Pardon My French

Sometimes things just don't work out, right?  That's why so many of us have unfinished projects lurking in our sewing rooms.  So far this year I have been very lucky to complete many of my UFOs with great success, but this one was not to be.  It is a piece of -- pardon my French -- merde.

Navajo quilt top designed by me in 1979.

It looks innocent from far away, but this top was a mess from the get-go.  I made it back in the 70's from 100% cotton solids, which were not that great back then.  There was a lot of fraying and coupled with my incomplete understanding of "best practices" in quilting, e.g., handsewing the pieces together without reference to the 1/4" (or ANY standard, consistent measurement) seam; failing to ensure pieces were cut on the grain;  failing to pay attention (as demonstrated by the center row of mismatched blocks -- although I have to admit I like this variation better) . . . merde happens!

Navajo quilt back, a huge mess!

Pinning up the quilt was an adventure as there were lotsa lumps and I thought, "Oh, that's okay.  I'll quilt them out".  Wishful thinking.  There are some small puckers on the front but the back is a sea of puckers.  After I started quilting the top and the back shifted so I had to add backing fabric to both long sides -- not a pretty sight.

Merde!  This looks grey but it's actually sage green.

Here is a section of the back that is the worst.  You can see the huge pucker (I think you would have to call that a pleat, it's so big!) and the fabric I had to add to the back.

So, it's a mess, but it is finished!  I had the option of taking all the blocks apart and resewing and squaring-up the blocks.  The blocks were sewed by hand so I felt some sentiment and decided to keep it "as is" no matter what the outcome.  It's a quilt--not a good one-- and it won't win any prizes but the design is good.  It was inspired by a Navajo rug that I had back in the 70's and I made all the templates out of cardboard, probably not too accurately.  Quilting was not yet the huge industry it is today, 100% cotton fabrics were hard to find as the market was inundated with polyester, and I could go on baying excuses but the bottom line is merde!