Quilting: An Exercise in Patience . . .

And just like that, the weekend is almost over!  Though I didn't document anything except our Friday night tacos, I was quite productive this weekend.  Before I embark on another crazy work-week, I thought I'd post an update on my quilting adventure . . . or misadventure?

Let's go with adventure.  I like to keep things positive!

As I posted last week, I had some trouble getting started with the machine quilting process.  

I got the whole thing pinned last Sunday.  5 days.  That's how long it took for my knees and lower body to stop hurting.  Then, I started the process of machine quilting it.  Anyway, one of the two lines that I sewed last week was not right.  The stitches on the back side were tangled and looped, and I couldn't see the problem until I was done.  This is what it looked like:

Oh, no.  No, no, no.  I have spent too much time and money on this quilt to let that go.  Today, I finally decided to deal with it. I had to rip the whole line out.  125 inches worth.  It took about 1 1/2 hours.  There are now little bits of aqua-blue thread all over the place.  I'm sure I will still be finding pieces of it for as long as we live in this house.  Ha ha.  

Anyway, I thought it was a thread tension issue, but after searching around online, I decided it might have something to do with the bobbin.  This article was pretty helpful.  It gave me some possibilities, at least.  After trying again, I noticed the bobbin thread had come loose from the tension blades that it was supposed to go through.  That was it!  Once I fixed that, I stopped having the tangled thread problem.  

I have now sewed four lines through the length of the quilt.  I have 20 more to go.  Then, there will be 18 lines to sew across the width of the quilt.  I'm making progress!  

I found another mistake, though.  Can you see what it is?  Well, other than the corners of my squares not matching up exactly?  (I swear, I picked the worst part of the quilt for this photo!)

Well, my goal was to stitch a quarter inch off of the ditch.  Do you see it?  One line is on the right side of the ditch, and one line is on the left side!  They were all supposed to be on the right side.  O.o  I either have to live with one line being on the wrong side of the ditch, or just sew BOTH sides of the ditch on the whole quilt.  I haven't made up my mind yet.

Well, here is my quilt in its resting place in the art room until . . . well, realistically, probably next Sunday!

No, those paintings in the background are not mine.  Those are the work of my husband.  :)  The art room is kind of a multi-purpose location - oil paintings drying, beer fermenting in the closet, etc.  Never a dull moment!  Ha ha!

Well, what do you think?  Should I sew on both sides of the ditch, or just pretend I didn't notice my little mistake?  Feel free to comment!  Thanks for reading!