Lesson Learned is one of those corporate buzz words we use all the time at work. You know those buzz words, the ones which no one else understands who doens't work with you? Well, in this case, I think you'll understand....
Last night, I finally got around to quilting Curtis' quilt (Curtis is our friend Richard's new brother). My original intent was to quilt it before the Olympics and bind it while I watched, but that never happened! But this story goes back a little further. I pieced the quilt top in December, added borders late in the month on a day I got to sew with my mom, and then made the back for it at our bee sewing day in January. I was able to use some yardage and all my scraps from the front to make the back. Then, it sat on my sewing table waiting to be quilted. I loaded the back on the frame during the Olympics then got discouraged because the quilt was 48" wide and my roll of batting was 45" wide. So, it sat for a few weeks.
Last night, I finally got back to it, cut the batting, loaded the top, and got started. Boy, do I love quilting once I get started. Not sure why it sometimes takes so much energy to get to that point! I was quilting along happily thinking how I'd be done in under an hour (the kiss of death thought), then rolled the quilt and discovered that I didn't have enough backing to finish it! Arrgghhh! So, off the frame it came and I headed up to my sewing room to piece another strip on the back only to discover/remember that I used up all my scraps for this one! I was able to cut fabric off one side and attach it to the bottom. Once I did that, it was back down to the frame and back on and finished.
Now that I think back to the day I made the backing, I remember thinking how tight the backing was top to bottom (you usually want at least 4-8" longer backing than top), and how I could accommodate that by loading it sideways. I didn't make a note of it to put with the back and didn't remember when I loaded it. And that, my blog reading friends, is my lesson learned. If I have one of those "oh, I'll just do this" thoughts again soon, I will be sure to write it down, because I am not sure I will even faintly remember the next one!
I am really happy with the final result. I used Warm Blend batting, which quilted up really nicely, with Robison-Anton thread in the top and bobbin. I think I say it every time I use that thread, but boy, do I love it! I will post pictures once I gift it to Curtis, as I want his mom to see it in person before she sees it on the blog. Hope to get the binding on before the kids play date on Saturday so I can stitch binding while they play with friends.
If you have any great lessons learned from your quilting, please share them in the comments....I could use the help!
Last night, I finally got around to quilting Curtis' quilt (Curtis is our friend Richard's new brother). My original intent was to quilt it before the Olympics and bind it while I watched, but that never happened! But this story goes back a little further. I pieced the quilt top in December, added borders late in the month on a day I got to sew with my mom, and then made the back for it at our bee sewing day in January. I was able to use some yardage and all my scraps from the front to make the back. Then, it sat on my sewing table waiting to be quilted. I loaded the back on the frame during the Olympics then got discouraged because the quilt was 48" wide and my roll of batting was 45" wide. So, it sat for a few weeks.
Last night, I finally got back to it, cut the batting, loaded the top, and got started. Boy, do I love quilting once I get started. Not sure why it sometimes takes so much energy to get to that point! I was quilting along happily thinking how I'd be done in under an hour (the kiss of death thought), then rolled the quilt and discovered that I didn't have enough backing to finish it! Arrgghhh! So, off the frame it came and I headed up to my sewing room to piece another strip on the back only to discover/remember that I used up all my scraps for this one! I was able to cut fabric off one side and attach it to the bottom. Once I did that, it was back down to the frame and back on and finished.
Now that I think back to the day I made the backing, I remember thinking how tight the backing was top to bottom (you usually want at least 4-8" longer backing than top), and how I could accommodate that by loading it sideways. I didn't make a note of it to put with the back and didn't remember when I loaded it. And that, my blog reading friends, is my lesson learned. If I have one of those "oh, I'll just do this" thoughts again soon, I will be sure to write it down, because I am not sure I will even faintly remember the next one!
I am really happy with the final result. I used Warm Blend batting, which quilted up really nicely, with Robison-Anton thread in the top and bobbin. I think I say it every time I use that thread, but boy, do I love it! I will post pictures once I gift it to Curtis, as I want his mom to see it in person before she sees it on the blog. Hope to get the binding on before the kids play date on Saturday so I can stitch binding while they play with friends.
If you have any great lessons learned from your quilting, please share them in the comments....I could use the help!
Comments
I agree, I LOVE the Robinson Anton thread. I love my Superior Threads too, but any time I get to use RA I know I'm not going to have any problems. I wish we had it locally, I can only find it online.
I am very meticulous about laying my quilts and backings out to make sure that I am loading them the right way so that I don't have this issue. The one time that I did, it was like an inch short on a charity quilt and I just trimmed the top to match the back. Much easier to deal with on charity quilts though! :)