Friday, April 2, 2010

Finished For Friday: Finally!

I am participating today in Lit and Laundry's, Finished for Friday! I hardly ever have anything to show on Fridays. That is because as of late, I am not finishing much....I have not even finished our taxes yet for goodness sake...I have got to get better organized.

I finally finished the quilt I was working on at my son's request. The binding is on, the label is on, and I was beginning to breath a sigh of relief.......almost.

Here is the pillow sham to match the quilt. I hope the recipient will want to use this quilt as a bedspread, as that is the intent with the matching sham.

Here is a look at the back. I love the fabric for the binding, I think it looks really nice.

Another view of the back. Remember, I said I was about to breath a sigh of relief....well, guess what happened? I was folding the quilt to get it ready to put in the bag for my son to take to his friend. Guess what? Can you believe my fingers snagged on a thread, and one of the blocks started unraveling....right before my eyes. Well, I panicked....thought I could put it on my machine to fix it, BIG MISTAKE. I'll just leave it at that....BIG MISTAKE.

I frantically called the quilting lady and explained what happened, she could not believe it, and offered to try and fix it. Seems her long arm is down waiting on a part to come in, but assured me she could fix this problem some kind of way with her regular machine. So 8:00pm Thursday night, I am driving to her house to take the quilt back to be repaired. My son leaves at 12:00 noon on Friday to fly to North Carolina to see his friend. My head is spinning and worried this is going to be a mess. I kept thinking about all this work, all of this planning to have something like this happen at the last minute. And can you even imagine had I not found this problem? I felt so bad.

My son and the quilting lady debated on how to fix this problem, this is what they came up with, and he seems happy. I on the other hand am a protectionist and if something is not as I feel it should be, well, I am not a happy camper. I guess the important thing is, this is a solution to a last minute fix, which should have not happened in the first place in my opinion. Makes me wonder if I will use this lady again, I don't like surprises of any kind as a general rule, especially snafu surprises.

Sorry, the picture is so small, I forgot to take it with my camera, and this is from the phone, but you get the idea. It has her initials in the center of the block "ELS"

Maybe it is time for me to buy a quilting machine and that will eliminate me depending on someone else for work that needs last minute repairs. Let me say that this is the second time a small problem was found with the quilting, so I am considering not letting a third happen. I wonder how I would react when my own work lacked perfection.....I am sure the whole house would be stressed right along with me. I know myself!

And finally, here is a shot of the card I made my son to match the quilt. I like the way this turned out. I used scraps of fabrics from the quilt, and a star button. I added the little pin I found on one of my outings.

This was a lot of work from start to finish....and much unnecessary stress. Yes, I am so glad I can finally post about this quilt for finished for Friday, which I am sure you are tired of hearing about. So now I'm off to the next project.....which by the way, I am going to try to quilt myself......it's a small project, thank goodness!!

19 comments:

  1. Suzanne it is gorgeous and turned out lovely. I totally understand how you feel though, it is your vision your work. Still it is beautiful.

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  2. As a LA'er Suzanne I can tell you this NEVER should have happened. I stay stitch all my ends & then bury the tails to prevent unraveling. She should have offered you at least a discount to defray your driving time & gas costs, it's a lovely quilt so I know you were very disappointed.Just how did she "fix" it?

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  3. Suxanne, Your quilt is just gorgeous...and it should never,ever have raveled. There is something wrong with the tension..something on her machine. If thats all it took to begin to undo, the rest might do the same. I would be having a major fit.It might not help,but if I had put that much work into a quilt,the quilting should be wonderful as well. I would find another quilter.. I hope her repair works..

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  4. Oh my goodness, I gasped with joy when I saw these pictures..I love the card that you made him. WOW..just beautiful too...I would be going through the same thing as you if that had happened to me,,lol

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  5. Oh blimey, that sounds sooo stressful! Good luck with your quilting project!

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  6. Well your luck only last so long. Thank goodness, it was just one small place. I think I would look for another quilter. This quilt turned out beautifully. If the recipient does not like it, Jeff better find a another friend. Super job.

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  7. Your quilt is lovely. I agree with the others, this never should have happened. I too would find a new quilter. But it is lovely and I'm sure your son's friend will love it. How cleaver you were to make a matching card.

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  8. I agree with everyone else. The quilt and card are just lovely. Very striking.

    Yep..I'd be looking for a new quilter. No way should that have happened.

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  9. Great quilt and I would definitely be looking for another quilter...or try it yourself-I machine quilt on a home machine.

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  10. The card and quilt look good to me but then again, I'm not a quilter so..... Great job Suzanne.

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  11. Everything looks so, so very nice!!! Just stopping by to wish you a very Happy Easter!!

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  12. I love a striped binding; yours looks great. Have a blessed Easter.

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  13. Hi Suzanne,
    Gosh your quilt is pretty. I love the striped binding and the matching little card you made. You did a most excellent job piecing the quilt. It sucks that the quilting stitches unraveled so easily.

    I have been machine sewing quilts for over 25 years. My quilting stitches are locked together tight. I know this because when I make mistakes and have to pick it apart it is not an easy task. Free motion quilting is fun. There is tons of free information on the internet on free motion quilting. As long as you can drop or cover the feed dogs and have a darning foot, the machine will free motion quilt. The old Singer 15-91 is a straight stitch machine with a larger harp than most newer machines. In March 2009 I bought a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 for the larger 9 inch harp...it is awesome for quilting queen size quilts, but it is a luxury item, not a necessity.

    BIQ = buddies in quilting.

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  14. Its beautiful, love the striped binding too. I guess its lucky that you "discovered" the problem, rather than someone else once the quilt was on its way.
    Kathy

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  15. Beautiful!!!!! Catching up on my blog reading, finally. Happy Saturday and Happy Easter!!!!

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  16. You still don't need a fancy machine to quilt your own quilts. Join me in the adventure...and the stress! Lane

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  17. your quilt looks great. I love your choice of fabric for the binding. I should be more daring in my binding choices. Am looking forward to your knitting adventures (when you are ready).

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  18. That is a very nice quilt, and yes, I would have been livid, especially if I had paid someone to do the quilting and it came apart that easily. She should have redone the whole thing. I certainly hope it doesn't come apart in the first wash.

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  19. Stunning! Wonderful. ~ http://www.Vaboomer.com VABOOMER BLOG

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Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

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