Tips and Tricks for Fixing Quilting Mistakes
Hi Everyone!
A while back I was working on a mini quilt for the Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram (#alisonglassminiquiltswap) and as I was quilting the backing tucked under and I quilted right over it. Not once, but twice. Ugh! I know we've all made mistakes like this, but they don't always seem easy to fix. While I was fixing my little "boo-boo", I took some pictures so I could share a few of my tips and tricks for fixing quilting mistakes.
Here is my first mistake in all of it's glory. If you look closely at the left hand side, you'll see that the backing folded and tucked twice. I did a really good job with this one, haha.
I had already done quite a bit of quilting, so I really didn't want to "unquilt" my quilt and have to quilt it again. I always make my backing 4"-6" bigger than my quilt top, which gave me some forgiveness and allowed me to cut the fabric away rather than pull out my stitches.
First, I cut the backing very close to the stitches. Be very careful not to cut your stitches. Using scissors with a short blade like {these} can help quite a lot.
Cut the fabric away from each line of quilting.
Use your fingers to pull the fibers of the fabric away from the quilting.
Snip your fabric as needed to release it from the stitches. Cutting the fabric close to the quilting will allow it to pull away quite easily.
In this picture, you can really see what a fantastic job I did making this mistake ;). Keep snipping the fabric away while being careful not to cut your stitches.
Almost there!! I kind of like pulling the fabric away from the quilting. It's satisfying like pulling weeds. I hate to get out there and pull the weeds, but when I pull one out, root and all, it feels so good!
Just a snip or two left!
YES!!!!
Next, clean it up and pull away any fibers of the backing from the stitches.
It's all finished and looks so much better. The best part is that I didn't have to remove a single stitch of my quilting.
I hope this helps you if you ever find yourself needing to fix a quilting mistake.
I'll be back to share how I fixed my second mistake. It did require a seam ripper and some "unquilting". See you then!!
Happy Quilting,
~Cristy
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3 Responses
Debra
It’s so easy to make this mistake, especially on a mini, I’ve covered my mistake with a cloth label before, another time the hanging ing sleeve covered it nicely.
Suzy
Oh my gosh! That has happened to me a couple of times. The first time I did it, I cried! I wasn’t sure what I was going to do other than take out all the stitching. I set it aside and later when I returned to “fix it”, I did exactly what you did. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who has had this problem and conquered it with out too much difficulty. Good Job!!! :)
Susan
March 25, 2016
Oh yeah, I’ve done that and fixed it the same way. Great idea to share!