QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Thursday, November 18, 2010

More Things That Can Go Wrong

Nine Points instead of eight


I can see how seven or six arms can happen, but nine???
(OOPS! Ten, I see by a better counter than I am)

I posted this photo of a top listing dangerously to the left
 a few weeks ago. I think the problem is she kept adding triangles
 as she created strips, "increasing" as in knitting.
Not a good idea.

I have been collecting photos of Out-of-Control quilts for years and now I am posting them in the left hand column. Scroll down to see the Out of Control Quilts box. I'll change them when I remember---about once a week.

This late 19th-century quilt is from Merikay's collection.
It appeared in the article I did years ago.

A reader suggested I call these Quilt Wrecks
(See the famous Cake Wrecks blog here: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/)

But Wreck implies a disaster. Often these quilt wrecks are happy accidents.





I've always felt I had little control over how things were going to turn out. I usually have a plan, but as novelists sometimes say about their characters, the quilt takes over--- it's out of it's creator's control.


I can relate.

24 comments:

  1. Really like the last one. The colors are great. It reminds me of how I feel in the mornings - not quite right! Out of whack.

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  2. This sentence applies to cake wrecks too.
    "Often these quilt wrecks are happy accidents."

    I am not a fan of cake wrecks. I completely understand and applaud them for not including Aunt Nancy's wrech, but they include a lot of grocery store wrecks. My friend works in a grocery store bakery. She got the job right out of high school & had NO training. The bakers frost the cake in white & pipe a border, she has to do the writing...

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  3. If the truth be told, I'm sure most quilters would admit to some wrecks.....whether they come down from the design wall and into the trash,or stuffed into the back of the closet or ripped apart to be sewn another day!!
    Wendy

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  4. Love the quilts! It's nice for me to know I'm not the only one that has had a wreck in the sewing room!!
    I love seeing them and wondering "how in the world did that happen?"

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  5. Wonderful way to start the day, chuckel chuckel.... 9 legs equals bad math.

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  6. Very encouraging post : how not to panic when it goes wrong : you're not alone. But i keep counting ten arms on the lone star. Do i need new glasses-again?

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  7. Francoise: You are right.Ten arms. Keep those glasses.

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  8. These are the quilts I like best! Call me weird. I don't mind.

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  9. Something so personal about these....I like them too

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  10. I really like the last quilt and I think those 9 and 10 pointed stars would be very challenging to make. Putting a circle over the center is a good way of coping with a mess in the center.

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  11. For strangest reasons, I love all of the above. I have managed to make a quilt that kept shifting to one side... While making that quilt I learned that if added strips after strips from top to bottom every time I sewed, the quilt takes shape of it's own.. and it is not a square. You can take a look at it here.
    http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/2010/03/thomass-quilt.html

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  12. I love these! But the last one really is something that I would like to see hanging in my house..wonder how it was done??

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  13. I've gotten to where I like the wrecks more than the "perfect" quilts...

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  14. They may not be perfect but they are finished! Need I say more LOL !!

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  15. I love them all - especially the last one. Think how hard it would be to work out the math of that one if you wanted to make it that way! I am working on making my quilts wonkier but it is not easy:)

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  16. Barbara these are fantastic! All modern quilters should share theirs!

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  17. Barbara,

    Love that last one!
    The best part of making a quilt is knowing that however it turns out it will keep somebody warm. Most quilt wrecks seem to finish up being family favourites.

    Judy B

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  18. Those are wonderful, they look just like my quilting;)
    I have come to the conclusion, that I am a wonky quilt maker, lol.

    Debbie

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  19. These are always my favorite quilts!!!
    I have made some my own favorites from accepting what happens when fabric is sewn together.

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  20. I loved the quilts in this post. The amazing thing to me is that they look like they finished them up in spite of their imperfections. I know that fabric was sometimes a luxury and warm covers were needed. I admire the integrity of these makers.

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  21. Without space to do the final squaring up before binding, I have had to let my corners fall where they may. I am hesitating right now to finish my sister's Holiday Gift for this year. Know what? I bet if I do the best I can without apprehension--she will love it just as much as if it were squared. What do you think?

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  22. Can you imagine trying to draft some of these patterns if you didn't have any high school geometry?? I'm not certain I could do any better, and I have a college degree :o) And I'm ever so thankful for the wonderful tools we have now.

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  23. so lively! I love the red blue one with the turquoise squares. I love all of them, actually

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