This quilt has ben kicking my arse for days. A huge mistake in the pattern, unpicking 56 blocks, re-sewing them ... and then when I start sewing the rows together I discovered none of the points in the star were pointy. And then my rows started differing by 1.5 inches, just like this one. 1.5 inches in a 100 cm quilt was a leeeeeetle too much to deal with.
That's when I knew the quilt had beaten me, and I withdrew from the wall quilt category of the Canberra Quilters' exhibition.
At least I didn't have a total meltdown like on Saturday night, when I fell into a crumpled, sobbing heap on the floor as I came to the awful realisation that my Saturday night was to be spent unpicking.
I hate quitting. I really hate it. Quitting, not quilting. I love quilting.
The good news, of course, is that I can finally get my custom orders out of the way, and there might be some sunnyboy bags in the shop in the next couple of days. I'll keep you posted.
The other good news is that I still have another quilt in the show, and it's LOVELY. And the points(mostly) match. I can't wait to see how the quilter has worked her magic on it.
Sometimes it's just not worth the angst...
ReplyDeleteYour sanity is more important than faulty quilt patterns.
ReplyDelete:)
Best to stop now before it get REALLY bad!
ReplyDeleteIf you had finished it and it was perfect you still would have hated it because it gave you so much grief. Best to wait until any of the bad juju is gone before attempting it again!
ReplyDeleteI hope you feel better having made a decision to put it aside. You didn't quit - you revised your entry.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite relieved to hear you've pulled out, as disappointing as may be - the stress was too much! It takes courage and wisdom to know when to forge on, and when to dip out.
ReplyDeleteexactly what jejune said! Bravo for being brave! And the other quilt will rock I'm sure! Now off to stalk your etsy shop for sunnyboy updates
ReplyDeletebugger. but a good decision none-the-less. i hope you have more fun now.
ReplyDeleteI hope that whoever wrote the pattern has a section on their website (if they have one) for errors in patterns/books. It would save other people time, angst and money. Our hobby isn't cheap, and we don't have money to throw away on quilts that don't work. Sounds like the fabric is not salvageable, so you are entitled to be completely pissed off.
ReplyDeleteI have gotten into the habit of going to author/publisher websites and printing off the pattern errata so that I don't have this problem. I think it is great that some designers have errata on their sites, I respect them more for that. It seems to be mostly the American ones that do it.
You know that it is the truly wise that know when it is time to quit!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the other quilt though. You're doing a superb job with the shop too. Go Michelle!
Good on you Mick for making the hard decision and saving yourself the stress.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing your other quilt in the show!