X is for X

This letter is proving a challenge to me as no doubt it has to many bloggers. Last year I wrote about x stitching ie cross stitching. I also wrote about seX which in quilting circles can stand for Stash Enhancing eXperience.

I am determined not to repeat myself this year. So instead I thought I might write about when X means a mistake when something goes wrong.

Something I learned early on in my quilting exploits is that the quick unpick/ seam ripper is my friend. Reverse sewing, unpicking or  frogging as it is sometimes called (cause you rip it... ribbit ribbit like a frog) is common in any sort of sewing. 

In quilting I was most likely to unpick

misaligned points - where seams that were supposed to meet up didn't
Fipped over seams 
Crooked seams - sometimes missing the the underneath fabric completely
Incorrect placement of a piece ie when a Section of a block (or sometimes the whole block)  sewn in the wrong way around

Sometimes in the scheme of things these mistakes don't matter and can be over looked (flipped over seams, points ot matching exactly) .... and sometimes they can't left and have to be fixed. Everyone has their own level of perfection (Even I knew that the above mistake had to be corrected)

Mistakes that can be fixed with an unpicker/seam ripper are pretty simple - they indicate that the mistake can be fixed by resewing a seam.

Some mistakes in quilting are not able to be fixed so easily... the saying measure twice cut once is so true in quilting. If you cut a piece too long then you can trim it back, and all will be well so long as you have extra fabric. However cutting something too short is no so easily fixed ... sometimes it can't be fixed and a whole new piece of fabric has to be cut and or purchased..


 

When it comes to quilting a few mistakes I have made more than once are not sandwhiching the 3 layers of the quilt correctly and not having enough of one or both the bottom layers under the top. The bottom layers need to extend out past the top layer (by 2-4" generally but at least past it) If you realise this before you start pinning then you can move the layers till they are correctly positioned. If you realise it after you have pinned it... you can unpin it or make allowance for it and add a bit of extra fabric.... its tricky but do able. If you don't realise till you have quilted all or most of the quilt... its harder. It involves unpicking. How much depends on how particular you are. I generally try to unpick as little as possible and patch in a piece of extra batting and or backing fabric. (did I mention I don't make show quilts?)

Another mistake I have made is to have some of the excess backing fabric flip over under the the quilt and for me to quilt it in to the back. That has to be unpicked. You can't get around that one.

I have made these mistakes in the past but haven't worried about photographing them. I mean they are mistakes. They aren't pretty. Why photograph them? I didn't know I was going to write a blog post about them