A couple of years ago I was at a retreat and had brought everything I needed to make a queen sized Hello Washi Quilt. I was having a great time visiting with friends as I cut my blocks out and began chain piecing.
When it was time to put my first big block together I came to an awful realization. I had messed up BIG TIME. I had cut about 150 white strips too narrow. By the time I realized it, I had already sewn each too-thin white strip to a print rectangle. Ugh. So now what??
My options at this point were to sit and unpick 150 seams and start completely over, OR I could set aside the mistake blocks and move on. After thinking about it (for maybe 10 seconds) I decided to save the mistakes for later and move on. It wasn't a tough decision - I'm not a huge fan of my seam ripper! So I put this quilt away and worked on something else for the rest of the retreat.
When I got home I stashed the mistake blocks away to work on another time. I pulled them back out a month or so ago and put them all up on my design wall to see what I could make from them.
That's probably one of the worst mistakes I've ever made. How about you? What's the worst quilting mistake you've made?
Edited to add: Want to make your own? Find a link to the free PDF pattern here on this post.
Quilt details:
48" x 48"
fabrics: various prints from my stash
Your quilt from your mistakes looks breathtaking. Wonderful save! My big mistake was at the time - plain.awful! We used to 'tear' strips for granny squares before the rotary cutting days. Instead of ripping selvage to selvage - I tore ALL the way down several yards of fabric. I don't think my heart could have felt lower at the time. Things did work out, but what a learning curve!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful mistake! Well done :D
ReplyDeleteMy daughter requested a king size quilt and agreed to help me put it together during her Christmas break from college. We calculated all the piece sizes and cut them ALL and like you, one piece was calculated incorrectly and we cut all of that particular piece the wrong size...for king sized top! We strategized though and figured a work around so that the mistake just became a "design element". The good thing about doing the wrong thing consistently (instead of just once) is it looked like you planned it that way. She loved the resulting quilt and we both learned a lesson about checking measurements!
ReplyDeleteOKAY, Andy, I can't even think of my mistakes for looking at this GREAT quilt! seriously, I love it and the binding and the backing, all of it! good job! yup Lemonade...sweet.
ReplyDeleteIt looks intentional! And I love your choice of backing fabric. I never cut all my fabric first, so usually catch mistakes like that early on.i cut and make so many blocks at a time. That said, I've never prepared for a retreat, either.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I'd like to make one of these "mistakes." Can you give the dimensions of the blocks?
ReplyDeleteLizF