Sunday Stitches: False Start

With just a couple hours to spare yesterday morning, I thought I’d squeeze this little project in. My plan was simple: echo quilt 1/4″ inch in from the seam lines on the chains, and then fill the background.

I pieced the back, loaded it, and layered the batting and the top. I made the first run from one end to the other. Not thrilled with how uneven my 1/4 inch was, but I could live with it. Besides, it would get better as I got the rhythm. Except it didn’t. It got worse. So bad it was funny:

I don’t unquilt very often (not as often as I should). But this was a mess. The back is even worse, and to add to the aggravation the thread kept shredding and breaking.

So I took a deep breath, pulled up chair, and spent the remaining time picking it out.

Some days the limits of my machine quilting skills are really tested, but at least it gives me time to dream up a Plan B.