Besides quilting for my own enjoyment I will occasionally take in quilts to be quilted using my big quilting set up. The beginning of December, the same day I was taking photos of the Lewis Zoo, Kaye gave me several bags of quilts along with various instructions for each one and the proviso that there isn't any hurry so don't rush. I put them carefully in my big quilting machine room to await further attention.
A couple of weeks later *a friend of a friend* sent her quilt to me to be finished as a Christmas present for herself. (Her mom was going to pay to have the quilting done on the top she had pieced). And my friend's mother delivered the top, backing and batting to my house the morning that we had almost 2 feet of new snow that I was trying to clear away with a balky snow blower! (Can you see where this is going? Just the fact that I'm getting this quilt 3rd hand should have been a giant red flag!) I put the bags of fabric and batting on my car until I finished with the snow and then took them inside and chucked it all into the room where my big quilting machine lives.
Then I got sick with bronchitis! dun... dun... dun...
The week before Christmas, when I still wasn't feeling all too well, I pulled out this top and backing and glanced at the batting... ugh! thick poly batting... a top without borders on it, but the borders were in the bag, cut, but not joined together (she told me she was a beginning quilter!) I couldn't even make sense of it all. I was still too sick to even think about it. I left it strewn around the room, closed the door and vowed to look at it when I felt better.
I wrote her an email and told her she had the wrong batting and was I supposed to attach the borders? I described in detail what I'd found in the bag...
In the bag you sent there is:
* the top consisting of blocks of 6" solid blue squares and 6" 9-patch of red, white and blue prints.
* a bunch of small blue print cut in 9.5" widths that look like you intended to add them around the aforementioned blocks in a 9.5" border. And I think you said you didn't know if you had enough so you purchased a length of red solid fabric
* also a large blue print (is that the back?) not pieced together
* some solid blue that matches the blue squares in the top... is that just extra?
(Holy cow... this is turning into a mess!) But by then I did determine that I was mistaken about the batting... it was actually a king sized thin poly bat that would work just fine but I needed to wait to hear from her as to what she wanted me to do about the borders (heck... I even sent her a photo of a quilt I'd made showing her what borders were!!) Then I didn't hear back from Marianne until New Year's Eve when she told me to go ahead and do what I thought was best.
(Deep breath...)
So on Friday-last I finally was feeling human and energetic enough to attend to this neglected project. I attached the borders, piece the back and start quilting. Now I never listen to audio books while I am running my big quilting machine because it is too loud. But I have new ear buds and found that I could listen to Northanger Abbey just fine. I'd sewn a couple of widths of quilting when my machine started to bog down... stupid speed-regulator... on the fritz already! Oh... it's not until the machine starts to make a very loud gronking noise that I realize that something is seizing up in my machine, hence the slowing. What?? Is this whole stupid quilt just cursed or something???
So, back to the email to tell Marianne there will be another delay! For whatever reason I told her what I'd done:
I added the borders to the quilt, using the white with small blue print. There was plenty to use just that fabric. It measures 91 x 98 inches finished size. The backing is the white with the larger rose print. I didn't use the solid red so you have that option for your binding but you also have enough of the same small print for binding if you want to use that instead.
This is the email I receive back from her:
No problem- I'm just getting a little nervous that we're not thinking of the same quilt! I don't remember having a rose print! Is there any way you could just take a quick snapshot and send it my way? I know that's a lot to ask, but I keep having a nagging feeling that it's not right... Thanks!
So I sent her a photo of her quilt.
Her response:
Oh my goodness... I don't know who this is worse news for, but that really is not my quilt! I didn't think much of it because mine is red and aqua [I added this emphasis] with squares on it. I am so sorry! I don't know where the mix up happened! No wonder it wasn't finished!
Oh My Stinkin' Heck!!!!
Now it all comes floating back to me... Kaye told me she was sending a quilt that wasn't finished, she'd worked on it so long she never wanted to see it again, the borders weren't on, didn't know if there was enough for borders, bought more red just in case, so if I wanted to finish it I could send it on to whoever!
For cryin' out loud... do I ever feel like a dough-head!
This is Marianne's pretty quilt, top all finished, back all pieced, thin poly bat... I'll bet she is so glad that she sent her *beginner's quilt* to a seasoned quilter to be completed!
2 comments:
Oh what a funny story, talk about a mix-up. Looks like you got it all figured out eventually :) They are both very pretty! I don't think I would have the patience, although with the machine it's not quite as bad as it used to be, doing every stitch by hand. Lovely work!
Oh by the way, I knew you were kidding on my FB post, that explanation was for that other friend who had asked about it :)
Sometimes things just don't make sense eh? Good grief! It kinda makes me feel good that the only thing I'm good at is teaching...nobody can drop a quilt or odd project off to me to finish up as I have no really crafty skills. Suddenly I feel much happier with my lack of craftiness!
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