Quilt Fight!
 

Good morning everyone! I hope you all are having a good week! Has anyone every engaged in a project that just went wrong from beginning to end? I have been working the last year on a queen size quilt, that, because of my inexperience and failure to plan properly ( I realized this after a monumental error caused me to rethink the whole project), is now a bed runner. It's nice, but the whole thing has been a fight since the beginning ( I call it "The Beast!"), constantly having to adjust, and running out of fabric. I've had to search nationwide via the web for extra yardage to complete the darn thing. I can't give up, because I've put so much time into it, but I just want it done now. I know it's my own inexperience taking on a project I probably wasn't ready for, but now I feel very discouraged, and actually a bit afraid to start a new project. Has anyone ever experienced this? I would like to know I'm not alone, and need some company in my misery 😉

Think positive!

This whole experience has been a huge learning curve for you but you are so much wiser now.

Try doing a few small projects. Cushions are great fun and if you don’t want them for home they make lovely gifts.

Frustrating and a bit discouraging to have a project like that. #1, you didn't give up so that is a win. #2 What you learned along the way=priceless. Take a break and you will get excited about your next project.

Oh, I think all of us have a story or two about beast quilts... In one of my "better" bad stories, I traditionally pieced a queen-sized Storm at Sea and I believe in doing all of one step at a time. So I first pinned, and then sewed my first long skinny triangles (horrible bias edges) to the diamonds all entirely wrong. So I carefully took them apart and did it again. I mean, I did the exact same mistake again! Took it all out and got it right the third time but trust me, you didn't want to hear the things I was muttering by then.

I congratulate you on your perseverance. I think some of my success in quilting has come from learning how to recover from bad situations, it's not that they don't still happen but that I'm better at dealing with them now.

But, sometimes we get all we want from a project before it is complete. It's ok to throw everything in a box and ignore it for awhile, or to just completely get rid of it. I pick up UFOs with various issues at the thrift store and finish them or at least use them for fabric.

When I first started I made the mistake of making a T-Shirt quilt for my husband.... it grew into a massive, bigger then a California king, sized quilt. He had been a roadie for years and I used shirts from his favorite artists that he had worked with.

Never Again. I did finish it. But it could use some additional quilting.... it could be so much better. But I just couldn't deal with it any more. So done is done. And now I know that I will never make another T-Shirt quilt again and why they are so expensive to have made. And it's not even a comfy quilt! All the decals on the shirts make it not good for curling up with.

I also sometimes start a quilt and then realize that I just don't like it or it's to fiddly for me. I then use the blocks that I have finished to make backings for scrappy quilts. Most of my quilt backs have an assortment of random blocks.

For your next project start something smaller. Make a crib quilt or throw. Don't pick a really complicated pattern. Also... don't be so hard on yourself. We've all been there and it's fine.

You are not alone in this journey.

Last week, I threw a bag/purse project in the trash that was never going to get put together correctly or anywhere close to it.I could have revised and made something else. It was just a mess. I can't keep looking or plundering through failed projects so release them (yes, plural) to the trash man. That little voice telling me I must finish a project was shushed for once.

However, I did lessons and may try it again another day.

Be kind to yourself.

Thank you everyone for your positive comments and personal stories! Knowing others have been there/done that, I really don't feel so bad now. This is a wedding shower gift, so, unfortunately, tossing it was out of the question. But believe me, I think I would have just tossed it if I hadn't run out of time to do something else. The really frustrating part, is that it's for my future Daughter-in-law, and I really wanted it to be something special. I'll just never reveal it was supposed to be a quilt, she'll never know! I've made a decorative throw pillow and will make complementary shams to make it a set. I guess we all have to have a plan C if Plan B (tossing) isn't an option! 🙂

Good for you for making lemonade!! I jumped into the deep end, feet first, without being able to swim, when I first started quilting. I just kept forging ahead, reading articles, watching videos, and utilizing the info here on the board. Everything is/was a learning experience, and I lived the "there are no quilt police" motto. Keep moving forward, and learning as you go!

many times.
my last three, in fact. :shock:
luckily they were all just over-size lap quilts.
the last thing i need right now is a queen-size nightmare. lol lol lol

I have 2 such beast that have been calling me to finish. One I have put away so well I can't find it right now. The other requires a great deal of frog stitching to get back on track. Both have been difficult from the very start with blocks coming up incorrect in measurements. all the way through the bindings. I call the one beast the "quilt from hell" and the other one, "what was I thinking".

Maybe it’s time to put it aside. Find a Beginner friendly pattern you like, work on that, rebuild your esteem. Maybe complete a few new projects. Then when you feel better able to continue the ( beast project) get it back out and look at it with more experienced, fresh eyes. Many of us have jumped into something we were not really ready for- mine is still in a box- getting close to twenty years now. I insist I’m going to get it out and finish it ( someday)

Kudos to you for hanging in there and not giving up and going out to buy a set for a set of sheets or something. Your pillow and shams will be loved just as much as a full size quilt. Please take pictures and share them with us.

