Thursday, April 14, 2022

Catastrophe averted

 Hi everyone! Spring is busting out all over around here, and I have the watery eyes and itchy nose to prove it. I don't mind though! It's nice to be back outside. I even dug in the dirt for a little bit this week. It was to bury a drainpipe, but hey-- it counts as working outside!

So, I have a rescue of sorts to show off today. I know you'll remember this and the tragedy that it almost was:
 
 
Yes! The Snail's Trail quilt, all finished and cuddly! Honestly, I didn't think it would really happen.


If you all recall, I made this from blue and beige scraps, cut using an Accuquilt die I borrowed from a friend. Somehow, it only made a very small dent in my scraps, even after I expanded the size of the blocks with the math help of a very nice woman named Ila. I finished the top last October, and then it aged a bit, until I had a longarming appointment.

And then came the tragic part of our story:


Yep, the tension messed up when I was most of the way through my longarming, after I had quilted almost 3/4s of the way through the quilt. I didn't see it until I advanced the machine to quilt the next section. Two whole rows of quilting, all messed up, and no way to finish the rest of it without fixing the bad section. I cried. I took it off the frame, brought it home, and cried some more. I seriously considered cutting the good part of the quilt and tossing the part that was messed up, plus the remaining unquilted part.


Obviously, I didn't do that. I spent many hours over a few weeks taking out the bad stitching, then took it back, reloaded it on the longarm frame, and finished the quilting. (Pro tip: If you ever need to do this, a seam ripper will not do. Save your sanity and use a very sharp pair of small scissors. Also, keep a lint roller really close by to get all those tiny threads.) I used all the scraps of blue binding that I had to finish it off, so all of it but the backing is scraps.

 
It took some serious work, but it turned out okay! I really love this quilt. If I look at it carefully, I can see where the quilting stops and starts again, but I don't think that other people can tell. It's really hard to get everything lined up exactly the same if you have to reload things. Once it's washed, I think it will be hard even for me to see it.


So there is the happy ending to this almost-tragic story! I love the quilt and I would totally make it again, and I'm saving my pennies for a Snail's Trail die of my very own. I've seen this pattern in lots of different colors, but I think I like my scrappy one best. It reminds me of sand and water, like a nice relaxing beach.

I hope you all are having a good week. This weekend is both Easter and Passover, so much happiness to all who celebrate these holidays, and a happy weekend to everyone!
 
 
Sharing at Finished or not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, Oh Scrap! and the Patchwork and Quilts linkup at Quilting Patchwork Applique.

29 comments:

cityquilter grace said...

it is beautiful...

Gretchen Weaver said...

Your quilt is so lovely! Removing all the eyelash stitches is so time consuming but so well worth the effort. Blue and white quilts are my favorite colors. I know your background fabrics were a variety of cream/beige but how else do you say it? Happy stitching!

Vicki in MN said...

It's a good thing you persevered because you now have a beauty in your hands;)

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

OMG that is a lot of quilting to undo - the trouble with bad tension is one must constantly be checking I guess - how else do you know unless you are running your hand under now and then to feel or to sit on the floor and look up at the backside? I am happy I hand quilt and do not have that problem.

Sara said...

It's fabulous, and I'm glad you managed to rescue it. The tip about using the lint roller is a really good one! Thanks!

I'm actually working on a pink Snail's Trail right now. So far it hasn't made much of a dent in the pink drawer. I was originally going to make 9 blocks for a baby quilt, but may need to make more than that.

piecefulwendy said...

Well, I'm sorry you had to rip out so much stitching, but I'm so glad you did. What a beautiful quilt with those bright blues and creams. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

Laura said...

The pain was worth it...the quilt looks terrific! :)
Happy Easter!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Excellent save!! Looking at your beautiful finish, no one would know the tension issue existed, Mari. It is SEW hard to realign so if you got it remotely close, you are doing great!!

Ivani said...

My hat is off for you. It is a beautiful quilt, Mary. Glad you didn't give up.

sue s said...

Nice recovery! That one was too pretty to destroy, but I'm still impressed with your work on it.

Farm Quilter said...

Lovely quilt! Sand and surf is always a good combo! When I have to frog my quilting, I use tweezers (long ones, with a slight bend near the tip, no "teeth" on the inside of the tweezers). I also remove the stitches from the back - because that's usually where the problem is since I'm looking at the quilting on top! I'll snip the threads about 6" in to the mess up, frog back to the good stitches, tie and bury my threads. The it is really easy to remove the stitches with the loose tension...pulling 4(ish) stitches at a time, I'll pull out a tail I can grab and pull, until the thread breaks...just keep repeating this and you don't have wee little threads decorating your quilt and the top thread should come off as a whole piece. I've also learned to check the back of my quilts each time I roll the sandwich. It really sucks to frog quilting with perfect tension because you don't like that particular motif.

ButterZ said...

This is a great use of scraps and a beautiful pattern. I’m so glad you did actually unpick/snip all the sewing off and resew

Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting said...

I'm glad you put in the effort to save this beautiful quilt!!!

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

what an awesome save! Its so pretty!

grammajudyb said...

Applause and cheers! For perseverance and fortitude! Well done! It’s a treasure!

Judy Biggerstaff said...

It's a beautiful quilt! Love the blues and happy you were able to finish it.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I am familiar with that heart sinking feeling when you notice the tension is off after doing a lot of work on a longarm. I'm glad you took your time to finish it off as it is a beautiful quilt.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That is so pretty, Mari! I'm so glad you powered through the un-stitching, to get the quilting done the way you wanted it. I really love your mix of blues and creams!

QuiltGranma said...

Lovely save!

Kathleen said...

Oh, I would cry too! I love the quilt and I would say it was worth it. I don't check every row, but I am believing I should more and more on the longarm!

Anonymous said...

I’m so glad you mustered the fortitude to rip out the bad quilting. This is such a beautiful quilt!

JustGail said...

Bummer that the tension made such a mess, but well done on persevering pulling it all out and finishing. The quilt is gorgeous.

Debbie said...

Been there and done that! A beautiful finish...well worth all the extra work!

Rebecca Grace said...

It’s beautiful, Mari — a quilt to be proud of for sure. I am so glad you stuck with it. Ripping out stitches is a long arming rite of passage — you’re one of the big girls now! 😉

Preeti said...

It is a beautiful quilt. I love it, Mari. The horror stories related to FMQ have me convinced that it is not for me. Fortunately if I ever need FMQ, I turn to Rebecca :-) and everyone is happy. Wishing you a Happy Easter. Remember you must share your candy. I can help :-)

Andree G. Faubert said...

Hi Mari, glad you were able to finish your quilt, even if it took a long time to remove the stitching. It is beautiful!

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

You are right, this gorgeous quilt looks like a relaxing beach, some swirl of sea dancing on the sand. It's calling for Summer! You were very brave to rip the quilting off, but wow, it was worth it! Thanks for the tip too, it can help one day ;)
Thank you for sharing this beauty, and linking up!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

I am so glad you persisted!! this is an amazing quilt!!!

Carol Andrews said...

Beautiful finish Mari. I’m so glad you persevered and got it done!