Bad, bad, border!!! A post quilters can appreciate

This is one of the  many nightmares of every quilter.  The wavy, untamed, lumpy, too big border.  As a quilter I deal with them the best I can.  I push, I ease, I steam, I finagle the material as best I can to keep from getting those folds and pleats in the borders.  But....I can only do so much.  Here are a few pictures of my daughters quilt where she did not put the border on correctly.  Funny story...by the time it came to putting the borders on, she was OVER the quilt.  She no longer "liked" the quilt, so "loving" the quilt was completely out of the question.  She just wanted it done! 

Here's the quilt...you have seen it before.....(it's the split 9 patch)

This is just after the first row has been quilted....you can see I'm already in for a long road ahead.

The other side of the quilt isn't much better...like I said she was "over it" and does not want to become the Princess of Blocks. (She calls me the Queen of Blocks)

If you notice in the picture above the pink border is not lined up straight with the bar on the machine.  That's because I had already been working with the extra fabric from the beginning.  When I attempt to straighten the quilt, this is what it looks like.....can you say "forever waves of grain?" and I'm not talking about wheat like the song.

As we progress this is the way tucks and folds look due to too much fabric.

some bad and some not so bad.....

I can tell from this picture that the borders are going to give me problems.  Check out the bellowing, balloon like border on the right side of the quilt.  Yep, serious trouble.

Here's a view of some of the tucks and folds that MUST be done to keep the quilt somewhat on line.  If I didn't I would end up with massive amounts of fabric at the end.  When the borders are this bad, a quilter has no option but to tuck and fold......

Approaching the end of the quilt with all of the tucks, folds, pleats and stretching the top that I've done.  Here is what the last row looks like....

There's still more tucks to come. If you notice the pink has different waves than the final border, this makes tucks in the pink and not the print.

Can you say ruffle??

The good news is the quilt is finished and because she knows (and loves) the quilter she didn't have to pay to have this quilt finished.  She has had the quilt with her at school for the last couple of years and loves it.  It's done...her friends are amazed that she made it.  A well seasoned quilter might have a different opinion, but for her it's good enough, it's done, it's not a show quilt.  It's a quilt that she grabs to snuggle up while watching TV in her room and for her that's good enough. (All pictures used with permission, not that she actually had a choice.)

Borders are an important part of the quilt.  It's not as easy as just sewing them on.  I didn't know this when I first began quilting, but now I know.  If you have any questions about the "correct" way to apply a border, do some research, ask questions.  It does make a difference.

Thanks for checking on me,

hugs,

joanne

love to hear what you've got to say......

New Blog and things....

I've added a new blog to my  list of things to do.  Ha!!  Like I didn't have enough!  You can visit it here, and I've named it:

Insanely Cheap Quilting

This blog will contain (at least this is the plan for now) only pictures of the quilts as I finish them.  After several request to see pictures of finished quilts from potential new friends (others call them customers) I decided to put them all in one spot. I copied them from this blog, so at this time you can't click on the pic for a larger picture.  I will try to replace as many as possible so we can all get a closer look. 

I was sooooooooo lucky to get my sweet (most of the time) daughter home on Saturday from Indy.  She had an amazing run of good luck.  Long story short - left late, stood up brother for breakfast, cried, wallet left at school, cried, Evan took over, cried, met Evan's roommate at DQ with wallet, flew to airport (in a car) arrived 45 minutes before takeoff (before checking in), cried, got to front of line, held up airplane, got on plane, taxied over Philly, deverted to Manchester, NH, her final destination.  She was the only one on the plane that was happy to go to Manchester.  Talk about luck!!

We decorated the two trees, fire in fireplace, and had eggnog.  What a great weekend we all had.  It's good to have most of the kids home for Christmas and that's all I wanted for Christmas this year, was for us to be together.

House that we have been trying to get, listed to go on the auction block today, cancelled on Friday.  This morning I've got to try to find the details, wish me luck.  We've been trying to get this house since last spring.  Keep your fingers crossed that all will fall into place for us.  Without this place I'm not sure what we are going to do.

Okay, if I don't post anymore before Christmas, I am wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas!  I hope you get to spend time with your families and loved ones, that is the true meaning of the season!

Thanks for checking on me,
hugs,
joanne

love to hear what you've got to say..............

This is the reason I quilt

****Please Read****

If you were carried to this posting via a link please read this posting. As I mention in this post, I will never put together a quilt that will qualify for any ribbons but I do love to make quilts for the ones that I love.  I charge .005 - .007 per square inch with a meander or loop pattern.  If you want to have your quilt "professionally" (art) quilted, I am not the one.  As I mentioned at the bottom of this posting "There are plenty of longarm quilters out there who can provide you with works of art, I am not that person, I am doing it for the love of the quilt."  I consider myself just an additional option for quilters.  I am sorry if I have offended anyone with this option.  I do own an HQ16 mid-arm machine and I am quite happy with my purchase.  Now on to the ........

