Last week at our groups sewing day I got talking to a lady called May. She is a fairly new quilter and has only been coming to our group for a relatively short time - about a year or so. She is a really nice person - will do anything to help anyone . Anyway we were talking quilts ( what else ? ) and she mentioned she had put some blocks together with sashing and was ready for the border stage. She had hand-pieced 24 Grandmothers fan blocks in lovely pastel shades of mainly lilacs and pinks. Then she had toddled off to a quilt shop for sashing fabric. She duly bought 2 metres of expensive fabric ( I think on the advice of another lady ).. She set them together with sashing and then took a look at it. She HATED it.
The green she felt was too dark and overpowered the pastel colours of her blocks. She also did not like the way she had set them together. She confessed she felt like throwing the whole thing away. Argghh - can you imagine all that time wasted - not to mention the cost of the fabrics as well. A couple of us told her to bring the quilt into our next meeting and we would see if we had any ideas. She did and here it was. The green is much stronger in real-life..
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Some-one suggested a nice lilac ric-rac sewn down the middle of the green to take a bit of the greenness away. She liked that idea but it didn't solve the problem that she hated the way the blocks were facing. May said it reminded her of those well-known mints with a hole - lol !
What about splitting the sashing strips and adding something paler said I. She liked that idea too. Maybe she said. Ok said I " would you like me to do it ? ". May said she couldn't possibly expect me to do that. To which my good friend Elaine ( who knows me very well ) said - " Go on May - can't you see Andrea is just dying to get her hands on it ? LOL ). So as May could not face doing the job the quilt top came home with me.
I have unpicked, trimmed ( as the sashing strip fabric had frayed a bit ), re-jigged and re-sewn and just about got it done. What do you think ?
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A close-up of some of the pretty fabrics.
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I like it much better and I think May will too. Anything was better than see it go in the bin - all those hand-pieced blocks. Couldn't see it happen. A few days well spent I'd say. I quite enjoyed the challenge. And the thing is I know May and indeed any of our quilting group would do a similar favour for anyone else - that's one reason I love being a quilter.
Back to my own stuff xx
37 comments:
Andrea, what a sweetheart you are. You are a quilt rescuer! This is so much better than before. May is going to be ever so grateful!!!
Wonderful! You rescued the quilt, what a doll for doing this for your friend. The result is wonderful!
What a great rescue! I'm sure May will be forever grateful. You could teach this stuff as it's really hard for many people (myself included) to figure out how to add the sashing and borders.
How nice of you. It looks so much better, you really did rescue it. I like the little bit of green, it livens it right up, but doesn't overpower it.
Beautiful! What a difference how wonderful of you to step up and help May out.
Andrea, you are just the sweetest lady! How kind of you to do this. I must say, it looks so much better. Good job and a good save! Winona
Wow, what a great save! I'm sure May will be highly delighted.
What a creative idea for fixing the problem. It looks great! What a lucky friend to have you there to offer assistance and save a beautiful quilt!
You are such a good friend. The quilt is so different after you fixed it, and looks great now.
What a great job you've done on that quilt. The green's still there but it doesn't overpower now. I hope that she will like it.
Just brilliant! That is such a transformation.
Tell May about auditioning fabrics and ideas before she commits herself on her next quilt decision.
Andrea to the rescue...sounds like a super hero! You are!
I think it is also easier to be doing something for someone else because you know you have to finish it so it doesn't go on the backburner. Looks great. I especially like the little squares of softness in the middle of the sashing. Cherrie
I love the new layout AND the sashing. The muted lavender with just a bit of that green left really shows off the blocks.
Good Job!
Andrea, first what a great friend you are and what a wonderful job you did. It is a new quilt, well done.
Well, i love green but i dont know why she picked green in the first place...but WOW...once it was minimized, it looked soooooo much better! Im sure she'll love it! Nice work! Nice save! :)
What a wonderful thing to do! You've made it look absolutely fabulous for your friend!
Andrea, that is really lovely now, so much softer and more appealing. I am sure that May will adore it.
You did a fantastic job! It looks sooo much better. I'm sure May will love it.
You're a genius. Expect a rescue parcel soon LOL!!
Fantastic job; what a transformation! You're a sweetie.
A nice improvement to the quilt. I like your hand quilting project and thanks for the info on the microtacker thingie. I had one of the bigger ones and never figured out how to use it.
What a wonderful thing to do for a fellow quilter. I wish you belonged to my quilting group! :) The results are fantastic. It made a big difference. May will love it!
Much better! Perhaps you have a future as a quilt resuscitater.
What a transformation. I'm sure she'll be delighted with it. You are so generous with your time and skill. I wish I had your imagination to see the solution.
HUGE difference!!! So, so much better. I am certain May will be thrilled.
I love your version...so much better! You've managed to take that really bright in your face green and make it into an accent.
Will you blog about May's reaction...I bet she will love it!
The result is lovely. I am sure May is very happy with it! Such pretty fabrics. What a good friend you are.
Definitely an improvement. I am sure she will be thrilled with your result!!
That looks so much better and I bet you had great fun re doing it
Love and hugs Gina xxx
I was thinking the green would have to totally go, but it looks lovely now. You did a great job and I think May will Love it. It would have been such a shame to let those blocks to toss out. What a sweet thing for you to do.
The results of your work are absolutely gorgeous - congratulations - I am sure that May is going be ecstatic with the results.
WOW, WOW, WOW! You really did make a silk purse out of a sows ear! (I would have totally ditched the green - it was too over powering.)
This was a terrific save! the finished quilt will be so much warmer for all the caring that's gone into it!
The redone quilt looks great! She's going to love it. The hand quilting on the previous post is just gorgeous.
Well done that looks much better. Your hex's are looking great, I love the colour combination as well.
You have done a fantastic job with these blocks! Green and purple is good, but the colour which was too much, has been made beautiful. Well done you!
wow you have done a great job on May's quilt............hope she liked it..........amazing the difference keeping the green but making the stripes heaps smaller.........
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