A Shabby Chic Fail

 Most of my quilting projects go unused and stashed away but for some reason this really old one from the late 70's got used to death-and then stashed away. It is full of rips and stains and looks like it belongs more in the trunk of a car than on a bed. I was about to trash it when I had the idea to put it to some use.

 After sewing up all the rips in the seams, I could use it to practice my terrible machine quilting. I had nothing to lose and I had a light summer blanket to gain.

My machine stippling is pretty terrible so I could use the practice and the quilt could use the stability of it. I had originally only tufted the thing here and there and it literally is falling apart.

 All was going pretty well, I thought, until one morning when everything was flying along better than usual. No pulling or tugging. The machine and I were like one-until I turned it over and realized that the ease of quilting was due to my not putting the presser foot down. The back was a giant mess and I'm talking a good two feet or more of it.

 I had to take it out on the deck in the morning sun where I could see to pull it all out.

 Before I knew it, I had the old stuff out.....

 ...and the new stuff back in.

 The silver lining to this disaster is that I learned to repair as I go which saves time. The machine acts like a much appreciated third hand.

I also learned to jack up that darning foot so I have less pull on the fabric. Even with my fancy slider thing underneath, I was getting too much exercise from just a few minutes of stitching each day. I just wound the thing with some yarn and now it moves freely with just a little help from me. Ta da.