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Hi all! I'm a newbie. My mom ambushed me with not one, but TWO Sunbonnet Sew quilting projects using baby clothes from my sister and me.

I got the first one appliqued, pieced and messily FMQed. I used coordinating deep purple top thread on the sashing and border, to keep the quilting subtle.

In a few places, this top thread shows through a bit on the cream-colored backing. It's not consistent across the quilt, or I'd consider it a happy design accident. My 1970s Viking died mid-quilting and I bought a beginner-quality Janome. This may have contributed to my sloppy tension.

Other than ripping out those border and sashing areas and re-quilting with better tension, is there an easy fix?

I was thinking matte fabric paint carefully dabbed on those tiny purple dots might conceal my mess-up?

Any other ideas? I was hoping to finish the embellishments and send this to my sister for Christmas. For the purposes of this project, done is better than perfect.

It may all smooth out in the wash. Try to gently pull front fabric away from back fabric and see if it evens out.

The quilt comes with lots of love, and that's what's important.

I'm another believer in quilting problems disappearing after washing. Sometimes, yeah new issues appear but we want to know about them too. The other thing is it helps us get away from it for awhile and we can look at it with new eyes and decide whether it really is something we can live with or something we need to fix. I have taken out entire/significant amounts of work before but it is not my first choice. Still, if something is really wrong it needs fixing.

But what SallyS says is so important. It is given with love. We can love each other with the little "imperfections" that make us unique.

Final thought: if we are going to have a problem show, it's better on the back where no one should be looking anyway! :p

Agree with the others, don't do anything drastic until you've washed it a couple of times. I'm amazed at how many of those minor tension issues disappear after washing. And keep in mind most people pay very little attention to the back, most of the focus is the front of the quilt. If she's not a quilter, she may even think that it's normal. 😉

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.

This is my philosophy, too!