On Tuesday I thoroughly examined all the seams and found that I could see my friend's decline as her disease progressed. The blocks themselves are perfect. But she didn't get them pressed well before starting the sashing. The short sashing is mostly well done, but about a quarter of the seams show signs of her becoming unsteady and possibly loosing the ability to see well. On one row, you can see that her seams were too large because the row is shorter than the two on either side of it.
The long sashing strips were cut completely wrong. I.e. along the selvages inside of the width of the fabric. This makes the fabric more easily warped and harder to keep your seams straight... which is a total rookie mistake. She was most definitely not a quilting rookie. And on top of all this were places where the seams weren't holding or would not continue to hold.
After talking with another quilting friend, I knew what I had to do. I called my friend's husband and explained the situation. He and I agreed that I would disassemble the quilt top, after labeling the blocks so I can put them in the order she had them in, and completely redo the sashing. Then I would finish the borders as planned. He's checking her stash for fabric for the new sashing. That way I'm at least using her fabric for the new work.
On one hand I'm really upset about taking apart something that she put together. On the other hand, I want to ensure that her eventual great-grandchildren can enjoy this quilt and her all about her from their parent, aunts, and uncles... and hopefully pass it on to their children.
Tomorrow afternoon I'll hopefully be picking up the fabric substitute. If there's nothing in her stash, I'll do some quick math and run by the quilt shop on Tuesday. Then I get to label the blocks and start picking apart the weak seams.
This quilt will be done the way she would be proud of. Even if I have to stop and cry once in a while.
1 comment:
What a labor of love....
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