They are just awful - what to do?

So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

Make a dog or cat quilt or several and send them to Jill for her critters.

--
Alice in NJ, Royal Cybrarian
http://www.ourcyberfamily.us/
"Just about the time a woman thinks her work is done, she becomes a
grandmother." Edward H. Dreschnack



"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
: So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
: started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
: it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.
:
: The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
: a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
: be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
: very proud of these.
:
: BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
: but well, what have you done that might work for me?
:
: http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg
:
: There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
: ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
: mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
: exact.
:
: What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?
:
: J
: janice142 on eBay
: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/
:

AliceW wrote:
Make a dog or cat quilt or several and send them to Jill for her critters.

You could just send them in their current condition -- that's what I
did with some that I found in similiar condition -- the animals wont'
care, they'll love them anyway.

Tricia

So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when
I first started. They are AWFUL.
http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg
What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

The main problem is the choice of colours, lots of things that don't
work together.

Overdye them all intense green. The resulting variations will
harmonize reasonably well. If your blocks are too uneven in size
you can fudge the discrepancies if you sash them (plain saturated
red or blue, say). If they're near enough the right size or can
be trimmed to the same size, assemble a top first.

If they're undyable synthetics you're stuck, but at least you've
learned a lot of block types.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

I see some lovelies there. Maybe add a 3 inch border in a neutral color and
then trim all blocks to a uniform size and make crib/lap quilts and either
keep or donate the completed quilts to Project Linus or something similar.

--
Mary (Idaho to Oregon via Montana)
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948

"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
: So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
: started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
: it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.
:
: The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
: a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
: be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
: very proud of these.
:
: BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
: but well, what have you done that might work for me?
:
: http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg
:
: There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
: ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
: mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
: exact.
:
: What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?
:
: J
: janice142 on eBay
: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/
:

OK. You asked, so here's what I would do with them --

First, you really need to go shopping ;-) Get a couple of yards of some
truly yummy fabric. Keep it sort of simple (no cabbage roses or huge
splashy parrots). Maybe a marble in your favorite color, or a quiet
batik or a tone on tone in a lovely jewel color. But yummy.

Then sew borders on *all* the blocks -- at least 3" wide, maybe 4". Not
all the borders need to be the same width; even on the same block they
needn't be.

Next take a square ruler -- an 8.5" or (preferably) a 9.5" and trim the
blocks all to the same size ...BUT ... here's the kicker ... tip them
all cattywampus so none of the blocks are quilt on the square, nor quite
on point. Tip some one way, tip others the other way, make them as
different as possible. [This makes any unmatched points *inside* the
blocks almost look like they are done on purpose ;-)]

Last, either set them alternating with plain blocks of the same color as
the block borders, or a contrasting color, or a narrow sashing of the
same or a contrasting color.

Bet you love the resulting top; but if not, either finish it for a
charity quilt or send it to Jill. Either way you will have learned a lot
from the experience.

I personally would finish the resulting top and use it for a snuggle
quilt or a car or picnic quilt. After all, any "mistakes" in it are
*your* learning experiences, right?

As a total last resort, send me the blocks and I will do the above --
reading this back made me want to try a quilt like that.

Anne in CA -- off to search out my learning blocks ...
annerudolph AT comcast DOT net
"It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." -- Sheryl
Crow
http://community.webshots.com/user/annerudolph3
http://www.frappr.com/rctq



janice142 wrote:
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

i see some nice blocks there too.
they seem to be a few diff types of fabrics.
how bout taking those that have similar fabs in them, sash those and border
and see how they look then.
might be a few smaller quilts either for babys or small children in womens
refuge who would love them.
seems a shame to just toss them out. quilts always come with such love sewn
into them.
some of those women and kids are sadly lacking in love and could well use
some.
cheers,
jeanne
--
san-fran at ihug dot co dot nz
nzlstar on yahoo msg'r
http://community.webshots.com/user/nzlstar
http://community.webshots.com/user/VirtualQuilting
"WOK- the ancient art"

"maryd" wrote...
I see some lovelies there. Maybe add a 3 inch border in a neutral color
and
then trim all blocks to a uniform size and make crib/lap quilts and either
keep or donate the completed quilts to Project Linus or something similar.

--
Mary (Idaho to Oregon via Montana)
http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948

Janice, it takes forever for this computer to bring in a picture but I went
to see how awful 'just awful' was. They are not awful, they're just not
very friendly with each other. Anne has such a good idea. Why don't you
sift out either the pastel ones or the brights and make a crib quilt? I'm
betting the plan will work so well that you make two of them. Polly

"Anne in CA" wrote in message
...
OK. You asked, so here's what I would do with them --

First, you really need to go shopping ;-) Get a couple of yards of some
truly yummy fabric. Keep it sort of simple (no cabbage roses or huge
splashy parrots). Maybe a marble in your favorite color, or a quiet batik
or a tone on tone in a lovely jewel color. But yummy.

Then sew borders on *all* the blocks -- at least 3" wide, maybe 4". Not
all the borders need to be the same width; even on the same block they
needn't be.

Next take a square ruler -- an 8.5" or (preferably) a 9.5" and trim the
blocks all to the same size ...BUT ... here's the kicker ... tip them all
cattywampus so none of the blocks are quilt on the square, nor quite on
point. Tip some one way, tip others the other way, make them as different
as possible. [This makes any unmatched points *inside* the blocks almost
look like they are done on purpose ;-)]

Last, either set them alternating with plain blocks of the same color as
the block borders, or a contrasting color, or a narrow sashing of the same
or a contrasting color.

Bet you love the resulting top; but if not, either finish it for a charity
quilt or send it to Jill. Either way you will have learned a lot from the
experience.

I personally would finish the resulting top and use it for a snuggle quilt
or a car or picnic quilt. After all, any "mistakes" in it are *your*
learning experiences, right?

As a total last resort, send me the blocks and I will do the above --
reading this back made me want to try a quilt like that.

Anne in CA -- off to search out my learning blocks ...
annerudolph AT comcast DOT net
"It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." -- Sheryl
Crow
http://community.webshots.com/user/annerudolph3
http://www.frappr.com/rctq



janice142 wrote:
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J janice142 on eBay http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

make lap quilts or baby quilts and send them to a linus or Pakistan quilt
project. They really need warm covers

Mim
"janice142" wrote in message
oups.com...
So, today I ran across stacks of quilt blocks I'd stitched when I first
started. They are AWFUL. Truly (gulp) um, well, there is no way to say
it politely: they are awful. Dreadful. Sigh.

The lines are wavy, the points don't match, the colors are combined in
a way only a beginner would, the sizes are varied (aren't supposed to
be mind you) and some of the fabrics were dreadful. And I was really so
very proud of these.

BUT, there a lot of them. And I can't bring myself to just toss them,
but well, what have you done that might work for me?

http://www.janice142.com/Temp/Blocks.jpg

There are almost 60 of them, split about 1/2 and 1/2 between the darker
ones and the washed out pastels.... They are all hand-stitched, and
mostly somewhere around 6" -- as before, the measurements were, um, not
exact.

What would you do if you wanted to rescue them?

J
janice142 on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/janice142/

And there are still people on the Mississippi coast waiting to hear from
their insurance companies and they are sleeping in tents. The First Baptist
Church in Pascagoula has a distribution center. Polly

"miriam "mim" spencer" wrote make lap quilts or baby quilts and send them
to a linus or Pakistan quilt
project. They really need warm covers