My general policy is "if you're not succeeding, change your definition/parameters of success until you are." Maybe you started with the definition of "success" being to make a beautiful, completed quilt with the pattern you chose, but something interfered. That doesn't mean you still can't learn from the mistakes you made with it or use the blocks for something else or use it for experimentation like new piecing techniques or quilting patterns or color schemes. Or maybe, as in your case, it will eventually get done but much later than anticipated- not only will you have succeed with your original goal, but you've doubly succeeded because you persevered for so long to finish it. Bravo!

You all are great! Thank you for the encouragement. When you're sitting there with the "the beast" , "quilt from hell" , or "what was I thinking!" in your lap, crying with frustration because yet another thing went wrong, it's so wonderful to read other's stories, get refreshed, and dive back in. And tonight, when I was thinking that maybe I'll find another hobby....I listened to the sound of my sewing machine as it stitched, and thought nope, there's definitely another quilt in my future!

Oh yes, I had a Jacqeline De Jonge that went great till I tried to fit the circle into a square. That one ended up all together, backing included, in a vinyl zippered mattress pad bag under the bed of my sewing room for over a year. One day, I pulled it out and the answer was clear. Applique the circle to the square instead of trying to match up all those connection points with a seam. It was totally worth, putting it up, setting it aside, forgetting about it, rediscovering it and ta da! Done.

I think we've all been there, my latest is a small quilt, picked the fabrics, I thought they would look ok but oh no, I misread the pattern and it's horrible. My neighbor's dog loves it!

Sometimes when quilts are causing frustration it’s good to have a quilt buddy take a look and offer suggestions. Another viewpoint sometimes is the key. But then there are quilt patterns that were just poorly designed or may even have major errors. Then you have to decide how you can selvage or repurpose your project. These are the projects that build our skills.

I suspect most of us have a story. Lol we learn from them so go make a lap quilt. You will do a wonderful job.❤️ My first quilt was a baby quilt and it is still adorable though it is 17 years old and has been loved by 2 grandchildren. That made me so confident I made a Lemone Star.. it took a long time to finish! I love that you reworked your “beast”.

So there she is, Got it done this morning...Finally! It was supposed to be a queen size quilt, but this will be just fine, it might work out even better, actually, since if I made the queen, I'd have no fabric left over for accessories. This project was such a life sucker! But I'm happy now, I have my life back! Thank you all for your kind words, and for sharing your stories with me. If anyone is interested, I'd love to see your beastly projects that you fought and won<3

Your bed runner turned out beautifully! Good for you for persevering! My project that I was so enthusiastic about at the beginning and just wanted it done by the end was a jigsaw puzzle quilt. I chose two techniques that were new to me in the same quilt - my mistake. It’s done now and I love the result but in the middle of it I strongly disliked it. It sat for a while until I was ready to finish it. I certainly know how you feel.

I think its quite pretty...and IMHO it might have been a bit saccharine Laura Ashley if it was a full sized bed quilt. Runner and a few pillow shams adds a touch of sweet without too much.

Gave away a wonky log cabin yesterday. I was never going to finish it. Person apparently has a thing for rooster and all my blocks have a rooster, cow or sheaf of wheat at center. I just wasn't happy with how it was coming out. Glad to give it away.

Another Pain project- sailboats from Ahoy Sailor quilt patterns from Suzy Quilts . Painful!

It always sounds good at the time "oh this will be so fun to make and I'll learn something new! I mean, how hard can it be?" LOL! I've decided from now on to plan these puppies out from beginning to end, quilting, borders, border quilting, all of it. I normally just go with it to see what will fit, but this one taught me a hard lesson!

That turned out gorgeous!
I have a couple of quilts that are giving me fits and I don't want to deal with them at the moment so I put
them away.
One came out beautifully but my machine quilting is horrible!!! I don't know what I'm going to do but for now
it's in a pile lol

Thank you so much! I know how what you mean with the quilting. Everybody says it just takes practice, which I agree, but It takes me so long to piece a quilt, I don't have time to practice! LOL! I usually just stitch in the ditch because I'm afraid to mess up by using anything more "outside of the box." But I'm sure If you finished it, it'd look just lovely:)

About 11 years ago, I was working on a paper piece quilt for a very dear Japanese friend, with a pagoda, ginger jar, kimono, and lantern in each large "section", there was 1 lantern pattern that just did NOT want to be made, so as a result, there weren't too many of that pattern in the completed quilt. I luckily got it completed and to my friend for Christmas that year, but unfortunately she had just been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of stomach cancer and died in May, but I did get to meet her brother and family from Japan and it is now in Japan.

My advice is if the project fights you every time, put it aside for awhile, and do something else and come back later, and it will probably be willing to cooperate. LOL

That looks so beautiful! I have a stained-glass window in my house with a very similar look to it.

You are definitely not alone - I've also had discouraging moments with projects. The main thing is that you didn't give up. Sometimes it's good to take a break when you make a mistake and go back to it when you're refreshed. I also found, in my experience, that when I'm getting tired, I have to stop and take a break or I'll make mistakes.

Your quilt is really beautiful!!!!

I'm currently quilting a baby quilt that I've named "Murphy's Dog" - because of everything that went wrong with it (and it has a puppy appliqued on it). I still don't know exactly how I'm going to finish the quilting, but I'm determined to finish the stinker and move on!

And I love your bed runner - so pretty!!

I am so glad I'm not alone! It's so nice to share stories and learn from each other!:)