Trouble in River City

Well, okay it’s almost a charm quilt.  Didn’t notice until I had borders on that I had two of one fabric in there.  Oops.  Seriously, the idea of a humility block?  As if I have to deliberately avoid perfection?  Geez, when it comes to imperfection, I’m a natural.

I can live with the doubled up fabric.  There’s a different kind of charm involved in that kind of mistake, right?  But look what happened when I quilted the border!  You know how sometimes when things aren’t working right and you try something else and, wow, you’re surprised how well it works and you’ve got a whole new technique and skill to add to your tool box?  Those times are really quite lovely.  This was not one of those times.

This was just a screw up, plain and simple.

And moving beyond my “I can live with that” comfort level.  Ouch.

For some reason, the backing on this quilt did NOT want to move on the table.  I mean, not at all.  Zip.  Nada.  Could have been nailed in place for all it was willing to give.   I actually had to pick up the quilt and hold it so that it was only touching the table right under the needle.  This, in case anyone is wondering (which, of course, no one is), is not a good way to quilt.  The results are not a pretty picture.

Some stitches are way too small.  Some stitches are way too big.  Some stitches skipped.  My nicely flowing design?  Umm, not so flowing. 

The question is, what do I do now?  I could pull out all the stitches and start over.  But that will just leave me with the same problem I began with, a quilt that doesn’t want to move on the table.  I could pull out just some of the stitches and see if I can address the worst of it.  That’s probably my first line of defense.  Because, while the border stitching is not great, it isn’t all terrible. 

That picture right above, it’s not so bad, right?  A little wobble in the one curve I can fix.  Okay, maybe two of the curves need a little love.  But most of it’s okay.  Right?  Am I kidding myself?

At least, she said, I can be happy with the the inside patches and the quilting there.  Let’s hear it for Fold and Sew, says I, because the technique works and I can just sit back and be happy with those triangles! 

Time for that cup half full, can you tell?

Meanwhile, what the heck is up with that fabric?  Is it just too loose and rough a weave?  I spray baste my minis – did the glue slip through the weave and make the back side just sticky enough to fight back?  I’ve never had this happen before.  (Sometimes you just don’t know what you should be grateful for, do you?) 

It’s a mystery.