Seam Ripper Champion – Karyl Fitzgerald
Karyl Fitzgerald won the Championship for the first quarter of 2018 with her quirky, down-to-earth, and humorous take on one of the worst creative experiences of her life.
Bio
Hey there! This is Karyl Fitzgerald here, and I’m one third of PYB, my 2 daughters being the other two thirds. I’ve been sewing for most of my life, but up to 10 years ago I sewed mostly clothes and home décor items. I was a homeschool mom and so I didn’t have all that much time to spare. However, when my kids got far enough along in their schoolwork that they didn’t need my constant supervision, I started to get bored with my regular sewing projects and so looked around for something more challenging, and found it in quilts and fabric art! This has opened a whole new world for me. Which is not to say that I don’t have occasional disasters, I do, and I’m going to tell you about my worst one here. But I want it noted that although I’ve been sewing most of my life, I have yet to sew one project that I haven’t had to rip something out! So take heart fellow seamstresses, and simply learn to enjoy the journey!
My Lily Quilt Disaster
A (Near) Fatal Attraction
I receive both the Keepsake Quilting and Nancy’s Notions catalogs (which are both great resources, by the way). I was fascinated by the Jinny Beyer quilts and table runners.
It was her way of blending colors that struck me so powerfully, so I finally took the plunge and bought her Summer Lily Quilt for $260.00. My eldest girl really loved it and since her name means Lily of Grace, I thought it would be perfect for her.
The Plague of Beginner’s Confidence
I did everything very carefully, wanting this quilt to be perfect. My daughter helped me with all the cutting and ironing, and I even read the instructions more than once.
I found out that you have to be SUPER accurate with a Jinny Beyer design because it’s all corners and points and they all have to match in order to make the pattern work. I’m not a “point” person so this was a continual struggle for me and I had to rip out my first 3 tries, and this was only on the middle pattern! I quickly became aware that I was swimming in deep waters, because while the kit gave me all the fabric I needed, it didn’t give any extra. So there was no cutting out a new piece and starting again.
Stubbornness (the saving bane of every quilter)
Still, I continued on – very carefully – and sewed each section together as I came to it. It was all looking fabulous until I went to sew the sections together to form the quilt top. None of the points matched!!!
No matter if I pleated or pulled sections to fit or trimmed excess material. I ripped out a few sections and tried again with the same results.
Finally, I went down to Barb’s – who is an amazing quilter and LOVES making points match to ask her what I was doing wrong.
Turns out, I was using the wrong sewing foot in my machine! Jinny Beyer patterns are made for quarter inch seams, and with the regular foot I was using, my seams were a fat quarter inch and that was enough to throw the whole thing off!!
Depths of Despair
I went home and threw the whole thing in a drawer and didn’t look at it for another year.
Finally, I felt so guilty about it that I dragged it out, ripped every seam out and started again, this time with a brand new quarter inch foot to sew with. The trouble this time, however, was that I had sewn the seams very tightly and ripping them out caused the fabric to tear and fray. There wasn’t enough material to cut new pieces, so I had to do a lot of patching, etc. This time the points matched, but the quilt wasn’t square (don’t ask me why) so when I took it into the quilters to be quilted, we had to add pieces here and there to the backing, which didn’t quite match the original backing material.
By the time this quilt finally made it onto my daughter’s bed, my whole family hated it. I must confess, I screamed a great deal while I made it, and I’m pretty sure I used a few words I shouldn’t have.
Victory at Last!
It’s been 3 years now.
I look at this amazing work of art on my daughter’s bed, and I wonder two things:
- How does an amazing artist like Jinny Beyer even exist in the same world with a wild-child-quilter like me?!?
- What was I thinking!
I can look benignly on this quilt now, but I will NEVER make another one!!!
Still, I persisted until the end. I didn’t quit, or give up, or fail. My daughter loves her namesake, heirloom quilt.
Tips
- Don’t sew seams too tight (or too loose)
- Make sure you’re using the right foot for the project
- Measure three times
- Spray starch at every step
- Know your quilting style, and think carefully before trying a project that’s the exact opposite of your personality
- On the off chance you are not a perfect person, consider buying extra fabric (if available)
- Consider constructing precision projects (Jinny Beyer beauties) in a sound proof room!
If you would like to be our next Seam Ripper Champion please submit your own story.