Monday, May 24, 2010

Spiderweb Oh oh


Remember this beautiful spiderweb I made earlier in the month? See how beautiful it looks against the black of the office chair?

I got the bright idea that I could finish it up and give it as a gift to the math teacher who helped me figure out how to design the optical illusion quilt. The first decision I made was to applique it instead of trying to figure out the seams. This would also help add another layer on the back so the white would stay looking white. I sewed a piece of white fabric to it, all the way around right sides together. Cut a slit and turned it right side out. So far so good. It looked lovely. In fact, it looked so good, that I thought that maybe I should have added batting and made a multi sided quilt. I thought about adding a hanger and letting the quilt be without batting.

Then I put my shape on top of the gray fabric. The teacher is a big fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes (football team), and the spiderweb kinda looks like an O (for Ohio State University), so I could make a block O quilt without infringing with any copyright issues. It looks much better against black than gray, so I added a black flange around the O for contrast. The plan is / was to applique a buckeye leaf over the whole thing at the end.

Then I ruined it. I decided on straight line quilting to keep things simple, following the hexagon shape. I have this metal thing that can be attached to the foot, that helps guide the size of the seams. It doesn't fit on the walking foot, so I attached it to a regular foot. It caused shirring. A smart person would have stopped at the first sign of shirring, but I kept on sewing. I don't know, I think I thought it wouldn't be that bad, or that the next seam wouldn't have shirring problems. The sad thing is that I think I've had this problem before. Just didn't learn from it the last time around. Hopefully it takes this time.

Now I have to unsew, and decide whether to try again, or move on to another plan.

5 comments:

Paula, the quilter said...

Once you have frogged the stitching, put the walking foot back on and use a serpentine stitch to sew. Mark what you need to with chalk. You WILL have to wash it when you are done so the holes from the original stitching close up. I have been using this method quite often lately.

Shari said...

These things happen when we try new things - don't give up! Your block is gorgeous and your design will work with patience and perseverence...

Barb said...

doh! I hate when that happens!
It's worth doing it - it will be a great quilt.

Allie said...

It's gorgeous! I'm so sorry that happened though - I'm familiar enough with unstitching to feel your pain, lol.

Ruthie said...

Oh darn! It's a lovely block and I too think you should try it with the walking foot.