I learned from entering things in the local county fair that you never point out your "errors". My stitch ripper and I are close friends.

loise98 wrote:
I know this feeling. It's why I don't think I'll ever "quilt for show"...that fear of 6 months into a project and then fear of screwing it up.
When I have quilted for a contest, I make a sample of every step before stitching on the real quilt. I love the show quilters that admit to using the seam ripper frequently, and just not pointing out their mistakes. No one will ever know.

To quote Ritzy, "After I did the dog, I had wished I had done the boy the same way." Just goes to show you why they say that you just have to make lots and lots of projects to get better at what you do. Each project does build on the next. When I am making something like the project Ritzy just did I often get to the point where I am surprisingly pleased with what I have done so far then I am afraid of taking the next step for fear of ruining those better than expected results. So I dawdle. This happens when I am emotionally attached to a project as Ritzy must have been because it was a picture of her grandson. I want my head to stop getting in the way of my creativity.

Wow Ritzy thanks for the explanation, can it take a class with you?

I did over-lap where I could; no walking foot, just slow and easy; no tulle.

Ah, the dog. After I did the dog, I had wished I had done the boy the same way but that would have defeated the purpose of trying to see if I could do the method. So, first I painted the dog on white fabric then I backed it with the same interfacing and thread painted it(trying to follow the picture so the hair would look realistic). After I did the thread painting, I turned the edges under, mounted it to the quilt and then added more thread painting along the edges so it looked like hair. The quilting on the dog actually turned out to be more thread painting. I really like how the dog looks. Will have to, someday, try doing a person the same way. When it was all done, I was really surprised to see how much thread was on it.

On a closeup look I could see what you did. You did not use the tulle either did you? Your edge stitching is so perfect. Did you free motion it, or did you use a walking foot? I did not notice any gaps, so guess you overlapped the edges. It sure looks great. Thank you for sharing with us.

You rebel Ritzy

Your dog is amazing as well, you're going to have to tell us how you did his coat and the colours

Interesting method. I may have to try it sometime. Did you turn under all of the edges of each piece and butt them up together, or did you just turn under some edges and have overlap? If you butted the edges, did you have any trouble with gaps?

Well ladies, once again, I didn't follow all the steps in the class. I do not like raw edge--I have never, never been able to get a look I was completely happy with so(unless the piece is so small that I can't) I used a different method. I used a product called DecorBond. It is an interfacing that is fusible. I traced the pieces on the DecorBond, then cut on the line. I pressed it to my fabric and then cut the fabric with a seam allowance that was turned over the edges of the DecorBond. I used a glue stick to hold the edges turned in place. I used the hot iron to hold them in place. If the piece is sooooo small that I can't use this method I press WonderUnder to the fabric, cut it out and pray.

The eyes were painted on white fabric. The hardest part was the eyelashes(I chose to do the fusible and cut them out but I really wanted to paint them). I was afraid that I would ruin what I had done on the rest of the project and that is why I did them the way they were done. The grand that I did the quilt on said that his eyes are not that blue. He is correct but that was the color I had available. His eyes are very blue though. I did the dogs eyes the same way. Being a crafter, I don't hesitate to use things that I have learned in other crafts to add to or accomplish what I want in quilting.

Congratulations, Ritzy. It's beautiful!

Congratulations Ritzy - the background fabric worked out really well.

Thanks Coni. I feel better using it now. Will work on it this evening.

I used Heat and Bond light and had no problems.

I responded to this yesterday, but it is gone today!
Congratulations on your quilt Ritzy. It is great. What did you use in place of the Steam a Seam, or did you still have some of the old stuff. I am so anxious to get mine done, but I am too the point where I need to apply a fusible and don't know what to use that would hold it together best. I do have a couple different Heat and Bond, but if there is something better I would rather use it.
Thanks!