Quilting Fail

 When it came to strife about my parent's possessions, oddly enough it was my mom's quilts that seemed to be the biggest sticking point. This is where the rumor began that the siblings were "dividing the assets" which couldn't have been further from the truth. Mom did quilt, yes. But she wasn't very careful or particular. Her quilts were fun but it's not like they are worth anything. Any serious quilter would give her creations a kind nod but never major money. 

Furthermore, the sibling that whined the most had previously made a big to do about how no one should get to inherit any of the collector cars if they didn't have detailed knowledge of them- how to change the oil, where the carburetor was located, etc. Well, it just so happens he's never made a quilt. He doesn't even own a sewing machine. I bet if you put a gun to his head, he couldn't name 3 quilt patterns to save his life. But here he was complaining that he wasn't getting his fair share of the quilts that he never showed any interest in up to this point.

Something about all this just broke my heart and my brain. Quilts I had loved and really wanted suddenly became worthless to me. I decided I didn't really want anything. If there was a quilt out there I would make it myself and it just so happens I came upon the one pictured above. Now Mom had made a denim and handkerchief quilt and that seems to be one of the biggest points of contention. Everyone wanted that quilt. It wasn't even that nice, it looked like this one below:

It also wasn't all that big. Mom would get impatient with her own projects and do what she called, "good enough for government work." I decided to take up my inspiration and make my own version, which would be similar to Mom's quilt but more my style. Not to mention it would stay in my very own family to pass down to one of my own daughters. My quilt would be a cathedral window but with raw edges. I wanted it to be an Americana quilt but in a subtle way- no huge flags or anything like that. Just red, whites and blues in the mix. I found most of the fabric in quilt stores in Iowa.

The denims were from JoAnns but they were LL.Bean denim. Not being a novice, I washed them in scalding hot water so the indigo dye wouldn't bleed. Then I got to work cutting out the circles. Because it was a circular and not a straight cut, I had to use scissors and my hands cramped from all the cutting. I used a pot lid for the circles and then a piece of cardboard measured to the square.

I haven't been excited about quilting for a while but I was really getting excited about this one. The fabrics were unique but they all went together. Almost half of them were white to really stand out against the dark denim.

Intentionally making a quilt look random is really hard for me. I spent hours arranging and re-arranging until I was happy with it. 

Now on to the fun part- putting it together. This is a "sew as you go" quilt and once a row is done, you can sew down 3 of the 4 sides to each square. Then you add another row and sew down the last side whilst also sewing down 3 of the 4 sides to the new row. My Singer sewing machine was perfect for this kind of quilt. It's an ugly, old workhorse. Even so, I went through more than one denim needle. 

I woke up early and quilted. My lunch breaks were all spent quilting. As soon as I was off work I was back at the sewing machine, quilting. I was so incredibly excited about this project and it was supposed to be so easy!

Even the back was looking pretty darn cool! Just as I had imagined it.

At long last it was done. Oh how I loved it! Sure it wasn't perfectly even but hey, it wasn't supposed to be, right? The bright white fabrics stood out against the dark denim and I just couldn't wait to wash it and see it all frayed. It was nice and heavy and sometimes when I looked at it I saw circles and sometimes I saw 4-leaf petals. The back looked fantastic with the awesome checked pattern. 

It even looked spectacular with our 4th of July decorations on the fireplace mantle.

Pulling this out of the washer, my heart just broke. Even though I had done a prewash of the denim, the white fabrics had soaked up the indigo dye. Even the blue and red fabrics had become dingy. I called my sister Katrina just beside myself. She told me not to panic and get some synthrapol which helps with this kind of bleeding. Just don't dry it! I kept the quilt semi-wet in my bathtub where a ring of blue slowly stained that too. I don't have a quilt store near me so I had to order the synthrapol from Amazon.  

The synthrapol didn't help. The quilt was ruined and I was inconsolable. It wasn't just a quilt. I feel so helpless about my parents and I hate that siblings are fighting over stupid stuff. This quilt was going to be my way of walking away from the hurt and pain, my way of rising above and coming out stronger. Instead, I had spent a ton of money on a quilt that looked just awful. Sydney timidly approached me and said she still wanted it and oh how I love her for that! Someday when my heart (and bank account) have healed a bit, I think I'll try this one again. This time I will buy the template you can find online. I'll take my time with it and maybe even put squares of backing in to make it puffier and softer. I think I'll hand stitch down the edges so they are uniform in shape and size. And my gosh I'm going to wash everything about 10 times before even attempting to cut it out!