Original Post

Ever wonder how a person got started doing what they are doing, or why someone is doing something for what may seem like an insane reason? My journey started the summer of 2007. My beautiful daughter was headed to college and I wanted to make her a quilt. I wanted a top that would fit her bed the way I wanted it to fit. Long enough to tuck in and cover the pillow, and wide enough to roll up in without being too wide. So I ended up with this quilt that was 6 ft. wide by 9 ft long. I knew I wanted to get it finished so I decided on a simple 9 patch with alternating solid colleague fabric. So, off I go to the local quilt shop and drop $8.95 per yard for the Purdue fabric and about the same for the matching black and gold. I was so proud when I finally got the top finished, and couldn't wait to have it quilted. I contacted a couple of local quilters and discovered the going rate was between .025 - .035 per square inch to have the quilt finished for me. E-Gads, I did not see that coming! Now, my dilemma was, I have 3 more children all standing in line for their own special quilt - can you see the $$$ adding up quickly? I could, and didn't like what I was seeing! Okay, so it's time to check out buying a machine and doing it myself, great plan, right? Right, I went from "honey, it's only going to be $2,000 - $3.000" to "honey, I really love you and I found a machine for $$$$$ (I don't remember what I actually paid). So, that is where the story begins. I have a machine and I want to do my quilts and then I get the brainy idea that I can also do others to "help" out quilters who will never have a "show" quilt just a quilt that was meant to be loved.
Recently, I quilted a top for a lovely lady and received this email from her:

Dear Joanne,
I wanted to thank you for quilting my top. I have a retina problem and deal with double vision quite a bit with detailed work. Myself, I was pleased with how the tops turned out for my first attempts. Oh, they are the flying geese and puppy dogs you are working on at present from (Name withheld) in (State also). My other daughter from Ohio joined us in Paducah, Ky this past spring for the AQS show. We rented a cabin sewing several days and doing the show along with going to Hancock's there. It was my first big immersion to quilting. Anyway, when you get to comparing the precision of others and all the programs/web sites one does not feel very accomplished. You are an answer for the desires of my heart.
Thank you for your service to others during these economic times.
God bless,
Signed, customer

Here was my reply to her:


Dear ****,
I have only been quilting for a short time myself, and you should see my first quilts!! Oh my goodness, talk about not square and mis-matched seams!! AND I thought I'd do one of those rag quilts, and ended up cutting it wrong and now it's falling apart at the seams. lol!! But you know what, I made those quilts for my kids and they don't care about the mis-matched seams and bring it to my attention to "fix" the latest hole because they love the quilts. Those quilts will never be in a show or up for any kind of "judging" besides by the ones I love and the ones who love me. I love them enough to make the quilt and they love the quilt. For me - that's enough. I don't need ribbons to tell me that my quilts are worth something; I already know they are even with all of their imperfections.
NOW--lady....I did have some "problems" (but not problems) with your flying geese. It wasn't as square as it could have been so there are folds and tucks in the quilt. BUT - I saw an amazing difference in the second quilt that you did!! It was PERFECTLY WONDERFUL! Now, I want you to keep on quilting and spending time with your girls, so the next quilt you send me I will quilt it for half price. I would like to encourage you to keep quilting for the ones you love.
I am more than happy to provide the long arm quilting for ladies like you and me, who do it for the love of the ones we love, not for the ribbons and recognition that the "perfect" quilts will bring.


Hugs to you and your wonderful girls....
hugs,
joanne

After she received her quilts here is the email that I received:

Dear Joanne,
Our quilts came today!!!!! I love the flying geese, even with its imperfections. It will really keep me humble. It will be bound and put on our bed for daily use since we have an almost three year old grandson, Jo's cat and my dog. I knew it would not quilt very well and that it was due to the materials I used. It was "just my practice one after all". My grand loves his puppy dog one.................kept rolling himself up in it and talking to the doggies. It will be bound and put up for Christmas or his birthday, since they are close together.
I have cut out a table runner with a starburst pattern in the center and friendship stars on either end of that. Will machine quilt that here myself. I have done a very primitive one with just strip pieces as practice.................and I love it!

Signed,
Customer


I quilt for this!!!! I want to do the quilts that will be loved and cherished. There are plenty of longarm quilters out there who can provide you with works of art, I am not that person, I am doing it for the love of the quilt.


Thanks for reading,

Hugs,
Joanne

Love to hear what you’ve got to say………