Yesterday I showed you this:
If you didn’t catch the error, I sewed the top two pieced rows on the wrong way. It should repeat the pattern of the four pieced rows at the bottom. Since I’d already sewn the top border on, as well, I had to unstitch two long seams. Not a tragedy, just an inconvenience.
I fixed it. (The color shows slightly better for me in the one below. Think of oatmeal for the background fabric and carpet.)
But I thought you might be interested in some photos Barbara Brackman shared. If you don’t know Barbara, she is one of the premier quilting historians. I can’t capture any of her photos, but please hit the link and take a look at some “quilt wrecks.” And here is another post by her with more. At the bottom of the second post are several more links with fascinating pictures.
And for more fun, a link shared by reader Jean, with the Drunkard’s Wife quilt-along!
I guess it’s reassuring that we are just part of a long history of quilting errors! What’s the best quilting error you’ve made? I’d love to hear your stories.
Catbird Quilt Studio 
Believe it or not, I like the pattern reflected in the mistake photo…think what it would look like if you left the center row of blocks (the red/grey square blocks) and then turn the bottom 3-rows to replicate the top. Of course you’d need to turn the bottom 2 rows so the “arrow” points downwards. Think about it – a new design!
Yep, that’s another alternative for another time!
One person’s mistake is another person’s art
I just pieced and trimmed all the half square triangles for a quilt and then realized one of the fabrics, I had sewed wrong side out on every one of them. Consistent = it’s staying how it is!
You bet. You own both sides of the fabric, so may as well go with it! 🙂
I laughed at the use of passive voice, too–you sounded like a politician!
Yes, politician-speak was intentional here! Thanks for taking a look. If you didn’t check out those Barbara Brackman links, I’ll bet you’d find them entertaining.
Thanks for sharing your corrected quilt blocks and the link to Barbara’s post – comforting to know there are endless possibilities for errors, some bigger than others. Mine usually involve similar to yours, sewing parts of blocks together upside down or occasionally having one piece of fabric facing right side out, *sigh*.
Oh yes, all those happen! I like the way Brackman puts it, that it seems some of the designs were simply beyond the quilter’s skill.
It certainly helps having instant photos to look at and use as a check now a days.
I find the new arrangement satisfies my eye better, something to do with my passion for symmetry (no surprise there!). I have no big mistakes to share or learn from, but I do look at small things in ALL my quilts and repeat my mother’s saying: Perfection is for the Almighty!
My mistakes are ones I accept well enough, I think. Oh well, that’s too bad… This was easy enough to fix. I wouldn’t have disassembled the whole thing if I’d found some weird logic error I’d made permeating the whole thing. 🙂 So … some things I fix and others I don’t worry about.
I think that “mistakes” are how some new blocks are born!! I’ve learned to take a picture of a complicated quilt – my eye catches mistakes there better than just by looking at the quilt!
Yes, there is something about seeing it “in small” that makes it easy to see. I’ve noticed that many times.
It looks much better now 🙂
Thanks. I think so, too.BUT I’ll admit, the error made me consider other settings for the same blocks. Some value in that. 🙂
Beware the passive voice! Mistakes weren’t made. You screwed up! Nice to know you’re human. 🙂
It was irony, Jim. 😉