Sunday, January 19, 2014

Bow-ties Dilemma

So... back to the bow-ties. It's going very slow. In fact, I've run into a dilemma of sorts. Although I got to the point where I thoroughly enjoyed sewing the individual blocks together, hand sewing the rows together just isn't doing it for me.
Bow-ties forever project
There is no love here--zip. Now, call me crazy, but I'm seriously thinking about unpicking the three rows I've done the hand sewing on and try sewing them together on the machine. Whrrr... whrrrr......?

If the only reason I was going to hand sew the entire quilt together was so that I could say I've hand sewn a complete quilt together... Well, I'm starting to think that's not reason enough for me. Meanwhile I am five blocks short to have a full fifteen rows of bow-ties. Probably time enough to make up my mind.*wink Linking up with some more Slow Sunday Stitchers over at Kathy's if you're interested in that sort of thing.

21 comments:

  1. I can understand sewing the bow-ties together by hand, but doing the rows that way doesn't seem to add much to the finished quilt. As long as you are happy and enjoy the process and result, then why not combine methods?

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  2. I don't think there is anything wrong with machine stitching the rows together - I have done that before - combination style :) I would even unpick those rows - just machine stitch down over what you hand sewed if you want to make them stronger.

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  3. I've combined hand sewing and machine piecing in two or three projects and didn't worry about the combination. I wouldn't worry a second about sewing the hand-pieced bowties together by machine. I'm sure some purists would say you should use exclusively one way or the other, but sometimes getting a project done is more important than how it was pieced.
    I really like the aqua you're using for the bowties' background. Sweet !!

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  4. I had a notion to make a hand stitched quilt once till I got to the binding. There was no way I was going to stitch that binding on by hand. As long as your not going to beat yourself up over it, who cares. I like to take walks but when it comes to a long trip believe me I am jumping into the car! Love your bow ties by the way!

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  5. I love hand piecing bow ties but I always piece them together by machine. It is so much easier and a lot less boring! Go for it! Your blocks look great!

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  6. I agree with everyone else that there is no reason for you not to sew your rows together by machine if you want. It's your quilt, and you should enjoy making it.
    Your bowties look beautiful, especially against that turquoise background.

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  7. I agree. As long as you are ok with using the machine for the row you are fine. My goodness - you did piece all those by hand. Sounds like a mostly hand done quilt to me.

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  8. I often hand piece my blocks and machine stitch the long rows. It really depends on how you feel......if you're not enjoying it don't waste precious time hand sewing the long rows.

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  9. You can still say you've hand pieced all the blocks and that's impressive! I would think sewing the rows together would be rather dull, and if you're not feeling the love now then you'll end up not finishing it if you have to do it by hand. There's too many other fun sewing things that you do love.

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  10. I wouldn't worry about machining the rows together - go for it. I have a hand pieced quilt where I put the borders on by machine. What I would do though is sew two rows together by machine to see how it goes, before unpicking what is already done.

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  11. I would vote for the machine piecing of the row. There are just some things that are quicker by machine - although I understand your original objective. I think the Quilt-police will forgive you! LOL

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  12. Whatever you do ( I say go for machine piecing the rows ) it sure is pretty so far! :)

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  13. LOL, well, it looks like everyone is in agreement! You had a strong reason to hand stitch the bowties - the Y seams. But that reason doesn't apply to joining the rows. So the bottom line is, what feels best to you?

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  14. Why would you need to take apart the ones you've already hand sewn? Just sew the rest up on machine and be done with it. :)

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  15. I'd definitely be breaking out the sewing machine. Hand sewing those beautiful bow ties is enough to say its all handmade anyway!

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  16. Hang in there...you will make it and then it will be such fun to be able to say your quilt was hand stitched from start to finish. That will be quite an accomplishment. Am pulling for you. genie

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  17. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. For me, hand piecing blocks is very different than hand-piecing strips. I've often combined both hand and machine piecing in a top and it's been fine. However, if you want a completely hand-pieced top, than go for it!

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  18. I hand pieced a zillion court house steps but was was going to be darned if I was going to hand sew them all together into the king sized spread they ended up in. Do not pick!! Go forward!! I vote for the mixers!!

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  19. It is your quilt and you should finish it the way that makes you happy. :) If you do decide to finish it by machine - do you really need to unpick the hand sewn rows?

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  20. Glad you brought that up. Interesting to read all the comments. I'm hand piecing spools and wondered if I was going to like hand piecing them into a top. Looks great, by the way. Love the aqua.

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  21. It's all about the love, so whatever the quilt is telling you that it wants, go for it!
    Looking forward to seeing how all these terrific blocks look together!

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