Last week I decided it was time to see if I could use my rotary cutter, and to my surprise and pleasure I discovered I could once again use it. It still takes a lot of effort and much more time, with plenty of rests in between, but I'm sure if my shoulder continues to heal the way it is, it won't be long and I'll be back to my regular pace.
With that being said I was itching to have a play with fabrics, but not yet ready to cut into these pretties.It will be a few more weeks until my shoulder and arm are strong enough to cut these up.
So I searched out the shelves and found a selection of fabrics that all went together well, and used
this tutorial to whip up a lap quilt. The tops ready for the backing and quilting.
Now talking about quilting, I want to have a little rant. You may remember I showed this photo on my last post. I had sent it away to be professionally quilted. I mentioned that I had to remove the binding that had been sewn on. There were many areas where the binding only covered a few threads while in other areas the seam allowance was at least 3/4 of an inch.
I'm not going to mention the person's name who did the quilting as she refunded my money, but I do want to say how terribly disappointed I was with the quilting. The photo below is one of the corners, that will now have to go on the side of the bed that doesn't get seen. If you click on any of the photo's you'll get an enlarged view.
This is a lovely tuck on the back of the quilt.
My borders which were beautifully even and square, now look like this.
The pieced backing that took hours to put together using the left over blocks was obviously not put on the quilting machine square, and was trimmed . It now looks like I was drunk when I put it together. I know every quilt should have a little humility in it, but there's enough in this one to last until the rapture.
I can't begin to explain how sick I felt when I opened my quilt up once it was returned. I'd spent weeks working on this and was looking forward to having it take pride of place on our bed.
So what are the lessons I learnt in all of this.
1. Always ask to see the work of the quilter you have chosen.
2. Make sure He/She does not have a "Not responsible for tucks or puckers" policy.
3. If you're not in the position to see their work personally, then ask your quilting/blogging friends for referrals.
4. Ask the quilter to email photo's of detailed work.
5. Research, research, research.
Happy Stitching.
Linda
13 comments:
The refund helps ease the financial pain of what happened but it's so unfortunate what happened to your lovely quilt. I had a similar situation quite a while back and decided that I love the fabric and pattern and try to look past the quilting and it's only part of the quilt.
Oh Linda that's a crying shame!! I'm glad you got your money back, I guess it takes a little of the 'sting' out of it. Have you ever tried 'quilt-as-you-go'? With the op you've just had it might make things easier for you.
Big hugs,
Joy :o)
So glad you got to sew!!! And so glad that you are healing so well - you just take it easy and don't push it, ok?
It just makes me ill to see what happened to your beautiful quilt. It's much worse than I thought. I'm pleased you got a refund, but that doesn't undo it. I'm so sorry.
Congrats on sewing! That is the worst quilt job I have ever seen. So sorry to see it after all you beautiful piecing. There is no excuse for charging customers for your work when you haven't learned your craft.
Glad you are healing and able to do a little sewing. Heartbreaking what happened when you sent you quilt out to be quilted. I have a watercolor trip around the world that is almost finished. Between a king and queen size for my bed...I am almost afraid to send it out for quilting now. I will take your advice and do my research! Take care and continue healing!
glad you are on the mend.
what a shame about your quilt... all that sewing and piecing to have it spoilt like that. At least you got a refund.
oh my gosh! I never thought a quilt could have been "destroyed" by a quilter .....but whoever she/he is, that's the worst quilted quilt I have ever seen. So sorry for you, you have sitched a beatiful quilt and than this.......
So Sorry about your quilt. I always tell people - quilting is a soulful task. There's part of you in every project. I guess--- struggling here to find something good to say---maybe others can learn from your experience. What a shame...
Linda....that is heartbreaking :( I am sure it felt a little better to have the money refunded but that certainly does not fix the quilting. A similar thing happened to a friend who was so upset that she and a couple of friends sat and painstakingly unpicked the whole QS quilt and she had it done by another quilter!!!
Professional quilting is very expensive and I am lucky to have a fabulous lady nearby! (here in Australia).
On a happier note I am pleased to hear your shoulder is healing well. take care and don't be tempted to do too much too soon :)
glad you got your money back, hopefully it can be fixed. The quilting should add to you work not take away from it
Linda, I had a similar experience several years ago. I understand your heartache. So much time and love go into making a quilt and to have someone ruin it is devastating. My quilter did not refund, she re-did and it was still awful but now had small holes in it that I had to embroider over to cover. Lesson learned!
How horrible!! I am so sorry.
I've only had one quilt professionally quilted and I was very lucky, it was beautiful! Which was a good job as there aren't many long arm quilters in my neck of the woods, here in the UK
Oh Linda, how devastating. I've been there too, it took me 2 quilts before I found the cajones to speak to the 2 different quilters who messed up my beautiful slightly type a work. I still haven't recovered, plus I'm reluctant to try anyone new out now :(.
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