I finished this Winter Roses Quilt last year, but since we've been using it, I've noticed multiple places where the stitching on the quilt top has broken. I've been wondering what went wrong? I've never had this problem before in 15 years of quilting.
* Was the quilting thread rotten? No, I don't think so ...
* Was it because I didn't wash it when it was done (as I usually do), helping all the layers, fabric, thread, and batting all come together as one unit? This one has an old wool batt, and I have no place to lay it out flat to dry where it would stay clean ...
Then I found this article. So it seems that I may not have used enough ties to keep it all stable and support the stitching in the quilt top. So when we use it, or move it, or whatever, the quilt top moves against the batting and backing layers (not with them), and the only part that gives is the stitching until it breaks.
How to fix it? Can this quilt be saved?
I went back over it stiching-in-the-ditch along the edges of the black blocks. That created
a grid that will help to support the whole quilt, and repair some of the damage already done.
I could have added more yarn ties, but that wouldn't help all the places with broken threads needing repair.
The grid is done. It' looks like a thick luxurious comforter now. Nice and puffy.
But I still need to repair the "broken" blocks with hand stitching. That will take some time ...
1 comment:
How sad to have this happen so soon. But I do think you are on the right track (what an excellent article you linked to). When I've tied quilts, I always tie at row intersections and lots of other places too, more than you did with this quilt. (Since they were all given away, I have no idea how the quilts held up). Adding the stitch in the ditch is an excellent idea - I've done this myself, doing both tying and machine quilting.
In the article, she is actually referring to quilting stitches breaking I think, and I so agree with her that both the density of the quilting and the thread tension are important for longevity. I've been dealing with a a lap quilt with Hobbs wool batting that I grid stitched with 100wt silk thread after taking a class with Diane Gaudynski - she was demoing it with her heirloom technique which was pretty dense and gave me a spool to try. It never occurred to me that it would not be suitable for gridwork spaced probably a little more than an inch apart. The first thing I noticed was that the quilting was almost gathering the quilt, the quilt fabric sliding easily up and down the line of stitching. I should have stopped right there but I continued on, adjusting the way I ran the quilt through the walking foot. But obviously, the tension was too tight and the thread too light and it wasn't long until stretching my legs out, sock barely catching on the back, I heard a pop pop pop pop - stitches breaking. I went back over those areas with cotton thread, but every time I used it, there'd be more popping of threads. And so, (as she alludes to in the article) the quilt sits in the closet until I have the time and inclination to go over all the lines of grid stitching with a more appropriate thread set at the right tension.
The hand stitching of those opened seams shouldn't be that bad once you get into it. :-)
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