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??

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!!

Do the galloping horse method - if you couldn't see it whole riding on a horse, it's all good! :)

Besides - practice makes perfect!

I think it probably looks worse to you than it would to anyone else. I know I see the flaws in my quilts but others say they look beaufitul. Try to not be so hard on yourself. Besides... not supposed to make a perfect quilt anyway... ha ha ha

Don't be so hard on yourself! I'm sure it looks fine! I think you should not rip any out and finish it and wash it. Washing wrinkle really hide a lot :-)

I am always surprised at the things that I think are bad no one else even notices.

I agree, it's probably fine and once it's finished and washed it will be even better.

Oh I don't know ... Now I'm kind of tempted to post a few pictures and see if you all still think it looks fine! Seriously it looks like I had one hand on my quilt and the other on a glass of whiskey! LOL!

I did have a 'problem quilt' years ago. I rented a long arm and for whatever reason the last 3-4" of the darn thing would not quilt right. I removed the thread twice! No dice. I thought poo, poo, poo! Finally I just said forget it. Clearly that area was not meant to be quilted. Although it still bothers me, that strip is still not quilted.

If your materials are of good quality, it should be alright to remove the stitching. Just get comfy and have a new, sharp ripper.

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh!

Whiskey sounds good to me. With ice please. If there are places that you think are really bad, you can take the stitching out. It's a pain but it can be done. I would wait a day or two and see how you feel about it.

You can remove a section of STD quilting quite easily. Give yourself "tails" at the end of both sections and knot and bury the thread tails. Start stitching in the same hole that you buried the thread ends and STD up to the start of the next section. You do have to be careful when you are getting close to rejoin the stitching to make sure the top or bottom haven't walked or you might get a pucker where you rejoin. So a chance of a pucker or a "kiss" as some call them or wonky STD. It's up to you.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Practice makes perfect.

As above, if it really bothers you take it out, but, if you plan on washing it after it is done, I'm guessing that will take care of anything obvious to you.

IMHO SiTD is NOT the easiest kind of quilting. When I started, I was really upset with my ditching, tried free motion and found it much easier. As a teacher, I did a great deal of writing on boards, so I just extended that skill to the quilt. Many of my earlier quilts were full of various words, such as Bible quotes.

Back to your problem. Ditching requires a machine with a very even stitch, as well as a steady hand to look good from really up close. After 443 quilts, not all of mine make that standard, which is why I continue to do more FMQ. However, the good news is that you are probably the only person who will ever give your quilt that kind of scrutiny. Others on this board refer to the 10' rule. If it looks OK from 10 feet, you probably are worrying too much.

One of my quilts that I was very discouraged about and almost left home from a quilt show took "Best of Division". The quilt that took "Best in Show" at our most recent show was made by a friend who almost didn't enter it because she was so discouraged. We are ALL our own harshest critics, even those of us with a pile of blue ribbons.

Agreed! I can do much better with FMQ than SID any day of the week.

Add to the list of things required for SID ... straight well matched seams! If your piecing is lacking (and mine is), SID only makes it worse.

Leave it or rip it? Only you can make that choice. I recently finished quilting a landscape quilt that was all FMQ with some thread painting, very happy with the turn out, except ... the border screamed "SID" so I did. Not happy with the quilting on the border - I should have done meandering instead. Am I going to rip it out? Nope. I decided that it is what it is - glory in it's imperfections. Once I have the binding on it I'll post pics including close up's of where SID went well, and where it went horribly wrong.

WELL OK YOU SOLD ME...WANNA SEE THE PICS NOW :)

Relax and enjoy doing your quilts and in time you will be really good, don't judge yourself too hard.

I'm with everyone else....it is probably beautiful and you are to harsh with yourself, but I woul love to see it.

OK, we're all sitting here waiting... show us the pics!!

Seriously, tho, I'm sure it's fine. Show us the pics and we'll prove it. But i understand wanting it to be perfect. I was the same way the first time I tried piecing... oh, wait, that was the only time! Ha. I'm still working on it. :roll:

I would let it sit for a day or two and then make a decision. I know that we are our own worst critics, and you are falling right into that pattern....see, you are a true quilter already.

I prefer SID when I quilt. Everything else seems to cover up my pattern. Sometimes I do a diagonal thing....maybe it is called a cross stitch. I stretch blue painter's tape from one corner to another and follow that line as I sew. That may be something you want to try? I bought a SID foot that really helps me with the SID. It follows the seam exactly. Might be worth looking into?

At any rate, let it sit a bit. I think it will look better than you think.

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. :)

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

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.

... 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.[/quote]


I get nice straight lines by following the edge of a piece of blue painter's tape. Easiest way I know of for marking!

We are all to hard on ourselves. Just stand back and enjoy the complements. We get better as we go along.

On my first quilt, I called it stitch NEAR the ditch. ;)

Call it a learning experience. Only you will really know where the skeletons are buried--grin I'd say leave it and when you look at it several years from now you will just say this is where I started and look what I can do NOW!!

Debbie wrote: “I get nice straight lines by following the edge of a piece of blue painter's tape. Easiest way I know of for marking!” What a great idea!

And gzuslivz wrote “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!” By golly that is a good suggestion!

LMAO because You have the funniest sense of humor and I am still laughing over your description "Craptacular". I truly am going to borrow that one!
On my very first "any kind of actual quilting" I did the exact same thing: stitch in a ditch + need for speed = QUI :-P

My advice? The other QB members are right. If it looks good when you step back (just in case you can't find a man to gallop past on a horse - LOL!) then be proud of your first attempt! Washing a quilt does help hide small woggles in quilting lines.

On the other hand, if those wonky lines are always going to prey on your mind, then, yes... they can be ripped out. I have read topics where QB members have been so unhappy with the quilting that they got back from professional LAQs that they then spent weeks ripping it all out. :hunf:
It might work if you chose your three worst quilting lines and rip out and redo those. Then step back a see if that is enough to make you feel better about your quilting. If not, then do a few more. On my "Craptacular" quilt, it was surprising what a difference redoing just a few of the worst lines made.

Most of all, don't be your own worst critic (said the pot to the kettle)! We all have to learn by doing and no one's first attempts are going to be great. 90% of the time, you are the only one who is going to notice.

I wouldn't redo it. It's probably not noticeable to anyone except you and it's always fun to keep your first attempt so in the future you can see how far you've come.

Stitch in the Ditch can be a challenge. I've spent a lot of time beating myself up over it. The three foot rule and the galloping horse scenario is right on!
I've removed stitches that were wonky to me, but I removed all the stitches in that line and started over. I don't know if it's right or wrong to do that, though.
Practice, practice, practice and keep in mind SID isn't as easy as it sounds! You'll do great as you gain experience, I know you will.

If it looks okay but not great...try washing it. I didn't believe that and tried it it works like a charm!

I remember well because it wasn't very long ago.

We are always our own worst critics, and it probably does not look as bad as you think it does. Next time try a small zig-zag stitch - if it's good enough for Georgia Bonesteel, it's good enough for us. If I have a quilt with squares I do an "X" stitch across it - no ditch. Think of this as a learning experience - Rome wasn't built in a day, so why do we think we have to be "perfect" the first time out? Unless you will be sleeping with your face next to the quilt, you won't see any imperfections.

Amen to that~!