Has a quilt ever made you cry?

Has a quilt ever made you cry? Were you crying with frustration, joy, relief, sorrow.... whatever? Tell us about it!

Polly and Pat on her hill still tease me- many years later- about the log cabin blocks that brought me to a weeping hissy fit. I'm sewing log cabin blocks right now and that's what brought up the memory... and this question asking for *your* story.

Long, long ago, I was sewing 120 log cabin blocks for a HUGE king sized quilt. I had started the cutting and sewing early in the morning and by 4 a.m. the following morning I was sewing the final log on all 120 blocks. I was sooooo determined I would not go to bed until all the blocks were done. I finished sewing that last log on all 120 blocks- FINALLY!- reached behind the sewing machine to retrieve the long chain of blocks--- and discovered that I'd run out of bobbin thread on the second block. I had 118 blocks that were 'sewn' with no bobbin thread! I sat my behind right down on the floor and cried my little heart out. Then I went to bed.

There are my two very precious and very beautiful hug quilts- I have had several good cries over each of them and I still get misty when I look at them or tell people about those gorgeous hugs or even think about them. Thank you again for those wonderful tokens of affection and support.

Got a boo-hoo quilt story?

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

Reply to
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
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I don't think I've ever actually cried, but I have had tears in my eyes. The first time I walked into the Quilt Museum in Paducah and was face to face with some of the quilts I had seen in magazines over the years (and was totally in awe of), I definitely got choked up. I couldn't believe they were real!

The only quilt I worked on that brought me close to tears was one I did for my SIL. I started calling it the quilt from H---, just because it seemed that if anything could go wrong, it did! First, I kind of felt "forced" into making it, so my heart wasn't really in it. I made blocks and blocks and blocks for a king-size, and after I got the borders on, I realized they didn't have a king-size bed. So . . . I removed the borders, took off the appropriate number of blocks to make it a bit smaller, and resewed the borders. I was hand quilting it, and it wasn't going well - some of the fabric was just plain tough to work with, so I wasn't enjoying it. Then, one night I picked it up to work on it, felt a kind of tug on one corner, so gave it a harder pull. Turned out a safety pin that I had used to fasten the backing when I brought it around to the front to protect the edges when I was quilting had caught on something, and I proceeded to tear a hole in it. At that point, I was ready to bawl and toss the whole thing, but I did persevere and get it done for her in time for Christmas.

I think I prefer crying over those that are beautiful rather than those that are troublesome!

Reply to
Louise in Iowa

Well this is pretty minor compared to what you did, but last night I sewed a binding onto a wallhanging and realized when I went to turn to the backside that when I folded the binding prior to sewing it down I had folded it right sides together.

Sewed it down good and tight too.

That's a couple hours I'll never get back.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

The scrap quilt I worked on off and on for ten years--even though all the fabrics were pre-washed, when I washed the finished quilt, one of the patches ran into several white parts. Multiple re-washings with synthropol and color catchers did not help. : -(

Now ask us if we have ever thrown one across a room.

Monique

Reply to
monique

The two quilts I have shed the most tears with are the HUG that you all helped me make for my DSIL/nieces last year after my dear brother was killed and the one that you all made for me. Those two quilts have been so very therapeutic for me.

As far as a frustrating one. Hmmm that would probably be either the Army quilt I made for DH in 2003 or the NASCAR quilt I made for myself. The Army quilt was when I had first gotten back into quilting after a 20 years hiatus. Well It had Flying Geese in it and I didn't even know such a thing existed at the time. I also didn't know about half square triangles and such as that. Forget measuring with a ruler. I just laid the fabric out and measured against the center square. Keep in mind that most of my previous quilting was just cutting squares and sewing them together. Done. Well this Army quilt brought me to tears more than once trying to get points matched up and seams straight and all that. On top of it, I was having to keep it hid from DH cause it was for his birthday which caused me to have to hide my frustration with it from him too. The final product came out very nice though considering it was my "getting back into quilting" quilt.

The NASCAR quilt was extremely frustrating because I was using a combination of bandanas, pillow panels, triangles and various other odd shaped pieces of fabric. Trying to get it all pieced together and make it look half way decent was...well....frustrating. On top of that, the cat peed all over it before I got it all pieced together. Yep, I cried a few tears over that quilt. I love the final product but I'm so glad it's done.

