Sunbury Stitchers and Quilters

Never Give up.

Orchid Quilt made from Kona fabrics, put together by Sheila Millington.

It is always such a joy when the last stitch of the binding is done, a huge sigh and a feeling of a job well done. However sometimes things don't always go as planned.

Some quilts literally cost you blood , sweat and tears. I recently believed I had crossed a black cat or else something in the universe was not aligned. I started this quilt last year. This was the first time I had bought a kit off the internet. I was excited.

It arrived and  straight away I was dubious. The picture showed the most beautiful  quilting on the quilt and it was what had attracted me to the quilt – of course instructions for quilting are not included.

I started, following the instructions carefully. After all there was a financial investment here. There are a multitude of colours so I was careful to label each one. I spent a whole day cutting and creating half square triangles. All was good.

Next time I went to the table to complete the job, I needed a few more half square triangles. So I cut out the squares but cut them before joining so now I had a few squares the wrong size!

I tried to find matches for the colours so that I could make more – impossible. The fabric I used was Kona so I found this wonderful lady in Warrandyte  - Clair's Fabrics who stocked what I needed. However - how to match when I had 24 shades of purple.

Finally I overcame that problem, with her help, and made my squares to complete the top.

I then decided (foolishly) to undertake the free motion quilting required to bring the quilt to life. My free motion work is not the best. I had created designs that were too complicated so there was a lot of unpicking. I came up with simpler designs and I marked and sewed on and on. One day I used a piece of chalk, meant for marking. It was great it didn't fade away and didn't disappear before I sewed. Sounds good  - yes until I washed it and found it didn't wash out. I even scrubbed using a nail brush. Then I did the unthinkable (what an idiot) . Some of the orange markings were on white  - maybe a drop of bleach on a paintbrush might work! Of course Murphy's law it dripped onto one of the colours. I put the quilt in the bin and had a meltdown.

At one stage I pricked my finger and it chose the white to bleed on!

It was rescued from the bin a new colour purchased, block removed. I also bought new white to change those blocks. Of course there is white and snow. I ordered white – Murphy was at work-  it was snow.

Now finally I have all the right colours, (nearly) blocks have been removed and replaced, binding is on. My free motion is that very free and a bit wobbly but it is done. What a huge sigh of relief. I know there are flaws some glaring ones, I know it is not excellent but I can do no more.  I can say I made it all myself!

The oral of the story is NEVER GIVE UP.