Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

[sewhot]

Congratulations are in order for mdmickey. She's this week's winner! Woohoo! Your Beautiful Lake View pattern by Threaded Pear Studio will be headed your way soon. email me with your info.

Now, we want to know what your WORST-HORROR- SEWING/QUILTING CATASTROPHE is. Come on.....don't be shy. We have all had some kind of sewing disaster......never fun while you are in the middle of it, but it makes for an interesting (or funny) story later. (er, learning experience) If you are lucky enough NOT to have had an "experience" tell us about one you have heard about!

So think WAAAAY back, and spill the beans about it.......let's discuss! (honestly, i am chomping at the bit to hear the funny/crazy things your gonna tel us!!)

And for the prize, well...
It is a gorgeousCollections for a Cause charm pack.

[eclecticstitcher]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Since I haven't been quilting very long, I don't have a lot of experience to draw on.....I guess my worst story just happened yesterday (it's the worse because it's fresh on my mind). I had ONE CHARM PACK to make this little mini quilt (one of the little Tin Box series...by Blackbird Designs). I get up very early in the a.m. to see my DH off to work. It's about 6:30 a.m. and I have had exactly one-half cup of coffee. Since it's quiet, I go up to my sewing room and get out that charm pack to cut my teeny-tiny squares (1.5 by 1.5). I know the rule, measure twice, cut once. I thought I did this, but apparently I didn't and I cut wrong ~ really really wrong! And, of course, I really needed every single one of those squares. So now I'm trying to find another charm pack and I can't (Nell's Flower Shop). Still trying to figure out what to do. Lesson learned ~ never, ever cut anything in the morning until I have had at least 3 cups of coffee!

Oh, well. Live and learn.
Lauralee >^.^<

[junglewife]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Mine isn't so much a horror story than just getting in over my head! This was about 10 years ago - I hadn't ever quilted before, and one day went to my friend's house and she was starting on a quilt. She said, "It's easy! Let's go to walmart and get you some supplies!" So, off we went. I got a cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler, and picked out about 6 fabrics. We went back to her house to start on our quilts. We didn't have a pattern so out came the graph paper and we drew one up! She wanted some spiral-triangle-type -thingy and luckily I enjoy math so I figured out how big the triangles all had to be with seam allowances, etc. We started cutting our fabric, and when our time together was up, I took all my new supplies home with me and finished up there. It didn't go quite as smoothly as I had planned and sometimes I wound up almost-cursing at the fabric and sewing machine as seams weren't matching up, etc... My ever-helpful husband would say things like "Don't worry, the next one will look nice!" Grrrr. Well I finally got it all together. I think I bound it with bias tape I found at the store - I had no idea you could actually make your own binding. I always liked the snuggly feel of flannel, so the backing was flannel. I didn't quilt it - just tied it with blue yarn. It looked all right - not terrible for my first try. And it was a good size for a lap quilt. OH, and that pattern we drew up? I later found that it had a name... Snail's Trail!

[sewhot]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Heheeh....Ladies these are good. It is so crazy....this quilting thing. I SO understand the whole cutting wrong and being without fabric. MAJOR BUMMER! :shock:

I think everyone's first quilt is a little (LOT) scary!! And making your own patterns! ops: Thanks for playing along and being here Girls!! Have a great weekend.

[Debs]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Hi all,
My "incident" isn't so much a horror story as a much as an extreme learning curve where you should always listen to advice from those who actually know what they are talking about.
Its a scenario many of us know I am sure but now something I will never forget and that is "measure twice , cut once". I thought I was on the right path with my second quilt which was a design I "thought" I had got the idea of but really assumed what I thought was correct, which I can assure you it wasn't. After cutting freely and thinking I was doing really well I decided great, onto sewing bits together. Well one pile measured 3 inches longer on one side and the pattern never did get together properly. I think the only thing I did right with this quilt was use fabric I had at home and not buy new fabric for it and I had also decided to make it a lap quilt size not full size.(thank goodness) So although it didn't work out, not much fabric was harmed in the learning curve and I have used the fabric for applique since. Now I always follow the golden rule. :roll:

[DanielaK]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Measure twice, cut once!! That could not be a true--errrrr statement! That is the worst horror when you are using old vintage material...that hard to find or in my case vintage from grandma's stash. Ugh! I mis-cut material....well needless to say, I learned the lessons the hard way. Yes, I still mis-cut, cause it always seem I am interupted while I am at the cutting mat. I now just make sure I buy extra of what ever fabric I purchase and throw my mis-cuts in the scrap basket.