Oh yeah, the Tumbling Blocks quilt. It's still in the plastic container. I decided to hand piece it and work on it occasionally. Oh, the things I have learned in the years since the Army and NASCAR quilts though. Knowledge is priceless.

Hugs, Mika

Reply to
Mika

Over the summer I was making a turkey wall hanging with a baby turkey chic (hey, I didn't make the pattern!) Anyway, I was completely finished with it and decided I was going to machine quilt it (I'm not very fast with hand quilting, sewing, etc) I slid the WH under the needle and was about 2/3rds of the way done and had to change positions of the quilting. My sm decides its going to jam and eat the dang thing. I couldn't get the darn thing out...ended up ripping a small hole into it and got so mad that I ended up using my seam ripper to complete the mess my sm had made. There wasn't any way to fix it...I threw it in the garbage and cried my eyes out.

Launie, in Oregon

Reply to
simpleseven

Leslie, you must think of yourself as our shining example. Last night, I needed to make the first run of stitching to bind a quilt - a glorious, king-sized waterbed production. First, I put in a new bobbin. Then, I attached the binding. That went well so I decided to machine baste the binding to hold it nicely in place for whatever came next. First, I put in a new bobbin. I realized that Christmas and Easter would come and go before I could handstitch the binding to the back (the quilt was getting bigger and bigger by the minute). My Berninas have lots of fancy stitches so I auditioned several and chose the one that looks like an endless row of cursive 'e' loops. I finished binding the quilt (which then seemed to be about the size of the Wal-Mart parking lot) with the fancy stitch and it looks great . . . but . . . first I put in a new bobbin. Many, many times, I checked the loop-de-loops to be Certain that the bobbin was holding out. Nobody's going to catch me putting 118 last logs on without both thread sources loaded to the gills. I figure you shed enough tears over that one for all of us. I might forget to put the presser foot down but by golly, the bobbin will be loaded. I thank you for saving me from that. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Yes! and still remember it like yesterday........

I was four years old. My grandmother had a quilt on her bed made of satin squares, I have no idea where they came from except I loved taking my naps in her bed, rubbing the edge of the quilt on my cheek. Many of the little squares were pink with butterflies on them. I had to "rest quietly" even if I woke up until the big hand was on the 12 and the little hand was on the 2. On my grandmother's dressing table were a pair of cuticle scissors. I was being very quiet. When she peeked into the room I was very quietly and carefully cutting out all the beautiful butterflies.......she screamed, I froze in place.......then we both cried. *sniff*

Val

Reply to
Val

Yes! A few months ago, I made a simple Warm Wishes quilt for my cousin who was terminally ill. The top flew together...things are looking good. Life put some delays between that and the quilting. I didn't finish that until the night before we left for a vacation. The quilt, binding fabric and sewing machine came along. 600 miles from home, I discover that I have just exactly enough length in the binding...no margin for error. Somehow, I got going the wrong way around on the quilt and the miters didn't look quite "right". They were locked down and would not fold to the back. Ripped them all out very carefully and restitched them...wrong way again. Ripped them out again. This time I got three out of four done correctly. Ripped out one more time and got it right. Finished the binding, packed it up and took it to the Post Office.

I cried when the package was taken out of my hands! Although my cousin has since passed away, the quilt did reach her while she could still enjoy it for a bit.

Rita L.

Leslie & The Furbabies > Has a quilt ever made you cry? Were you crying with frustration, joy,

Reply to
Rita in MA

Just one. It's this one: . I worked on this quilt for a year or so (it was a BOM), sewing together 3700+ pieces (did I mention that the designer wrote the instructions in a very confusing way?) and pin basting it twice in preparation for quilting -- except that I couldn't figure out how I wanted to quilt it. A dear friend finally said she'd do it on her long arm for me as practice for her own quilt from the same pattern. All in all, it wasn't finished until three years after I'd begun it. Fine.

I put it on our guest room bed and enjoyed seeing it there for a while. Then we took in a puppy -- a large lab mix puppy -- who decided to have a snack in the middle of the night. He ate an entire section out of one side. I have to admit that I cried. Fortunately, the missing section was on an edge, making it a little easier to repair, but it's not the same, of course.

