This quilt will be the death of me. I continued quilting in spite of the fact that I didn't like the way the triangle motif was turning out. See below and note how the half-diamonds at the bottom are all different sizes. Not perfect at all.
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| Uneven geometry. |
I kept on going as I couldn't figure out how to get them to look more uniform, but I wasn't sleeping well as my brain worried the problem. I started with a rounded triangle, the outline of the said motif. To mark the grid lines I made myself a little "ruler" from clear template plastic and marked curved lines 1/4 inch apart that follow the shape of the triangle sides.
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| Homemade "ruler." |
Then I marked and sewed along the marked lines. It bothered me and I don't know why I kept going. Well, yes I do: I want to finish this quilt! I puzzled and puzzled over the problem though. It is seriously ugly.
As I worked I accidentally figured it, out and will share with you how to do it right so you won't join me at the ripping table. The trick, my friends, is to make the gridlines meet on a dot at the bottom of the outlined motif. Now all the bottom triangles are of uniform shape and size. So simple.
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| Red circles show how lines need to come together. |
So much ripping to do! I will line up a bunch of movies on Amazon Prime to watch as I rip, but in the end the motifs will be uniform and look so much better, although still not perfect.
TIP: Remember we are all human and it is impossible to achieve perfect perfection. Don't be too hard on yourself.
Too much perfectionism? Maybe, but my inner bulldog will carry me through.
Sew some happy seams this week. I wish you all the perfection you want.
I feel your pain, but congratulations on figuring out how to solve the problem!!! I once quilted the whole top border (all 16" tall, it was) on a queen-sized customer quilt, only to hate the way it looked. 8 hours of frogging before it was all gone. Of course, the tension on my machine was perfect for the whole run!!! Your quilt is going to look awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, the pain. However, now that I am moving on it I am feeling better. It is going better than I anticipated.
ReplyDeleteHi Mardi, I understand you're wanting the triangles to be perfect. Sometimes you can also trick the viewer's perception by echoing outside of the triangles. I'm afraid that while I make something I'm not much of a perfectionist, but it's usually afterwards that I look at them and realise what I could have done to make them better!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. It's great to learn from each other.
Ugh! I would settle for a higher level of imperfection, and call it good enough for my standards. You have set some high expectations for yourself! I understand though; sometimes I just can't convince myself not to be bothered even if it means torture lies ahead. I hope it's smooth ripping for you and that Prime carries you through.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support all you great folks. I am almost done ripping. One more session, and I have to confess that I am really glad that I decided to fix it. It would have bothered me every time I looked at it. I would like to show this quilt and leaving those triangles the way they were would have eliminated that goal.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you figured it out. I hate when I am not happy with the results. Great job hanging in there and giving it your all
ReplyDeleteLOL I have an inner bulldog too!! But mostly she helps me at work, not so much in the sewing room!
ReplyDeleteIf it's super noticeable, I would probably rip it out too. You're not being over-perfect about this at all!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I am content with redoing it. It still isn't perfect, but it looks 100% better than the first run. Definitely worth it.
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