Monday 13 July 2009

A bit of a shame

I've been making these nine-patch squares for some time now as leaders-and-enders and found that I had enough to make a lap quilt - originally intended for my father-in-law as a birthday present, so that he could wash the one he seems to use constantly. I decided to keep things simple and easy and quilt with just straight lines. The first rows of quilting, the diagonals, went fine, no problems. But then I decided to add some extra vertical and horizontal lines of quilting too. And they puckered.

I had to make a decision. Whether to unpick the whole lot and start again or to give up on the idea of it being a gift, just finish it any way and keep it to use in the car or the garden, or for Rosie. Being somewhat less than a perfectionist, and rather lazy, and of the mindset that hates to unpick and just wants to get on and get it done, I went for the second option. It's a bit of shame as it's quite colourful and cheerful and now there's no time
left to make another for FIL. Hey ho.

Of course, absolutely typical,
the back is perfect, not a pucker in sight! I'm not keen on machine quilting, straight line or free motion, unless it's on a small project; but I can't afford to send them to the long arm quilters, though I will treat myself one of these days when I make something wonderful. So I suppose that I'll just have to persevere. Any tips?

12 comments:

maria said...

What a shame, the piecing looks so lovely. This may sound like teaching a grandmother to suck eggs (I've always thought that was a strange saying) but do you use a walking foot? Maria x

Candace said...

How about Mary's solution (from MaryQuilts) when she had a quilt run a bit. She appliqued a little pattern over the spots that didn't come out and it was cuter than ever. I think your FIL would love it. I made the picture bigger and couldn't find the tucks. It's very pretty.

Amelia said...

Sometimes we just have to go to "Plan B" on things...don't worry about the puckering...it will still show the love that went into it...and it will keep you warm.

Enjoy the week...take a stroll thru the flower garden and feed the birds.

Kate said...

The only thing I do when I machine quilt is to make sure I use the walking foot and I go very very slowly, not much help I guess. The quilt looks gorgeous though.

Lynn said...

I know exactly how you feel - that happens to me frequently - but more often on the back. Sometimes I just take out a few stitches and try to smooth it out some and that seems to work. Other times after feeling sorry for myself and my poor quilting skills, whining and being frustrated I either finish it and hope no one will notice (even though I do) or it becomes a UFO - which is not good.

Sew Create It - Jane said...

As you know...I'm no expert, but I'd almost be tempted to say your tension wasn't right. Were you using a walking foot? Just my first impression....

Katie said...

I'm thinking once it's washed the puckers are going to be harder to spot. If it's for using I would give it to him anyway. It will be warm and colorful and I bet he'll just love it. :-)

Kay said...

This is so pretty, Amanda. I love seeing the beautiful work that you do.

Jo in TAS said...

I bet your FIL wouldn't notice the puckering! Give it to him, I'm sure he'll love it!

Jo in TAS said...

I bet your FIL wouldn't notice the puckering! Give it to him, I'm sure he'll love it!

scraphappy said...

Such a shame on the puckers, it is a bright and cheery quilt. I've had good luck with spray basting for smaller projects. For larger ones, I use an excessive number of safety pins. I've found that if I am very careful and methodical with every single step, things seem to work out better, even when I seem to be following the same procedure as usual. First iron the back with a little spray starch. Then smooth it out and tape it to the floor. Check for wrinkles and adjust tape as necessary. It should be flat and smooth, but not stretched. Next fluff up the batting (wadding) in the dryer or let it relax for a bit so the wrinkles fall out. I've had better luck with flat cotton batting than the fluffy kind. Smooth it out so it is nice and flat. Then comes the top, freshly ironed as flat as possible. I start in the center and pin every four fingers across the entire top, making sure to smooth as I go, but not stretch anything out. When that part is done I roughly trim around the edges and flip it over to check for wrinkles and puckers. If it looks good, I take it the machine. I seem to have the most problems with puckers when I quilt in one area and then come back to it again from a different direction. So I try to work in sections and finish every thing off before moving on. The crossing seems seem to cause problems, especially when you keep coming up on them from different directions. It looks like that might be what happened in your quilt. The stretchiness of the bias versus the straight of grain probably caused things to shift differently as you moved back and forth. It is still a lovely quilt though, and will be just as warm ans snuggly as on without pleats.

Tracey said...

Im no expert at quilting so maybe im not the one to say whats for the best, im still learning things as i go along, but your quilt still looks wonderful, enjoy it,

Thankyou for your comment on my blog, its good to hear from you,

Take care
Tracey