Reply to
Sandy

I felt that way at the Quilt Museum too! Then there was the gorgeous basket quilt made of batiks that a dear person gave me to help with the move to Germany. It has gotten me through some emotionally hard times! Roberta in D

"Louise in Iowa" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:47583004$0$26061$ snipped-for-privacy@free.teranews.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

what a great question. yes, i have boo-hoo'd. my first quilt was a hand pieced and quilted grandmother's flower garden in hexigons. i let my XDH#1 borrow it, he said he needed to keep warm in the garage. little did i know, he wrapped an ENGINE with my quilt. he also forgot to take it OFF the engine when he started the darned thing. it burned up in minutes. i cried for days.

amy in CNY

Reply to
amy

The first quilt I ever made was for my Gramma (my dad's momma) - who desperately tried to soften my rough edges as a child (I was a to-the-bone tomboy) and teach me to quilt. That wonderful woman even managed to get me to make a few potholders ... they were *awful* but she oohed and ahhed over the job I'd done (that's the kind of woman she was!). She'd made everyone in the family quilts for every special (and non-special) occasions. She was such a wonderful, kind, loving woman. Held her family together during hard times, while her hubby was off to war for 4 tours in WWII ... just an amazing woman.

So, to show her how much I loved her, while she was dying, I made her a quilt (my first ever) and it was *horrible*!!! Quilted with a double-strand of thread, stripes all wonky (can you say "diagonals?") and not a single point matched. And saying that it was hand-pieced (no sewing machine at the time) didn't even come close to excusin' the mistakes I made.

I cried as I sewed it, quilted it, and finally packaged it up to send to her (no one knew how much longer she had - she was already at the point where she couldn't breathe if she were lying down - she spent the last year of her life havin' to sit up in bed or suffocate). I cried when I talked to her about a month later and she told me how much she loved it and how beautiful it was (thanks to a Gramma's rose-colored glasses!!).

But more, I cried when it came back to me after she died. I still have that awful quilt in a place of "honor" in my home on display. It's the ugliest thing you ever saw, but her love made it gorgeous. I can look at that quilt today and because of her kindness, see what *she* saw and be proud of it. :)

Cryin' again ... Connie

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

Hey, Kathy ... how's your dad doin'? Haven't heard an update from you since the other day ... I hope you know you and your family are still in our prayers!!

And are you still glowin'? You know ... if'n you are, Santa sure could use you when he hits Florida ... it's been real foggy here lately. :) ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((KJ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

As to my Gramma, I pretty much cry whenever I think about her ... if I had to pick a role model or someone to be like when I grow up (still waitin' on that) ... it'd be her.

She was such an amazin' woman. Raised 4 boys (one of which, my dad, the baby, was born a month or two AFTER her hubby went off to war for 3 years) and 1 girl, managed a farm, was active in her church ... you name it. She kept the entire family together.

And trust me, raisin' my daddy, 'specially on her own for a good while, was no easy task!!

That poor sweet woman did everything she could to gentle me as a child ... and I can tell you she had the patience of a SAINT. I think I spent more time hidin' pins and needles under chair cushions than usin'em to sew cloth!! :)

Now, your turn ... you've got a "cry" story in you, too. You know you do!!

Now SHARE!!!! :)

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

Gosh, Connie, what a beautiful, if sad, story! You've made me cry right along with you.

Reply to
Sandy

Awww .... thanks, Sandy. But the "credit" goes to the amazing woman my Gramma was.

This was a woman who actually managed to sweet-talk a wild raccoon enough to become a family pet. Rocky ('cause of course, that's "short" for Raccoon) adored her and acted just like a dog! Following her around, eating snacks from her fingers. Curlin' up in her lap to nap ...

You would have had to have seen it to believe it. :)

My Gramma was the most amazing woman EVER. :)

And I have HER to thank for getting me into one of the most wonderful art forms known to man (and woman): quilting. Every time that I quilt, I think of her and I feel like she's "near." Certainly, I think that even if I mess up a quilt horribly, she's watchin' over me and thinkin' that it's beautiful. And that gives me the courage and desire to do better and better - to make my Gramma proud. :)

But the neatest thing is bein' here in the group ... I hear so many of ya'll talk about your grandkids that I know that ya'll are to THEM what my Gramma was to ME. And I have to tell you ... that feels so GOOD to be surrounded by such wonderful, giving, kind people: YOU!!! :)

Hugs!! Connie :)

double-strand

Reply to
SewVeryCreative

I confess that when I washed my Confetti quilt--five years of choosing, piecing and sewing1-inch squares--and found that the black fabric I used to showcase the colored squares had frayed and ripped, I sat down and cried a little. I still love the quilt but haven't had the heart to tackle the repairs.

Reply to
Carolyn McCarty

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