Sorry, but those pleats, the 3" and the hideous "out-of square" just set me laughing. Too bad we are not having an ugly quilt contest right now! That said, I suppose each quilt is special to its creator, and the fewer she has made, the more special, in a strange way. Would your aunt consider letting you quilt it by machine so you don't break so many needles and at least wouldn't have to look at the awful fabric so long?

Please take pictures. I'm sure we will have an ugly quilt contest at some point. Maybe you could post just to give encouragement to others here. It could be a tribute to your aunt's perserverence to finish this thing.
I'm with biwako, ROTFL.

OK NOW I did put a couple "darts" in my kaleidoscope quilt with a couple really poorly matched blocks... BUT I would not ask someone else to quilt it!

I'm curious -- does she know it's got, er, issues?

Too bad there is not a machine stitch that LOOKS like a hand stitch, LOL.

I must say you REALLY DO have my sympathies because agreeing to make things for someone else has been my biggest frustration since I started quilting.

I've heard some people say "OH, I never do assignments, only projects I choose." And at first I thought "Well, La-ti-da!" but now I totally understand. It's one thing to fight through to the finish on something you chose and have an attachment too. It's just drudgery though to do it to something you don't like. Especially something that is breaking your needles!!!

I too would love to see pics...

It sounds hideous! LOL I do feel for you. what a chore! Can we see a pic, please?

"Quilt issues" cracked me up.

Think of this as prepaying your Karma account (or paying back for a wrong that's already happened).

I feel for you, Lynette, I really do. How big is it and is there anyway you can do some of it on a machine?

Could you machine quilt some areas in the ditch and just do your hand quilting in the open areas?

There's "many modern day quilters combine machine and hand quilting for construction and esthetic reasons" or "hand quilting in the ditch is harder on my needles and hands so I decided to combine machine and hand quilting which is perfectly acceptable....yada yada".

Chalk this one up to experience. You learn something from every quilting project.
Teresa

Well, since she's paying you, keep track of all those needles, etc., and how much time you spend on it trying to fix things! If you charge her enough she won't ask you to do another!

Donna

I must admit I got a giggle out of your post. Sorry, I know it is frustrating. You will get it done and please send pics.

I feel for you girl! I really do. If I don't like a quilt, I have a very very hard time hand quilting it. I give you a big "A" for sticking with it.

This situation is not good, you are taking a beating by not talking to the aunt, show her that she need to redo areas of the quilt, like square it up, trim seams, etc. You will need to machine quilt in the ditch, then you could echo quilt on the inside area. If you don't fix this problem things will or could get worse, she and you will not be happy. your backing fabric must show the problem is out of square, that won't work. and you are not going to be able to get the price your hard work deserves, on the little baby quilt I did and posted a month or so I charged $300 and the lady was thrilled. I would stop quilting right now, talk to the aunt and show her the problems, see if she or if she wants you to fix problems, well set a price before hand, so that all know what is going on. thhis is MHO, Rene

Well, my mother and I handquilted around the blocks in the frame. It doesn't look as bad now that that is done, but I'll try to get some pics of some of the stuff I was talking about. I'm just doing detail right now.

My aunt machine quilts. That is part of the reason she doesn't care. She wants it all hand quilted. It's 78"x98" at the longest points. I had to measure that to find a backing that fit as hers was too small. She sent an awful blanket that would be impossible to hand quilt through for the batting. I had to go buy batting.

If it were just me, I would talk to her, but my mom doesn't want me to. She says my aunt will get very offended. Personally, if I made this quilt, I wouldn't let anyone see it.

I don't blame any of you for laughing. We did a lot of it while putting it in the frame. It became not so funny whent he quilting started, but I'm sure we will laugh about it again later.

Lynette

That's exactly why I don't quilt for other people - life is short, and I've got enough of my own projects that I love to work on - my sympathies!!! (I'd probably be taking it apart and redoing it, if it were me, if she wouldn't notice that, don't know what the right solution is in this case.) I've also had friends ask me to "teach me to quilt" and I steer them to the fabric shops that have classes. It took me years and years to learn to say "no" nicely, and mean it. (Wow, I sound kinda gritchy here, don't I?)

