Ready for Binding

Posted on by Quilt Musings

Though I do not think binding will happen soon!  Even though I tend to be a one-project-at-a-time girl, that ends at binding. I don’t mind having a few quilts waiting for binding, and I think I need a break from this quilt.

quilted

I was enjoying the FMQ on this quilt when I last worked on it before I started traveling, and I was excited to get back to quilting when I got home.  This quilt was not cooperative, however. I only had one central panel left to quilt and I had left the machine threaded and ready to go, but for whatever reason, the tension settings that had worked before I left did not work when I got back.  I had quite a lot of trouble getting stitches that looked good on the back and the front.  When I got to the side borders, I finally got beautiful stitches, but things went down hill from there.

The quilting pattern I had chosen looked great in the book I found it in, and it was easy to stitch without any marking. It looks somewhat like tree bark or leaves, which I thought was great for the fabrics that are in this quilt, but after a few rows of stitching, I did not really like the way it looked.  I thought the issue might be I needed the echoing lines in the pattern, so I kept going.  That’s when things like this began to happen!

oops

Actually, now that I look at that, it is a from one of the central panels, when I was having issues with thread tension.  Regardless, altogether this morning, I stitched the excess backing to the quilt once, stitched my ‘slider’ into the quilt twice, and then caught the edge of my glove and stitched it into the quilt….At least it was not my finger!  For the record, I blame jetlag and waking up at 3:30 in the morning.

I also had problems with excess fabric in the border that I just couldn’t quilt into a semblance of reasonableness, and I ended up narrowing the border so that I could just get rid of the worst of it. Part of the issue may have been inadequate spray basting along the border.  Though everything looked flat when put laid out on the floor, it was shifting as I quilted.

In the end, I am not thrilled with the design I used in the border.  Since the rest of the quilt is so busy and the quilting does not show up that well, the quilting in the border attracts too much attention.  I wish I had done something more controlled and minimal, or something that echoed the lightning design of the quilt body.  Too late now!

I did start pulling fabric for a new quilt, though.  I am looking forward to this one and hope it goes more smoothly!

new pull.jpg

Btw, linking this up to Let’s Bee Social and Oh Scrap!

Save

Published by Quilt Musings

First Sight, Second Thoughts, Third Thoughts and that tiny bit that will not melt and flow..Secretly hoping one day I'll look out my window and see a madman in a blue box..and avidly quilting whenever I get the chance.

10 thoughts on “Ready for Binding”

  1. Isn’t it weird how the same settings can behave so differently! Then there are the extra layers. I think every quilt I make gets that at least once even though I watch and watch. There is always a moment when I don’t watch.

    I like the look of the quilt and in the photo the borders do not draw too much attention but blend with the prints. Of course IRL it may all be different.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes! I think tension has got to be one of the most frustrating issues in quilting. As for the border…in person it is okay…but I think it could have been much better. I probably should have stopped when I started to have misgivings. It’s the first of my quilts where the vision of the motif in my head has been so off!

      Like

  4. It is the absolute worst when you are so close to finishing a project and it just isn’t working for you. Stitching your glove in ?!?! That would have scared me, and then made me laugh later. 🙂 Well, at least you stuck with it. Sometimes that is hard to do with the universe is not on your side. It turned out lovely though.

    Liked by 1 person

Share your thoughts!