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Yes, you CAN rip it out. I just scrape my fingernail across the holes so that they merge into undisturbed fabric, again, before re-quilting.

Truthfully, the only people that will notice any wonkiness... are other quilters.

It is NOT EVEN ON THE RADAR of non-quilters. Seriously! They never even see it! It doesn't exist! They only see the overall impression of the quilt. It's ONE THING... A QUILT... it doesn't have PARTS (to them).

I've been amazed by this fact. Of course, I'm a quilter, and it IS on MY radar. LOL!

From Kathryn Kistner in Texas, who's now saying,
"Please yourself... but nobody else cares."

First of all, maybe your stitching is wonky because you are drinking whiskey while quilting! (hahaha). Second, I agree with those who said to finish it up and wash it. Third, stitch in the ditch is difficult. If your machine has the serpentine stitch, that is a really good one to use. It meanders back and forth in a wavy pattern. If you aren't super straight, it doesn't matter. I personally love it!

Like some others have mentioned, after it's washed, it will look totally different. Relax, enjoy your finished quilt & go on to #3. :-)

I'm sure your quilting looks great. Just be proud of yourself for having the courage to jump in and give the stitch-in-the-ditch a try. I'm still trying to get up the courage to do so.

Don't worry about "long straight lines". I have been doing SITD for 6 years and my lines are still not straight!! It's all part of it being a handmade quilt. No one but a computer machine or a longarmer with a long straight edge can do a perfectly straight line.

Just enjoy the process. Whoever gets the quilt will never look at it and say "My, but her lines are all over the place!" LOL As if!!!! :-)

Try washing. It will hide a lot. Try to just enjoy it. Quilting is soooooo much fun. It is a time you can just be yourself in what you create. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiddyUpGo

Ok so I just started quilting quilt number two, actually my first attempt at any kind of actual quilting (first was just tied). I decided to stitch in the ditch, even though some very smart people advised me against it ... I just didn't trust my ability to do long, straight lines and the idea of not having to mark anything was appealing, plus I have that handy low-speed setting so I thought I could manage. Well I quickly got tired of going slow :-( and eventually paid the price for that. Some of my quilting actually looks pretty good ... I managed to stay in the ditch or very close to it. Other parts look ... Excuse me ... Craptacular. Like seriously wonky. Can I rip those parts out and do them over or would that really mess up my quilt top and end up looking even worse? When you take a couple of steps back you can't see the wonkiness but up close it looks really bad in places. How many of you as beginners can remember feeling similar horror when quilting for the first time??

Oh Yeah! Not that long ago either. Remember this....how often will you or the recipient be looking at the quilt from 18" away? If it is for a child, they don't care. Just know that every one of those wonky stitches is a little bit of love. I found a quilt in a drawer that I made 20 years ago before I ever considered myself a quilter. I made it for my first grandson to have at my house. It is the most pathetic attempt at quilting I ever saw. But you know what, it has been washed and loved so much that the flannel isn't even flannel any more. Obviously quality didn't matter to the Gkids.

don't be so hard on your self,we have all been there done that, give it a few days and look at it again, you may see it differently and it is not as bad as you thought at first glance, or you may want to take it out...you can not do it wrong...what ever you do will be the right thing to do...welcome to the club, you have passed...and you are now a quilter...hugs yetta

Ditto

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmagee84

Practice makes progress!!!

We all have to start somewhere. It sounds like you may be too critical of your own work. Most of us are!

The best judge is using the "3 foot rule". Stand back 3 ft and if it looks good, it IS good! There is also the rule about a man on a galloping horseback, if he can't see the mistake, it is not there! :)

Seriously, be proud of what you have accomplished! Know that each piece will show some progress and move on. Be happy you have completed your project!!!

Post a pic so we can tell you what a good job you did!!

keep praticing i felt like that when i started but my sister(who is a fantastic quilter she does it for customers) told me keep on going every quilt gets better and she was right . i am still not as good as her but i have gotten better. but i like every one i have done.