Monday, June 18, 2007

Splash of Darkness - Withdrawrn

After two rounds of un-picking and re quilting I have had t admit defeat. At best this quilt will be a utility quilt, and I do mean at best. I decided late Saturday there was no way this quilt would be fit to be seen in public. The backing just isn't playing ball. It seems to be stretching and warping as I quilt. No amount of stabilization seems to stop it. I think at some point it will go back on the frame and I will finish it pleats and all so I can use it. It's funny this quilt has been giving me trouble since I started it. I found m starting strips were wonky and the colours didn't work the way I expected. I ended up having to trim every block to make sure I had them square (although some still don't have their diagonal perfectly centered). The colours have come out looking very pink, not multicoloured as I expected. I have managed to get more contrast by quilting the colours with a very light thread and then doing the black with a thick black. Most of the quilting went well but just after I noticed the second round of pleats, the machine refused to sew. It worked fine on the test pieces but not on the actual quilt. Then I realised, the cat have shown no interest in this quilt at all. They haven't sat on it once.This is odd, show quilts are irresistible to our cats. This one has been lying on the sofa and the cats still avoided it. I guess it really isn't a quilt.

I do feel much better for having made the decision. My machine is now working like a dream again. Most of my Sandown quilts are ready for a final de-linting and packing, ready to deliver tomorrow. When I clean them I will take some pictures of them too. I think I will have to listen to the cats earlier next time. On the other hand I have a prototype of one of my NEC quilts lying around. I wasn't sure about it but it always has a cat on it. I think I will accept this vote of confidence. Maybe shows should employ cats as judges, they seem to know things about quilts that humans completely miss.

1 comment:

Penny said...

Oh, how frustrating!