Thursday, May 28, 2009

Quilting the Wheel of Mystery

I had my sister over for a quilting lesson and she said something really funny...
Sister said: "Are you starting something new again"?
I said "Did you think I was going to work on one of my 10 unfinished projects I can see from where I'm sitting?!?!"
Sister said: "I think you should"! Now picture me laughing out loud!
I was all ready to cut into some fabric and start the new paper piecing mystery block at Paper Panache. 
She kept giving me the evil stare, so then I felt guilted into working on a UFO! 

I had been fussing around about my wheel of mystery borders and had been unsure which fabric to pick. Since I finished piecing the quilt top on May 13th (see quilt top here)  I have literally auditioned hundreds of possible border fabrics - both from my stash and at quilt stores.
Today I decided that the problem must be that I don't really want it to have a border, so I went ahead and basted it using one of the fabrics I had bought for a possible border, as the backing. 
And then just jumped into quilting it. I quilted all the curvy seams and then decided to do some other quilting lines - I tried a second line

 right by the seam to emphasize the circles but I hated the look of that. See where my awl is pointing?? That quilting line had to go. 
And I tried quilting about 1/2" away from the seam and hated 
that...look how wavy that line is!!!! 

I must have been distracted by my new project sitting on the edge of the table - calling to me, waiting for me to cut into new fabric!
I like to post photos of these kinds of mistakes because some people think that when you are an experienced quilter, it comes easy and it always works out...not so!! Having experience just means you don't give up and you have a few more ideas or solutions to try.

I kept at it and unsewed a few more quilting lines and finally decided that I prefer the echo curves to be 1/4" away from the seams. Then I had several lines of holes on the batik fabrics where those quilting lines used to be...ugh! With a lot of rubbing of my fingers nails I think (hope) it is not as noticeable now.
As I was leaving the quilt session, I got another idea of quilting lines to make and I'll try that tomorrow. Or maybe I'll work on my new paper pieced block if my sister isn't there to give me the evil stare!!

8 comments:

Libby said...

I think you are on to something . . . . and I am fully on board! If at first you don't like your stitch - start a new project *s*

Darlene said...

There's nothing wrong with a new project. LOL

I was thinking about you today, Kathy. I was cutting the ears off some 1/2 square triangles and remembered your jars full of corners. :-)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post. It's just what I needed. I have a few problems with my Shakespear in the Park quilt, and will have to replace some of the blocks. This is making me feel like a failure, but I was thinking today, not all projects are going to work out perfect the first time, even when you do everything carefully. Mistakes happen, and they must be corrected. I like what you said "Having experience just means you don't give up and you have a few more ideas or solutions to try"

Jean said...

I love this quilt and your quilting looks great. I think it is great that you can help other's learn from your mistakes. We all make them and we all have days when nothing matches up.

Greenmare said...

uh oh. you felt guilt? about UFO's.
gasp.
are you catholic by any chance? Cause we have the real corner on guilt.
really.

Jeanne said...

I'm glad you decided to work on that quilt! The colors and fabrics are so pretty. Looking forward to what you will try tomorrow.

Tanya said...

Oh, I know what you are going through!! I did the exact same thing with my Wheel of Mystery! Same sort of lines, same sort of jags! I took so much stitching out! Even now, there is a line of quilting I wish I'd not put in but what is there is there. Actually all the steps aren't really visible when up on the wall.

ShinyNewThing said...

scratch over those holes lightly with a pin and they will vanish like magic.