I saw a photo quilt that my sisters-in-law had made by a professional quilter for my dear mother-in-law. It was such a nice quilt I thought my mother would really enjoy something like that. I can sew, so why not give it a shot! Boy what a surprise this project became. First of all, it turned out much larger than I anticipated. Second, I made my middle blocks first with the 8x10 photos. I was really pleased with myself after I had blocked those pictures. Imagine my surprise when I had to try blocking in all the odd sized photos that I had cut out and had not left enough border edging around them. Oh what fun! (Lesson #1- Read the directions thoroughly, and then follow them). Since I used the 8x10 blocks as the starting point, I had to work everything else in around them. Guess what! I got so carried away with trying to make it all fit, that it wasn't until I got ready to back the quilt and tie it off that I realized I sewn all the photos, so that the quilt would have to lay on the bed sideways. It wouldn't fit on the bed the right way. Third, I used three different fabrics in red, blue and natural patriotic themes. I thought this sounded good for a family quilt since it would represent six generations. (Lesson #2- use fewer designs so that it doesn't become jumbled together) Fourth, since I don't like to hand stitch real well, and am not good at that anyway, I decided to tie the quilt off. Only red, white and blue embroidery floss would fill the bill! (Another big mistake). And I really wanted the 8 x 10's to show off so I sewed buttons around those photos and the blocking squares. I made the mistake of tying some on the back and then using the embroidery floss to tie the rest on the front. I did however, hand stitch the binding edges. Not real straight and even stitches, but it will hold together for sure. However, considering my lack of experience I could have done a lot worse. Mom was pleasantly surprised and pleased. She's always my guinea pig for a new project attempted. However, I don't anticipate completing one on this scale for a very long time. Mom has showed that quilt to everyone she can think of mistakes and all. And I was really surprised at the number of people that did not know photos could be transferred to fabric. I expect that there will be more people attempting projects of this nature (maybe with better success than me, or maybe they have more experience) You may not consider this in your class of worst quilts. I guarantee that from a distance it didn't look to bad, but get up close and every single mistake and flaw showed through clearly. Thanks for letting me share this with you. Anonymously Yours, #117-691 Mena, AR Special Note to Mallery Press Employees: I would like to comment that your photo transfer sheets are the best that I found to use. I ran short and needed a couple more in a hurry and when to a local copy center. The sheets they used left a discoloration around the edges, and a sticky feel to the photo. The Photos-To-Fabric® transfer sheets I got from Mallery Press were definitely better quality. Any future projects will be done with your transfer sheets. (Ami's Note: I think the quilt looks pretty good, but the story behind it is hilarious!) |