QUANDRY .... help on a REALLY UGLY QUILT

[Hannelore N.]

JoAnne, you should be doing a trade with your DH, if you're making a quilt to his specifications then he owes you a sewing cabinet

Alison, that was a few years ago, I bought a Koala Cabinet and a few extra cabinets and I love them! Looking at the quality work DH does, I'm glad he didn't make me a sewing cabinet. I've got pin & scissor scratches on my table, right in front of the machine. He would cringe to see his beautiful work with all those scratches. It's okay that he didn't make me a sewing cabinet, he doesn't mind me buying fabric and sometimes I just cannot resist!

Anna, it sounds like you and I love the same colors!

JoAnne

[Hannelore N.]

It sounds like you have a good understanding with your DH, and also benefit from new furniture in the house. It definitely helps when your other half also has a creative hobby. Even if they don't "get" cutting up fabric and stitching it together again, they can appreciate the creative outlet and make the correct admiring noises - and they also understand the need for raw materials :lol:

[Margo C.]

I've never met a quilt that I didn't like. I might not particularly care for the color or fabrics, OR maybe I might not care for the pattern, OR maybe the stitching is poor and the seams don't match. To me, quilts are somewhat like people, you look for the good. Maybe a lot of love went into making the quilt and, no matter how ugly, it will certainly keep someone warm.

Check out http://www.uglyquilts.org/

Thanks for this link, Nancy!! What a worthy cause to use up some of the fabric that we don't love as much now as when we purchased it!!

[Margo C.]

Thanks for the ideas. I think I'll just let it rest for now anyway. If she brings up anything about quilts again, I may talk to her about it then.
Charlotte

I don't think you're terrible, and if you decide not to return, don't beat yourself up. If you decide to return, explain that the resulting quilt will be functional, but not "show-worthy". She probably would be happy anyway.

If machine quilting is suggested, it should be noted that there might be tucks in the process. The entire quilt top should be reviewed for seams that might not withstand the tension applied by the quilter and repairs made as needed.

Most likely an all-over meander would be most effective. A custom quilting design would probably be lost in the myriad of fabrics and might be impossible to do well if there are tucks or puckers in the pieces. The machine quilter might be able to do something with it by quilting with the backing up rather than the top with less likelihood of snagging on an unruly seam, but not a guarantee against tucks/puckers.

As an alternative, if there are useful sections, suggest cutting the top into pieces for pillows or other small project.