. Glad your sis will help.

Can you just undo sections & hand quilt as you go? (Not that I know all that much about it.)

I would call my relative to let her know the quilt came in the mail. I'd tell her I noticed alot of puckering in the quilt. Tell her that you don't like puckers on your quilts. And never let someone quilt for you unless you have seen their work. Rip out the stitches and maybe stitch in the ditch or hand quilt it yourself.

I would rip out the stitches. You don't want to cry every time you look at your quilt. I am so sorry this happened.

By all means, keep pictures of the mistakes. You probably have no choice other than to pick out all the stitching. Politely tell her that you're just not ready to send her more quilts.

Call some of your friends and/or family in and have a "ripping" party. That way if you don't get it all done at one time at least you would have fun. I really hurt for you. I've had people do me that way. Not fun.

if it bothers you, yes rip it all out. give it a good press and start over. so sorry this happened. but you live and learn.

If the top and back are square, I would rip out the stitching on half the quilt, smooth out any puckers and spray or pin bast it. I would then machine quilt that half, then repeat. I am sorry this happened and good luck.

Oh I'm so sorry - how heartbreaking for you. I can't give you any advise but you will definitely get some help here.

Thank God for small favors then!

So sorry to hear about your quilt :cry: You will never be happy until you rip it apart. Then as long as you are at it, you might try the quilting in sections (where you actually cut away part of the batting-temporarily- to reduce bulk, even if it doesn't turn out perfect, it's gotta be better than what you've got now! you can do it!

I say rip it out. You will always be upset if you don't.So sorry that this happened from a family member. Did she apologize for the puckers?

I'm a ripper. I would have to do it over again. Take time taking the stitches out as the one quilter said, relax with a good movie, etc. I have to start over until I'm completely satisfied. However I'm a new quilter and none of my quilts are perfect.

Yes, I would rip it out....too much work into not to get it right. You'll be happy with it in the long run....otherwise...what have you got??

I would rip it out. I don't know if I would say something to her or not. Depends on your relationship with her. If she feels she was really doing you and favor then she will feel you don't appreciate the effort and there will be hurt feelings. I would just not say anything. If she is starting out and going to be doing this for more and more people, you could be helping her in her craft by letting her know about the problems. If your quilt was made poorly (I'm sure that's not the case) but if it was, the machine quilter should be telling her clients this so there's no surprises. She needs to learn this as well. It would be as much fun for her to tell someone their quilt isn't well made as it is for you to tell someone their machine quilting isn't well done. I would add having chocolate along with the wine.

How devastating. If it will always be a disappointment, you may want to rip it out and later have re-quilted. My suggestion is so not to take away from the joy of piecing, continue on other tops, then when you want a break, rip it out while watching a favorite movie or TV program a little at a time. It's especially hard when it's family and you can't deal with them as you would a business.

It is true, you sometimes get what you pay for. . . but paying $350, you should have gotten a really good job!
A reputable LAQ should let you know ahead of time if she thinks there will be puckers in the finished quilt. That way, you have the opportunity to make the decision whether to make repairs or just take what she does for you. If your top is not flat, the potential for puckers is always present.
I recently tried to do a quilt which turned out to be 6" longer across the top than across the bottom. Needless to say, there was no way to get it straight, but after messing with it, I did manage to get it quilted without any puckers. She didn't want to take it back and fix it before the quilting.

If her quilting doesn't improve, she won't have them either. :|
Sorry about your quilt .. it *will* be beautiful again!

Buy 3 good seam rippers and take her stitching out. You will lose the first 2 seam rippers so be sure to buy 3.

I had a quilt done with the same results. I heavly quilted it between the quilting already done. Lots and lots of quilting. I just meandered. It really turned out fine and with all the heavy quilting the puckers almost disappeared. This might not work for your quilt but was a good fix for mine. Judy in Texas.

It didn't cost me $350. In fact, I paid very little, luckily.
I have already started the ripping process.

I agree rip it out as you would never want to use it or even
like it. :cry:

Just touching bases again and am happy to learn you have started to rip out the quilting stitches. You go ahead and continue this journey and you will be delighted with your result! It's a hard, hard lesson, but this can be fixed and you will shake your head in wonderment as you use and enjoy your beautiful rescued quilt. :) :) :)

are the puckers on the top and the backing or just the backing?
wondering because sometimes the back gets creases, wrinkles quilted in if it was not taut- but that is fixable without all the (ripping) if the top looks ok. you can just put a different back on it- it will have an additional layer- and perhaps just do some simple stitch in the ditch in a central area and around the outside- you would not need to really re=quilt it- just enough to keep it from (ballooning)
if the top has the wrinkles too- that may mean removing stitches-
good luck= i had this happen once but luckily caught it as soon as i turned the quilt and i stopped right then and removed it all- it took A LONG- LONG TIME to remove the quilting in just an area about 14" wide and 110" long.

waladopa - I didn't mean to say you had paid $350 - that was someone else with a comment. I guess really, your relative should refund what you did pay for it. But I wouldn't push that. I'd chalk it up to experience.
I would do as you are doing - rip it all out carefully - then I would spread it out and see if the ripping has made any lumps or problem areas. If it still looks flat, I would take it to a local LAQ and have it done again. Tell her what the problem was with the first one. I would never try to FMQ a king size on a small machine!!