Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Epic fail

So, my little task this week was to put together the back for the Quilt for a Big Girl Bed. I like to make pieced backs, and even though I had enough fabric to make a really simple back with just TWO pieces of fabric, I had to go and cut it all up to sew back together again. I was planning to include some of the bright fabrics from the front and add some gray prints to the white/gray prints. In my mind it was beautiful. Then I discovered that the bright fabrics would make some shadows through the batting, and the (lightweight) white print fabrics on the front would look kind of muddy, so I decided to eliminate them and go for a low volume back with some "pops" (HUH??) of gray. I just went at it, piecing some pretty big blocks together. I finished it last night, and it was UG. LY. The low volume was so low it was pretty much silent, and the gray blocks screamed MEH (if that makes any sense). 

I can't believe I'm posting pictures of it. But live and learn. Oh, and the pictures are beauts, too, because the thing was too big to lay out on my living room floor and I had to take pictures with a flash in my dark basement. And to add to the misery, I hadn't pressed all the seams, either.




So, what to do? This quilt really needs to get done because I need to make another quilt really soon for Little Brother who will be making an appearance shortly after the holidays. I've decided to make yardage with all the leftover white prints, cut new blocks, unsew all those gray blocks and replace them with the whites. Then the back will just be low, low volume, which is probably appropriate for a quilt that should make a little girl want to go nigh-night. I'm hoping the quilting will pull it all together, or at least disguise a pretty poor attempt at free spirited piecing. 

I'm linking up today with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday, because it's probably not a bad idea to sometimes share a work that's not exactly in progress. 

Time to find the seam ripper. 

7 comments:

Andrea @ Mouse in My Pocket said...

I honestly don't think the backing is that bad, but I do like the idea of the whole back being low volume. Good luck!

Mari said...

Oh my gosh, I'm feeling your pain! At least you have a sense of humor about it! :) But seriously, it's not bad at all. Once you quilt it up it will be just fine. The front is so colorful that no one will be looking at the back! And your daughter is sure to love it anyway. So I say just go with it, give it a good press, and quilt it. The finished product will be amazing! Here's hoping you work it out!

DianeLoves2Quilt said...

Thank you , thank you , thank you for documenting a failure. It makes me feel less frustrated with my own glitches and could-have-been-better ideas.

Lorna McMahon said...

I have been reading through all your back posts in the making of this sweet quilt. And am so glad that you found the Let's Bee Social and linked up this past Wednesday. I really enjoy your writing style. And your quilting style. Not many quilters would take the time to undo a backing if they were not happy with the results. Your taking the time to make it right has made the finished quilt that much more beautiful. Looking forward to following your quilty progress from now on!

Anonymous said...

Loved this post Janine! I enjoyed your spirit and the genuine tone when describing your 'epic fail'. I didn't really think the back was that bad but you had the patience to rip it out to make it how you wanted. Awesome. I am really enjoying your blog.

Bernie

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Visiting from Val's Tuesday archive, not too bad here, just a learning opportunity! I hope you redid it in a way that pleased you.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Sometimes we just have to redo it if it bugs us.....so glad you rejuvinated this one with us...