The sequence of my piano key border which should have been cream, dark blue, cream, light blue, cream, dark blue...adinfinitum...was out of whack in one of the outside blocks. Arrgghh! One end had 2 creams together...
...and the other had 2 blues abutting. 
How did I miss that?! Obviously my head was elsewhere the day I pieced this section but the part that really gets me is that this has hung on my display wall over the summer months and no one noticed. My foolproof system of checks and balances failed as I had neglected to send a picture of the top to my sister Nancy, who always points out my mistakes immediately (big sisters are kinda like that :) Hmmm...what to do, what to do, what to do...
Luckily, it was an outside block so my thinking was that I could gently rip out the quilting (yikes! this is silk!), lift the top section away from the back and rip off the outer background piece, the outer arch band, take the border apart, switch the offending pieces around and put it all back together. Sounds simple enough. I gave myself this much room to work.
So far so good...
That speed bump conquered, the quilting resumed where it left off.
Mistakes are a part of our every day life (for some of us more than others) and it's important to learn to deal with them. The most shocking quilt related mistake I ever made was in a full sized quilt for a column on Seminole piecing in Quick & Easy Quilting magazine many years back. The quilt was in southwest colours of sand and turquoise and cream and I liked it so much that I made a matching cushion and then re-sized the design to make a miniature as well. I was pretty pleased with how the whole thing looked and it was finished with just enough time to meet the deadline if it shipped by courier. On the final inspection, right before putting it in the box, I clipped off a thread on the front of the quilt...except I didn't just clip the thread. I snipped a piece out of the quilt...oh my! What a sick feeling that was. With matching thread and a few hand stitches, the hole was no longer a hole...but still noticeable, and headed for publication with my name on it :( It was the best I could do. The quilt went to the editor with a note attached asking if perhaps it could be photographed with the boo boo not showing, somehow. They obliged. The publisher liked the quilt enough that it eventually also ended up in this book by Leisure Arts. If you have a copy at home, check out "Southwest Seminole" on page 79. There's a reason that big cactus is placed in front of the quilt! :)
Luckily, it was an outside block so my thinking was that I could gently rip out the quilting (yikes! this is silk!), lift the top section away from the back and rip off the outer background piece, the outer arch band, take the border apart, switch the offending pieces around and put it all back together. Sounds simple enough. I gave myself this much room to work.
So far so good...
Originally I figured I just needed to switch the two sections around, but when I did the colours were still out of sequence, so I had to rip the individual sections apart.
Thankfully, the pieces went back together as smooth as...well...silk. Can you tell? More importantly, can *I* tell?! (I guess I just did) No lumps, no bumps and everything fit snugly together.
Thankfully, the pieces went back together as smooth as...well...silk. Can you tell? More importantly, can *I* tell?! (I guess I just did) No lumps, no bumps and everything fit snugly together.
That speed bump conquered, the quilting resumed where it left off.
Mistakes are a part of our every day life (for some of us more than others) and it's important to learn to deal with them. The most shocking quilt related mistake I ever made was in a full sized quilt for a column on Seminole piecing in Quick & Easy Quilting magazine many years back. The quilt was in southwest colours of sand and turquoise and cream and I liked it so much that I made a matching cushion and then re-sized the design to make a miniature as well. I was pretty pleased with how the whole thing looked and it was finished with just enough time to meet the deadline if it shipped by courier. On the final inspection, right before putting it in the box, I clipped off a thread on the front of the quilt...except I didn't just clip the thread. I snipped a piece out of the quilt...oh my! What a sick feeling that was. With matching thread and a few hand stitches, the hole was no longer a hole...but still noticeable, and headed for publication with my name on it :( It was the best I could do. The quilt went to the editor with a note attached asking if perhaps it could be photographed with the boo boo not showing, somehow. They obliged. The publisher liked the quilt enough that it eventually also ended up in this book by Leisure Arts. If you have a copy at home, check out "Southwest Seminole" on page 79. There's a reason that big cactus is placed in front of the quilt! :)"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."Scott Adams, 'The Dilbert Principle'
I am glad you were able to fix your mistake without any lasting consequences! The silk looks so beautiful up close.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about mistakes happening - it's how we deal with them that is what matters.
Since the quilt was hanging for such a long time, I guess it would be the same as saying you cannot edit your own written work. No matter how many times you read something, the error doesn't show. It always helps to have someone else take a look.
ReplyDeleteGood fixin' job there.
Great words of wisdom especially to one who is so afraid to make "that" mistake! Great recovery work. I love how you dealt with the "mistake". I am not certain I could have dealt with the mistake so well. Lucy
ReplyDelete