[Quilt Hollow]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

We all heard the line measure twice cut once right? A few years back my girlfriend and I got together to make two identical quilt tops. She had "rough"idea of what was needed but not a clear cut pattern. She seemed to know what she was doing....oh and by the way...using my stash. She kept pulling fabrics and telling me to get a 4 1/2" strip off this, off that and soon we have several different fabrics for our scrappy quilt. Next her and I start sub-cutting for these TWO quilts. By the time we were finished the piles were substantial and lots of sewing ahead for remember just two identical quilts. Well.....how about FIVE identical quilts later and I still have squares to start another! It is a good thing I liked the quilt. I made two for my boys, one for a birthday gift, and my friend took two of them. We still laugh about it to this day! Now when we get together for quilting I supervise! LOL

[mdmickey]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Ok so to give you a background on why I have to teach myself to sew and why my mother does not sew. When my mother was in college her friends were trying to teach her to sew. They started on an easy project and had gotten pretty far when they left her for the weekend and told her that on Monday they were going to pink the seams. Over the weekend she sewed her project together with pink thread. They gave up on her ops: Needless to say she is not muck help in this subject

[1stNoelle]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

I don't think I have a horror story. But I've only been learning to quilt since March.
The worst part is that I haven't finished a project. Although it seems that this is a common problem in the quilting world. Starting a project and then starting another. I just keep cutting and piecing.

I've enjoyed hearing everyone's stories. They just prove that I haven't been quilting long enough to have a story to share. But I know that one will be coming soon.

Have a great weekend!

[golferants]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

I've not been quilting long enough to have a horror story yet, but knowing my luck, I'm sure one is not too far away! HA!

I am learning some things about myself, though, as I go about working on this first quilt. I am a bit of a perfectionist. When I'm working on a project, I want things to be just right. I honestly think that's one of the reasons why I've never got very far in scrapbooking...because I spend too much time worrying about how it looks.

When putting together this first quilt, I am still worried about how it will look...but I'm learning that if I keep trying to achieve perfection, it will never get done. I'm sure my daughter isn't going to care that this line isn't perfectly straight, or that this square is a little crooked...it will be a finished quilt for her to keep and to treasure...that's what I really care about.

And I know that as I progress and make more and more quilts, my lines will get straighter and my square's won't be as crooked...practice makes perfect.

[dakotacityquilter]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Horror story? A very long time ago I decided to make a baby quilt. It took 6 different blocks (all chock full of little bitty pieces) that rotated and were set on point to form ANOTHER design. Okay, the blocks were all made and I laid the them out JUST LIKE THE BOOK. Okay, doesn't look like the picture. I worked on laying those blocks out for almost a week before I realized the PATTERN was wrong! So next it was ignore the diagram and directions, just lay the blocks out to look like the picture. Whew! It finally fit together, but not without lots of blood, sweat, and almost a few tears!

[scrapperdeb]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

I'm an eye-guesser. However, eye-guessing and quilting don't quite match as I found out when I made a Cotton Blossoms Wallflower quilt for my friend for her surprise b'day luncheon in March. I eye-guessed the spacing of the quilting lines on the borders from top to bottom (mostly because I thought it was close enough!). My 22-year old perfect-quilting daughter looked at it and said, "It's so off, Mom!" Some lines were 4 inches apart, some were 4 1/2, and I found one that was 5 inches! I just went with it and didn't rip it all out as I was completely out of time. I have to admit that I cringed when the quilt was opened and held up for inspection at the party--those quilted lines were all I focused on. Maybe it wasn't as obvious to others. My friend loved the quilt, which made it all worthwhile. However, me and eye-guessing aren't friends anymore. From now on, I'll measure perfectly! ops:

[trajac]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

I went through a stage not too long ago with a fascination for vintage lingerie which of course led me to girdles. Now as a mummy of 2 I have a pudgy leftovers belly with the lovely overhang and thought that this (the girdle) would be a fantastic solution to that jelly belly and also cure that craving for vintage lingerie.

So with pattern in hand I went on my merry way to find the appropriate material - not being able to source it (powernet it's called), I ended up subsituting the material with a lace netting type material (I really don't know the name of it).

Finishing my project and keen to show off my handywork I tried them on and called in my darling husband to come and have a look at my latest and greatest project.

I think he nearly wee'd himself with laughter telling me how ridiculous I looked. So yep with a bruised ego I took them off but however as I did I hooked my toe in the lace and tore a gaping great big hole in it!!!

Lets just say my little vintage lingerie fetish died pretty quickly after that.

[sewhot]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

trajac.......


that is hilarious!! So glad you shared that story! (i almost wee'd myself!)

[stitchywoman]

Re: Week 11 Horror Missouri Star Style...

Oh scrapperdeb! I'm with you my eyeballing it has gotten me in trouble more often than I care to admit! My projects to often end up a whole lot smaller than planned because I have to trim them and even or center it up after I realized my "pretty sure it's center" is completely off!

Hah! trajac! I love it! I've always been terrified to try lingerie! Good for you for atleast trying something you were so excited about! I can't believe your husband laughed at you! What was he thinking?