Thursday 29 April 2010

Why, Oh Why

Why, oh why did I use a tear-away stabilizer to do zigzag appliqué on my Family Life quilt????
Although the back would make a great piece of art with the white jagged lines, that’s not really what I was going for here. I love the look and texture though, and just might explore this unforeseen and yet interesting idea further at some point.

Would you pick all the paper pieces out or just leave them in? Will they dissolve if I wash the finished quilt before shipping it off to its destination? Will they still make my appliqué seams stiff as cardboard a century from now when the quilt is stored away at the attic or proudly displayed at some high ranked museum (it could go either way; one way more likely than the other though)??

7 comments:

  1. Sprits it with water, wait a minute or so then you should be able to remove fairly easy. Although it would have been better to do the water thing before tearing away all the paper.

    Sorry.

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  2. My vote is the high ranked museum! Fun reading your blog. . . you've got a great sense of humor. But on top of that, ideas just keep coming from you. My "Cute Babies" quilt is stiff, stiff, stiff! I knew when I was ironing on the heat and bond that I should cut out the centers of the big pieces. . but. . I was just in too much of a hurry. It was a good learning experience (I'll keep saying that over and over).

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  3. I guess the museum curator would be disappointed that you did not use an acid free paper!!! How frustrating! I would wet it and see if I could pull the paper out because it would bug me knowing it was there, but it does make for an interesting design.

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  4. What about a fabric marker/paint to match (or closely) the red?

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  5. That is a shame. I have a couple of rolls, of tear away, that I got with my machine. I guess I will try it with a practice piece first;)

    Debbie

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  6. I'd be concerned that the removal of the paper would loosen the stitching - not necessarily that it would pull the stitches, but more that the space occupied by the paper is keeping your stitches more taut and even. If the thickeness of a thread can make the difference in your seam allowance, then the thickeness of the paper is doing something to your stitching.

    BUT, if you're determined to remove the paper (a non-acid-free paper may indeed be an issue for you), I'd spray, let sit for 5 minutes, then get out my long-nosed (serger) tweezers and get to work!

    Good luck!

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  7. If you don´t like it this way you could try to get the paper out - you used the special tear-away paper for applique? Before you spray it wet and try to pull it out, try on a tiny piece. It may be, that you resign half way and this would look aweful!

    Or you take a new piece of fabric to cover it by a new backside (and maybe do a little new quilting to fix it).

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