Oh my, you are in a tough spot. Don't know what advice I can give except to grin and bear it and never agree to quilt for her again.

I won't do this again, for sure! LOL I was doing it as a favor because she is my aunt.

It was hard to get the right pics. The quilt is not really ugly. She picked out some nice colors, but it is just put together poorly. It does look 110% better after being partially quilted..LOL

This is just an overall pic so you can see colors and such. The wrinkling is part of the quilt, not the way it is sitting.
{{!gwi}}

This shows how we had to wrinkle the border just to make it the same size. it couldn't possibly be quilted as out of square as it was. It is like this all the way around.
{{!gwi}}

This is the only block not quilted where the pleats are. These are small compared to some of them. Oh, and did I mention she sewed it all with red and black thread on white fabric.
{{!gwi}}

Here's a laugh for you. The middle of the wheels are sticking out so far, it looks like she was trying to make a bra. LOL it really is worse than it looks now.

You've just got to keep those pics for the next ugly quilt contest! Thanks for my first laugh of the day. That bra comment!

Oh Lyn, just think how many star points you are racking up by doing this for her. But it is funny to hear you talk about it. I haven't seen an ugliest quilt contest yet, can't wait. ;)

Oh Lyn been there done that, maybe not quite as bad as this one. Your fingers will hurt for weeks....you will almost be in tears....that it causes you to laugh...and when it is done, you will have created a mirical and present it to your aunt who will love the quilt and you for doing it!

Sorry, but I did have to chuckle...pictures are priceless!
Jean

Oh my! oh my! I feel for you.

No, scraphappy, you don't sound kinda gritchy! You sound like a quilter who has had experience in this kind of situation! I just finished a lovely quilt for a customer and kept saying to myself "don't agree to finish someone else's choice of pattern and fabrics again!" And I too will not teach someone to sew or quilt unless it is done in an organized class and I'm being paid for my time.

Let this be "words to the wise!"

Definitely keep track of your hours and your mother's hours. Minimum wage in your state x hours = $$. Even if you don't charge her that amount you can probably work it into a conversation with her. Something to the effect that next time you do a quilt for anyone you will charge accordingly for labor. Material extra.

Here is a link that might be useful: Minimum wage by state

I feel for you. I was reading the posts and when I got to the pictures I am sorry I laughed out loud at each one.
Has she not sewn for long? Or does she just not understand the reason for straight seams?
At least you will have earned all that good karma by the time you get done!!!

Liz

Red and black thread??? my sympathies, you get a gold star for sure! Maybe even two or three!!!

Liz,

She has been sewing since she was a very young girl! Does that surprise you? LOLOLOLOLOL

I guess I'm at the point where it is laugh or cry and I choose to laugh:)

Lynette

Bras! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You and your mother will certainly have a place in Heaven! What a nightmare! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Oh wow, bless your heart! I'm cringing while looking at those pics knowing how hard that must be to work with. Yes, a big gold star for you for perservering!

My mother recently gave me some tops that she had pieced and some still in block stage. Now she has always been my inspiration since I can remember, but the stuff she gave me to finish were terribly pieced. She will be 75 next week and had a major stroke back in '98. I think these were some that she worked on after the stroke. Nothing matches up at all which is very unusual for her. Granted I didn't see any "bras", LOL! She told me I could have them IF I wanted to finish them. She didn't want them back. It is interesting to see her seams in the blocks. They are like half an inch! She never used a rotary cutter either, always scissors. I don't know if I will finish them or not, but I feel like I have a duty to finish them for her. She also gave me a shoe box of scraps but didn't know what quilt it came from and I looked inside and it was scraps from my first quilt! The quilt she made for my 4 year old daughter was actually made many years before she was born and the last quilt she completed before her stroke. The piecing is beautiful and so is the handquilting.

Rebecca