One monthly goal finish linkup

Today is the  monthly linkup with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal  finishes. Unlike the last time I joined in, two out of three of my monthly goals to finish this month are complete. The one I did not complete is not due to my lack of trying.

My oldest sister, who also quilts, has purchased several quilt tops on ebay. The first one she brought  me for quilting was a little full in the center but I managed to quilt it with  fabric manipulation.  The photo of the quilt below is one of the two I had this month.  This is not the platform where I can share my honest words for this quilt so lets just say it was a challenge.

I’ve only been longarm quilting for a couple years and had not planned on quilting for anyone except myself. The flimsies she purchases on ebay would not be a great loss to her and she calls them practice for me.  Indeed. After these, I told her do not bring  anymore quilts she purchased from this seller on ebay, I will quilt what she has made. Click on thumbnails below for a larger view. These are not the only issues with the piecing they are just the areas that photographed the best.

It is presentable and I love the design. Because I had to push and pull as i quilted I chose to do a very large meander design. Normally I would trim the excess off while the finished quilt is on the frame. This was supposed to be a 92″ x 92″ quilt and she purchased 108 x 108 backing. I wanted her to see how out of square the quilt was and what little  of her backing remained after stretching and quilting.

Her second flimsy, wow. Again this is not the platform for the words I actually used.  Unfortunately I did not take photos of that quilt top.  It was also sold to her as  92″ x 92″ .  The top border measured 94.5″, bottom border 94.25″, both sides were within .50″ of the top and bottom.  The interesting part?  Measuring across the center from side to side and top to bottom the quilt grew 4 to 5″.The way my dh described each, “you can lift the top from the center point a foot off the floor and make a tent without the outside ever leaving the floor”. I cannot understand how they managed to get 99″ inside the roughly 94″ borders without a lot of pleats in the border seams. The second quilt I chose not to quilt for obvious reasons. The seller did accept a return.

Buyer beware of ebay sellers of quilt tops. It is my opinion the seller is purchasing these tops overseas for pennies on the dollar and reselling on ebay.  The fabric used in these are different and the piecing quality is very poor. My son at 10 years old was a better tailor than this. The fabric, it is not quilting fabric. Some of the fabric has more stretch, some of the fabric is very thin while others are of a better quality. For instance, the background fabric alone in the quilt shown above. there are 3 different fabrics. One is a better quality that I would like to use myself.  The other two, not so much. You know the boxes scattered around your neighborhood for clothing collections, the ones they send overseas? Perhaps they are sending our clothing back to us as quilts, its just a thought.

My best finish was the Tulip Mosaic, no fullness and it was square. I only wish I were more creative with my quilting. There were also 2 bag finishes and I managed to use all my  precut circles for the Levis Cathedral Window quilt.  The denim quilt will be the second scrap quilt I have made with leftovers from the Mosaic Quilt qal earlier this year. I have 3 more rows joined that needs batting and window fabric added before I can join to the quilt.  I have made progress since I snapped the photo below. The two bags are scraps  from the Tulip Mosaic and I’m also working on a possible design to use the remaining scraps.  That will come in the new year.

If you’d like to view others who participated in this linkup you can do so here.